Twin Cities Neighborhoods and Suburbs by Lifestyle: North Loop to Lakeville

By Jason HuerkampSeptember 30, 20253 min read

In the video above, I sorted a dozen Twin Cities areas into “good, better and best.” That’s completely subjective: the right place depends on your budget, how much nightlife and food you want, whether you need a single-family home, and your commute. Here’s what each area offers, so you can make your own list.

Prices are as of my video above and change with the market. For current numbers, see our market data.

Minneapolis

North Loop: the old warehouse district, now one of the trendiest parts of the city, with great nightlife and restaurants in a real urban setting. There are very few single-family homes, so it’s mostly condos and lofts.
Northeast: urban living with single-family homes, great restaurants and plenty of microbreweries. A fun place if you want to be in the city.
Uptown: around Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska, with lots of restaurants and bars, very walkable and accessible.
Linden Hills: mostly single-family homes near Lake Harriet, with some restaurants and shops. It’s calmer and quieter than the other three, without the busy-weekend crowds and traffic. This was one of my personal favorites.

Saint Paul

Summit Hill and Cathedral Hill: Victorian mansions along Summit Avenue, including the James J. Hill House, once the largest residence in Minnesota. Many of these homes are beautifully preserved, and there are even historic ghost walks around Halloween (my kids loved it). Moscow on the Hill is one of my favorite restaurants. I love history, so this was a personal favorite, generally for buyers above $1 million.
Mac-Groveland: west of Summit Hill, with Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas (now Division I in basketball and hockey), more restaurants, and homes a bit closer together. For roughly $500,000 to $750,000, it’s a great place to look.
Highland Park: a little more affordable than Summit Hill and Mac-Groveland, with plenty of restaurants and a nice setting.

First-ring suburbs

Think of the metro as an upside-down wedding cake, with Minneapolis and Saint Paul in the middle and rings of suburbs around them.

Edina: well established and central, with major employers, Southdale (the country’s first fully enclosed mall, handy in Minnesota winters) and 50th & France, with boutiques, restaurants and Muddy Cow burgers. Single-family homes run from about $400,000 to many millions.
St. Louis Park: Edina’s neighbor along Highway 100, with lots of shopping and restaurants and lower prices: roughly $350,000 to $1 million, with few homes above that.
Richfield: very central and close to the airport, with great neighborhood bars and restaurants from around the world (a few have been on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives). I own rental properties there. Single-family homes start around $250,000, and it’s unusual to see one above $700,000, except on the west side bordering Edina.

Outer-ring suburbs

Maple Grove: on the northwest side, with much newer homes and shopping, recreational lakes and employers like Boston Scientific. Single-family homes start around $450,000, and the top of the market reaches about $1.5 to $2.5 million. It’s the farthest from the airport on this list, typically 35 to 45 minutes.
Lakeville: my hometown, where my parents have lived for over 50 years. It’s named for its lakes (Lake Marion, Orchard Lake and Crystal Lake, mostly in Burnsville), priced similarly to Maple Grove but closer to the airport, with bigger lakes, an evolved downtown, microbreweries, Ritter Farm Park and the Airlake industrial area, which helps keep property taxes in check. It has room to keep growing. See my Lakeville driving tour.

Your list will be different

My picks reflect my life: I like history and want to be near family in the suburbs. Yours should reflect your budget, commute and lifestyle. Compare these areas with 10 suburbs ranked in tiers or our compare tool, and reach out to our team to talk it through.