Minnesota Winner: Rogers (Rogers??)
With the possible exception of a couple, rougher inner city neighborhoods, I don’t know that there’s a BAD place to raise kids in the Twin Cities — or the entire state of Minnesota, for that matter.
As a parent of three young kids, it seem like that’s the focus of the entire community.
Try saying that about Manhattan or LA.
BusinessWeek Rankings
So, Business Week’s foray into the “Places Rated” sweepstakes — titled “The Best Places to Raise Kids 2013” — caught my eye.
Its selection for Minnesota? (It chose one community per state).
Rogers — population 8,000, about 20 miles northwest of Minneapolis, and heretofore perhaps best known (to locals, anyway) as home to a giant Cabela’s store.
Here’s what the author(s) had to say:
Both Rogers Middle School and Rogers Senior High School earned a 9 rating from GreatSchools, but growing up in the town isn’t solely about academics. The Rogers Youth Hockey Association and the high school’s Rogers Royals play hockey in the town’s activity center ” which features public skating.
Rogers By the Numbers
Hard to argue with any of that (although I hadn’t previously heard of “GreatSchools”).
Ditto for the county unemployment rate (5.7%), and housing costs as a percentage of income (23%) cited in the article.
What DID seem off was Rogers’ median family income, according to Businessweek: a whopping $99,940.
I don’t know Rogers very well, but that’s a number I’d more readily associate with Edina or Wayzata (upper bracket Twin Cities communities).
See also, “Men’s Journal: Minneapolis in Top 18 Coolest Towns“; “Money’s Best Places to Live“; “More Bicycling Accolades for Minneapolis.”
