Jacqueline Knauf

I live in Hampton...well Hampton township. We moved out there for the acreage. We love living out there because we are close enough to the cities that it only takes me around a half hour to get to work, but far enough out to have some elbow room. Hampton itself is a very small town with less than 700 people. There is one gas station along 52 but no super market. For that you would have to go to Cannon Falls or Hastings. They do have Little Oscars which is a family friendly local restaurant with great service and pretty decent food. Our daughter will be able to go to the Randolph school, Hastings, or Cannon Falls (we haven't decided which one). If you like living out in the country I would say this is a great area for you...if not, I would say stay away.

Prior Lake is a fun place to live. Not only are you close to Upper and Lower Prior Lake which has great fishing, boating, and swimming in the summer, but there are also a few great parks.
Lakefront park has just about everything. They have a beach with nice bathroom facilities to use in the summer as well as good walking trails (we love taking our dog out here), a large playground for the kids, a fishing pier, and a skate park! This is a great place you can take the whole family to and please everyone. In the winter they have a skating rink as well as a great hill to go sledding on. They also have the Lakefront Music Fest in the summer with acts like Bret Michaels and Montgomery Gentry.
Just down the road from Prior Lake there is the Murphy Hanrehan park reserve where you can do some hiking, horse back riding, and mountain biking among other things.
If you like golfing there is The Wilds golf course designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish. It is a beautiful course at a reasonable price.
If you have kids and are interested in the school systems Prior Lake is well known for rating high among almost all of their schools. You can send your kids to the elementary, middle, and high schools comfortable in knowing that they are getting a good education.
Prior Lake is the kind of place you go where everyone takes care of their homes and yards. When we lived there we loved taking our dogs and daughter for walks around the neighborhood or Lakefront Park. People were generally friendly and would wave or say hi. There were a lot of kids in our neighborhood as well as parks. There were plenty of restaurants close enough that if we didn't feel like cooking we didn't have to go very far to get something good. Overall Prior Lake was a fun place to live especially those with a family. I would definitely recommend this city to anyone looking.

I would highly recommend the Fern Hills neighborhood to anyone looking to make a move to St. Louis Park. Commuting is a breeze with great access to Highway 100 and the Downtown and Uptown areas of Minneapolis are only miles away. The neighborhood itself does not possess a great inventory for retail, restaurants, etc., but it borders many neighborhoods who do. This is a great positive about the neighborhood. Without the retail the neighborhood stays safe and quiet, and you are never more than a 5 minute drive or a 10 minute walk to small or large retail areas. YUM Bakery, one of my favorite restaurants, borders the neighborhood. Great food, great people, and free wifi can all be found here!

Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles, and Lake Calhoun are all within minutes from this neighborhood, making it a very active community. Many trails, including the Greenway, are in close proximity as well.

This neighborhood is close enough to all the city action, but far enough to enjoy the peace and quiet - the perfection location!

After living in many areas around the country growing up, I found Eagan to be a great area for work and play. I am very impressed by the number of parks (55), athletic fields, trails (110 miles) and lakes in Eagan. There is a water park, Cascade Bay, that is very clean and fun and has a mini golf course. The community center has a beautiful setting and has an indoor kids activity park, banquet room, senior center and a fitness center that I belonged to when I lived there. They host a farmer's market outside there in the summer. I also like swimming at Schultz Beach. For winter activities, there is snow tubing at Trapp Farm Park, outdoor skate rinks and indoor ice rinks in the Civic Arena.

It has a strong business community and a new upscale outlet mall is currently being built. I enjoyed the location because it has easy access to highways 494, 77 and 35E, you can get to either Minneapolis or St Paul downtowns within 20 minutes and it is close to the airport. Many people I know love the schools (I don't have any kids in school yet). The median sales price for homes in 2013 is $220,000; there is a range of housing from apartments, townhomes, smaller homes and a few areas of luxury homes as well as a few new neighborhoods that are still being built.

Eagan offers everything you need for shopping, groceries and dining; it has most restaurant chains, the big box retailers, bowling alley and a movie theater. There are some good places for happy hour but I didn't think the night life was that great but since it is close enough to Minneapolis and St. Paul that it is easy to go out for fine dining, major sport events and concerts. Overall, it was a really nice place to live.