Lino Lakes Lots

I went out looking at looking at homes and lots around Minnesota today. We were in White Bear Lakes, and Stillwater, but spent most of our time in Lino Lakes looking at new homes in a subdivision. Most of them weren't even rocked (sheet rock wasn't installed) and some were barely even framed. The realtor found a lot that seems to be a pretty good location. It backs up to a wetland (like pretty much everything in Minnesota, it seems) making my backyard the wetland, but the best part is that the wetland makes it so that the next house has to be pretty far away. I'd never have a house behind mine any closer than 100 yards, and that's a little unusual for the new homes that I'd previously seen.

It's a walkout lot, which is the lot that the style of home that I've liked the best (multi-level) requires, so that's a definite bonus. The big problem is that Lino Lakes is like 35 miles from Hudson, which would translate to a 40-45 minute drive in the morning. If I wanted that commute I would have stayed in California. However, it would be a better commute to Minneapolis or St. Paul. I guess the question is, am I willing to put up with a bad commute now, to have a better commute later? Should I ever change jobs, I would likely be working in the Twin Cities, so that's something to consider.

Looking at the existing homes in the area just makes me want to build a new house, but the locations I've been looking at haven't been my first choice. Getting an existing home means that I'll probably have to remodel the kitchen and bathrooms, not to mention upgrading the electrical and adding all new wiring for networking and home theater. But, it would be in a location that I might like better.

I've only been here a couple of months so I doubt I'm really qualified to say where the good places to live are, but I really like Woodbury. Lots of things to think about.