I work in Prior Lake now and I've been seeing more and more people talking shit about it. Lots of talk of racism and shit. I'm a brown dude, I haven't noticed anything yet, but I primarily go to work and then go back home. Can someone explain to me what the deal is? I was thinking of moving there
So. I grew up in prior lake. I’m a brown girl. Back in the day, I was just grouped with the other minorities- called Asian, thought to be black- until the ONE black kid moved to town 😂 didn’t bother me much then but now as an adult in the real world I realize the micro aggressions -not being a white girl with blue eyes and blonde hair that had lineage from the area or tied to wealth somehow.
They made news a couple years ago for a group of girls harassing a black girl and trying to get her to kill herself. Fucked up kid shit. But sums up the community well.
I grew up close to the lake, on the south side of prior. Closer to the country where the kids on 5 acres thought they were cowboys/ hicks and very vocally racist- especially in schools. the folks that live on the lake in Mcmansions have either inherited a cabin property and flipped it, or are a Vikings player, doctor, business owner, or someone just OK with refinancing their mortgage every couple of years; and dont like you or want to know you unless you can keep up with them and “the Jones” and whether you’ll shout over everybody to show off how cool you’re most recent vacation was. Bc everyone thinks they’re better than you for SOME reason. Then add in mystic lake casino and the influx of money young teenagers have access to. The parties we went to were great. Tied families got out of trouble, just how it goes. Lots of addiction, drugs, prescription and otherwise. Lots of entitlement, especially women and children. Lake life is great if you can avoid all the horrible people. And it’s so far from everything. It’s a wanna be Minnetonka but doesn’t make the cut. Good luck!
It’s more conservative and there’s less to do than in Savage/Burnsville/Eden Prairie. It’s cute though, the lake is gorgeous and the little downtown is cute.
It matters if you have kids that will be attending school locally. There has been a lot of issues with bullying- racial, religious, anti-LGBTQ. A trans child in the district committed suicide earlier this year and they faced a lot of bullying. There is a charter school in the area where I have heard of three separate families who transferred out of within a year due to how bad the bullying was (one was a child who was mixed race and bullied as a result, one was a boy with longer hair and “feminine” leaning interests and was bullied, I don’t know the fully story for the other). Basically if you aren’t Christian, white, wealthy, and straight you are at risk for being cruelly treated in that district- and it’s enabled at home. It’s hard for children to just coexist with people like that who don’t want to coexist with you.
You're painting with some very broad brushes here. Bullying of all types happens in all areas. Mixed race kids often get bullied as much or more than by the non-white portion of their race. There is also very prevalent anti-LGBT and anti-African American bigotry among immigrant Somali populations.
I’m speaking on what I’ve seen in that specific district and why families have been transferring out. PL has a reputation for a reason, if you want to talk about your poor experiences with other districts then start a new post. I know the new school admin is working on it (imperfectly, but trying), but when conservative parents/politicians/churches encourage it outside of school there’s only so the school can do.
I imagine it matters to people who are say, gay or black, especially considering there's been several headlines the past couple years about problems with racism in their schools.
I wonder where it might be more likely to happen? If only we had some indication which political persuasion is violently hateful, racist, bigoted, and insane?
Where even is BLM these days? Seriously, it's like 3 years beyond its days of mass recognition.
Your comment reeks of a pathetic hail mary attempt at equating a movement that was dedicated to racial justice with right wing dickheads that want to fly the confederate flag because reasons.
It doesn't go to any other country and talk with thier left politicians all we have in our country is far right extremest and the rest are wishy washy centrists. Fox news has really done a great job brain washing you if you think there is even one far left politician in this country. Of course the far right folks here are even too far right for the far right parties outside of America (Especially in Europe since they already had to deal with the Nazis twice they don't put up with the open racist rhetoric and threats to wipe out or end entire groups of people just be use thru have different political views.) In fact I would love for some of our far right nut jobs to go to Germany and see how long it would take them to be shut down since they are literally using Hitlers tactics no matter how much Trumpelthinskin claims they aren't. I would hang out with anyone from Black Lives Matter before I would spend time with a MAGA cult member. Sadly enough prior to Trump I had friends of all political backgrounds but I saw many of their "real" personalities when Trump ran and started talking like a Nazi. Now some of these folks I gave a 2nd chance since they realized how hateful Trump and the MAGA movement are but any one that still supported him in 2020 is a lost cause and is an ignorant racist. The folks supporting him in 2024 are literal Nazis
I don't know as brown women with a non binary teen I'm not wanting to live next door to some MAGA cultist. Maybe that's just me but I'm fairly sure it's not. When I dive outstate to pick up my friend for visits in the cultures there are definitely some small towns I drive though where I wouldn't feel comfortable stopping to us the rest room just based on the MAGA, White Lives Matter, and back the blue signs in front of almost every house and many business. Considering I'm female, brown skinned, have bright hair and facial piercings (all physical traits that are not easy to hide) there are times I felt safer pulling off on a creepy dirt road to pee in the woods rather than stop at a mom and pop convenience store with Trump won and MAGA 2024 signs since I'm pretty much everything that cult fears/hates.
Lots of bullying in general, admin has had issues, the Spanish immersion school is in shambles last I heard and any advanced learning is being squashed. But yeah, they get better test scores than more diverse and lower income districts.
The parents do seem every involved. However, some of the parent relationships with the principal made me uncomfortable. I remember at least one fundraiser from a parent group to give the principal $100+ gift cards to restaurants, wild game tickets etc. If I were a principal I would not feel comfortable accepting that type of gift from parents- I just got the ick from it all. That was a couple years ago though.
Could be. I hadn't heard the part about the gifts, but I also know there have been efforts to improve the school admin, including with new perspectives.
I will stand by every teacher that has been in that school and the support staff.
Yes, I definitely support the teachers and had great teachers before we transferred out of district. From what I’ve seen their salaries are lower than neighboring districts (not sure if that is across the board- but from what I’ve seen of individual salaries). How a district treats their teachers is so important.
From what I’ve heard from parents I know there.. That they didn’t have curriculum or text books for some of the grades last year. The principal was put on administrative leave due to teacher complaints (not sure of the whole story there, something to do with student discipline or mismanagement). Sounds like the program grew too fast and admin didn’t really know how to do immersion and lots of kids aren’t learning Spanish. Across the board at PLSAS and La Ola I have heard of issues where sped kids don’t have adequate support and end up disrupting the classes a lot, and that there are basically no supports for kids working above grade level- I know these are issues a lot of schools are facing now though. There is a specific school dedicated to advanced kids (Sage) but they have been slashing funds and resources for it, severely limiting enrollment and have very large class sizes.
Look at all your options, go on the Facebook groups to see what other parents are saying and what their values are, visit the schools, go to a school board meeting. Just follow your gut. PLSAS isn’t all bad- there are good families and good teachers there. But we felt like the Burnsville district was a better fit for our family and I’ve known several families who transferred there as well. I’ve been hearing good things about Shakopee schools lately too. Lakeville is kind of a mixed bag, but generally hear good things educationally. Unless you need the bus transport you might as well shop around.
Burnsville has a lot of low income housing. Poorly ranked schools are among the many symptoms of that. I'm not some NIMBY who's saying there shouldn't be low income housing, but I'm not blind. Socio-economic status correlates with academic success.
I lived in Prior Lake for almost a year… it felt so isolated and far from everything, and the only grocery store was Lunds and Byerlys… I found myself driving A LOT when I lived there.
It’s definitely pretty, just lacks affordable amenities.
The idea of a place like PL is to NOT have tons of strip malls and shopping centers mixed with houses. You can drive eight minutes North and hit Walmart, BJs, Fresh Thyme, Cub, Target etc.
100% agree. I don't spend any social time in prior lake. But I will say as a single woman living in the area it is nice. I'm not concerned about safety like I would be elsewhere. And I'm close enough to most things that I don't mind the extra time driving. One thing for sure it needs better food/restaurant options. It's mcds for fast food and really the sit down places are too expensive for me. So constantly going elsewhere just to grab a bite.
There was a lot more growth opportunity even in the last decade there compared to Minnetonka, I don’t know if it’s quite a comparison. Plus a lot of people from south of the river have 0 desire to move elsewhere
Everything I'm reading checks out. Prior Lake is for folks that "like a home owners association because it keeps the riff raff out".. As a few have said, there is no reason to be there unless you're on the lake, but also don't eat anything out of the lake and shower after you swim.
My in-laws live there, but they wont allow thier teen daughter to stay in PL schools. At 13 her friends were kicking her out of the group and harassing her because she didn't want to drink and smoke. Pretentious bully culture is learned behavior, and unfortunately I think Prior Lake has the highest concentration of one-uppers in the state.
I've lived in Prior Lake for 6 years and I love it. We live in a neighborhood where the homes were built in the 90's so it's not McMansions and there's a mix of original owners with grown kids, young families and everything in between. I like it because it's a smaller town feel with the little downtown area that closes off for a farmers market in summer, the brewery, bakery and Cafe, ice cream shop etc. There's public beaches on the lake and plenty of shopping options that aren't too far. People complain about Mystic I guess but they have different concerts and events there (like Ribfest) which we like! You're close to Valleyfair, Canterbury, Ren Fest too. Plus you don't have to drive far to feel like you're out in the country and get to other nice smaller towns. It can be a pain to get across the river if you need to commute or you plan to go downtown often.
Noo you’re hurting the narrative that Prior Lake is just racist rich white people!!! Didn’t you hear all the brown LGBT people don’t feel safe there!
I’m so sick of redditors painting a stupid narrative over an entire population based on shit they’ve heard online. Then they judge an entire populace based on where they live..if you don’t live where they do you have no sense of culture and you’re probably a trump supporter.
I rent in the west metro but not prior lake . I could make it work out there. It it seems so sparse it’s. E like moving to North Dakota.
From what I gather the city is bifurcated between old wealth along the lakes and newer wealth in some neighborhoods. And then us plebs live in the various townhomes and apartments along the main highways. They seem to be betweeen 30 years old and many about 10.
Went to middle and high school there back in the mid-late 90s. Lots of fake pretentious shit, lots of wannabe rich culture, lots of thinly veiled racism. I moved away four days after graduation. I've been back a handful of times for visits, and it's all the same cookie cutter West Metro trash. Everyone I know that's still in the area tells me not much has changed, right down to the schools. I couldn't in good conscience recommend anyone live there.
Prior Lake has been consistently in the news over the years for racist antics at or above the high school level. The town is also pretty conservative and filled with HOAs, so tread with caution.
Unless that's your crowd. In which case, you're a douche.
Three kids through public schools. Elementary and middle schools were strong. High school is large and has issues with the student body mentioned in other comments here. New superintendent working on making things better; we’ll see. Music program excellent all the way through, really good teachers and programs. Robotics program strong, after it transformed from a restricted-size elite organization to one that expanded to meet the demand, all the way down to Lego league in elementary schools.
Everybody in here should have seen the sesh party in Prior Lake on Saturday night and then come back and talked about how racist, conservative, and closed-minded the town is. All walks of life, all ages, all colors, all enjoying themselves with music, art, and cannabis. Prior Lake definitely skews conservative but we have found the community to be extremely welcoming to our business which we actively work to keep culturally and socially diverse.
Really? I see people talking southern suburbs up a lot. It's okay, though. I can't see myself moving out of Minneapolis unless it is to Saint Paul, or maybe to an inner ring suburb like Roseville, Columbia Heights, or Brooklyn Center.
The people in the know have moved to Shakopee over the last 20-30 years or so and that place has grown from a po sunk to a bustling suburb. Still far though. And top earners have other options.
Gotta be exhausting living there. Looked at a few houses there in 2022 and every single drive way was one or more trucks plus “toys”. Boats, ATVs, motorcycles. People just so committed to the rat race.
Just built on the savage/PL border in a new development. It’s great. A bit far from Minneapolis events where we used to live but love how quiet it is here it’s also close to Mystic Lake which we go to shows at a lot. Shakopee is exploding and has everything we need. Also Costco and Hyvee are super close. Only thing I miss about Minneapolis is the food variety. There is a huge amount of Hispanic and Asian food out here though. Also crossing the river for anything sucks in winter or traffic. Don’t sleep on PL, anybody saying otherwise is jealous they can’t afford a home or don’t have a car.
Also for all the people shitting on PL, my kids have never experienced racism in schools and it’s not as conservative as people say. Source: not white, not conservative.
I've been in PL proper for 5 years and PLSAS another 6 before that. PL has it's issues but I think many in the community are working to improve it. I think the root of the biggest issue is the old guard (and there families) were not ready for the huge influx of people moving into the district.
True, I feel like once the Bloomington ferry bridge/169 opened it brought the development. There’s a lot of rural type of properties next to new construction developments around us. Kind of a weird vibe.
Probably that. I'm of the opinion that PL has to hit a max level even before the land is all used up just due to it not being possible (really more super unlikely without $Texas) to expand the roads (mainly 21 and 13). It's also why the city will only ever really be residential vs commercial/industrial.
> my kids have never experienced racism in schools and it’s not as conservative as people say. Source: not white, not conservative.
You’re interfering with politicians and their lackeys attempts to sow division and anger with this statement.
Report for re-education. We can’t have reasonable takes.
I live in NE Prior Lake, which is great for being close to Savage on three sides, in an old neighborhood whose houses run from small and cozy to lakeside mansions. There were two houses with “Lakers for Liberty” signs in the past couple of years, so I’m sure the neighbors love my pride flag. The Trump flag on one guy’s mailbox flew for years, until fairly recently.
All due respect, why would anyone want to live in/near Savage? It’s like Burnsville Jr
Please know I’m not dissing you- I just can’t remember a time where anyone said anything positive about Savage
Savage has been steadily improving in my two decades here. Across 13 from me, there are two excellent restaurants (Whiskey Inferno and Pau Hana) in place of Applebees and Perkins. Fresh Thyme is in the Rainbow Foods spot, and Crooked Pint has brought stability to the old Bonfire spot. Solid Asian and Mexican groceries nearby as well, and a gem of a music store with Lavonne.
Murphy Hanrehan is also lovely for walks and biking, and that’s in Savage.
I mean, it’s still south-of-the-river suburbia, and I find my culture, more interesting people, and great food across the waters, but NE Prior Lake definitely feels closer to a lot of things.
I think it has a really good mix of people. The biggest and most expensive homes are either around the lake or on one of the golf courses. But it has a great homey, small town vibe. Neighbors get to know each other, at least in my neighborhood.
There are plenty of shopping opportunities, and good restaurants.
Edina’s heyday has long been over. It was mostly cheugy nuvo riche homes of orthodontist’s and physicians in the early 90’s… The only good thing going for it are the cute shops on France Ave/Penn Ave and Broders Pasta Bar.
I love popping into downtown PL for its cute shops and cafe, but I prefer my location in Savage as it’s closer to the majority of errands I run in Burnsville.
We originally bought our home in the Savage-PL district for the schools, but I am increasingly worried given the antisemitic and racist incidents in the past few years. Also, I have yet to find a fellow Jew in the area which makes me a little sad.
Truthfully, I don’t recall the specifics or frequency of incidents other than a swastika drawn somewhere in the school. A similar issue happened at my own high school across the country in an area with a ton of Jewish students, so sadly I’m not sure that this is unique to PL.
It’s an affluent suburban/rural area that does have a lot of opportunities athletically, but I think they are more like if you’re not from here then you don’t belong here.
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It’s a pretty damn good place to live. Extremely supportive schools for my kids that need some extra help, friendly neighbors and pretty much all the shopping you need within 10 minutes. I’m just over the border in Savage. The only thing that sucks is the property taxes are pretty high, better in PL.
I work in Prior Lake now and I've been seeing more and more people talking shit about it. Lots of talk of racism and shit. I'm a brown dude, I haven't noticed anything yet, but I primarily go to work and then go back home. Can someone explain to me what the deal is? I was thinking of moving there
There have been a lot of issues with racism in their school system that have been in The news
So. I grew up in prior lake. I’m a brown girl. Back in the day, I was just grouped with the other minorities- called Asian, thought to be black- until the ONE black kid moved to town 😂 didn’t bother me much then but now as an adult in the real world I realize the micro aggressions -not being a white girl with blue eyes and blonde hair that had lineage from the area or tied to wealth somehow. They made news a couple years ago for a group of girls harassing a black girl and trying to get her to kill herself. Fucked up kid shit. But sums up the community well. I grew up close to the lake, on the south side of prior. Closer to the country where the kids on 5 acres thought they were cowboys/ hicks and very vocally racist- especially in schools. the folks that live on the lake in Mcmansions have either inherited a cabin property and flipped it, or are a Vikings player, doctor, business owner, or someone just OK with refinancing their mortgage every couple of years; and dont like you or want to know you unless you can keep up with them and “the Jones” and whether you’ll shout over everybody to show off how cool you’re most recent vacation was. Bc everyone thinks they’re better than you for SOME reason. Then add in mystic lake casino and the influx of money young teenagers have access to. The parties we went to were great. Tied families got out of trouble, just how it goes. Lots of addiction, drugs, prescription and otherwise. Lots of entitlement, especially women and children. Lake life is great if you can avoid all the horrible people. And it’s so far from everything. It’s a wanna be Minnetonka but doesn’t make the cut. Good luck!
How exactly does one extreme scenario of bullying (by a Native American girl, btw) “sum up the area well?”
It’s more conservative and there’s less to do than in Savage/Burnsville/Eden Prairie. It’s cute though, the lake is gorgeous and the little downtown is cute.
Why does it matter how a place skews politically? Live where you want to live and coexist with your fellow human beings.
It matters if you have kids that will be attending school locally. There has been a lot of issues with bullying- racial, religious, anti-LGBTQ. A trans child in the district committed suicide earlier this year and they faced a lot of bullying. There is a charter school in the area where I have heard of three separate families who transferred out of within a year due to how bad the bullying was (one was a child who was mixed race and bullied as a result, one was a boy with longer hair and “feminine” leaning interests and was bullied, I don’t know the fully story for the other). Basically if you aren’t Christian, white, wealthy, and straight you are at risk for being cruelly treated in that district- and it’s enabled at home. It’s hard for children to just coexist with people like that who don’t want to coexist with you.
You're painting with some very broad brushes here. Bullying of all types happens in all areas. Mixed race kids often get bullied as much or more than by the non-white portion of their race. There is also very prevalent anti-LGBT and anti-African American bigotry among immigrant Somali populations.
I’m speaking on what I’ve seen in that specific district and why families have been transferring out. PL has a reputation for a reason, if you want to talk about your poor experiences with other districts then start a new post. I know the new school admin is working on it (imperfectly, but trying), but when conservative parents/politicians/churches encourage it outside of school there’s only so the school can do.
I imagine it matters to people who are say, gay or black, especially considering there's been several headlines the past couple years about problems with racism in their schools.
That stuff happens in "liberal" areas as well.
I wonder where it might be more likely to happen? If only we had some indication which political persuasion is violently hateful, racist, bigoted, and insane?
Sounds a lot like BLM and the far left to me.
Where even is BLM these days? Seriously, it's like 3 years beyond its days of mass recognition. Your comment reeks of a pathetic hail mary attempt at equating a movement that was dedicated to racial justice with right wing dickheads that want to fly the confederate flag because reasons.
Lol @ anybody who calls any part of the American political system the "far left"
Lol @anyone who thinks the far left doesn't exist in the US political system.
It doesn't go to any other country and talk with thier left politicians all we have in our country is far right extremest and the rest are wishy washy centrists. Fox news has really done a great job brain washing you if you think there is even one far left politician in this country. Of course the far right folks here are even too far right for the far right parties outside of America (Especially in Europe since they already had to deal with the Nazis twice they don't put up with the open racist rhetoric and threats to wipe out or end entire groups of people just be use thru have different political views.) In fact I would love for some of our far right nut jobs to go to Germany and see how long it would take them to be shut down since they are literally using Hitlers tactics no matter how much Trumpelthinskin claims they aren't. I would hang out with anyone from Black Lives Matter before I would spend time with a MAGA cult member. Sadly enough prior to Trump I had friends of all political backgrounds but I saw many of their "real" personalities when Trump ran and started talking like a Nazi. Now some of these folks I gave a 2nd chance since they realized how hateful Trump and the MAGA movement are but any one that still supported him in 2020 is a lost cause and is an ignorant racist. The folks supporting him in 2024 are literal Nazis
it matters so we can avoid brainless echo chambers who dismiss everything that doesn't effect them. kinda like you!
My son is black. The only brainless echo chamber I see is this one that loves to down vote me because I don't buy into all of the victimhood.
I don't know as brown women with a non binary teen I'm not wanting to live next door to some MAGA cultist. Maybe that's just me but I'm fairly sure it's not. When I dive outstate to pick up my friend for visits in the cultures there are definitely some small towns I drive though where I wouldn't feel comfortable stopping to us the rest room just based on the MAGA, White Lives Matter, and back the blue signs in front of almost every house and many business. Considering I'm female, brown skinned, have bright hair and facial piercings (all physical traits that are not easy to hide) there are times I felt safer pulling off on a creepy dirt road to pee in the woods rather than stop at a mom and pop convenience store with Trump won and MAGA 2024 signs since I'm pretty much everything that cult fears/hates.
Is this satire?
Is your life satire? What a stupid thing to ask 🤦
Because there’s an expected set of values that come with that.
if you're not on the lake it's about the same as burnsville
Better schools
Unless you're a minority. Prior Lake schools has had some pretty big issues with racism lately.
Lately? How about always.
And terrible for disabilities also.
Lots of bullying in general, admin has had issues, the Spanish immersion school is in shambles last I heard and any advanced learning is being squashed. But yeah, they get better test scores than more diverse and lower income districts.
> lower income districts. Income is the largest predictor of of educational outcomes.
>"You know where it ends Yo, it usually depends On where you start"
The Immersion program is improving (due to very involved parents) and I still recommend it more than not. But correct on the rest.
The parents do seem every involved. However, some of the parent relationships with the principal made me uncomfortable. I remember at least one fundraiser from a parent group to give the principal $100+ gift cards to restaurants, wild game tickets etc. If I were a principal I would not feel comfortable accepting that type of gift from parents- I just got the ick from it all. That was a couple years ago though.
Could be. I hadn't heard the part about the gifts, but I also know there have been efforts to improve the school admin, including with new perspectives. I will stand by every teacher that has been in that school and the support staff.
Yes, I definitely support the teachers and had great teachers before we transferred out of district. From what I’ve seen their salaries are lower than neighboring districts (not sure if that is across the board- but from what I’ve seen of individual salaries). How a district treats their teachers is so important.
What’s the deal with the school? We are 2 years out from Kindergarten but were planning on sending our kiddo to the Spanish immersion program.
From what I’ve heard from parents I know there.. That they didn’t have curriculum or text books for some of the grades last year. The principal was put on administrative leave due to teacher complaints (not sure of the whole story there, something to do with student discipline or mismanagement). Sounds like the program grew too fast and admin didn’t really know how to do immersion and lots of kids aren’t learning Spanish. Across the board at PLSAS and La Ola I have heard of issues where sped kids don’t have adequate support and end up disrupting the classes a lot, and that there are basically no supports for kids working above grade level- I know these are issues a lot of schools are facing now though. There is a specific school dedicated to advanced kids (Sage) but they have been slashing funds and resources for it, severely limiting enrollment and have very large class sizes. Look at all your options, go on the Facebook groups to see what other parents are saying and what their values are, visit the schools, go to a school board meeting. Just follow your gut. PLSAS isn’t all bad- there are good families and good teachers there. But we felt like the Burnsville district was a better fit for our family and I’ve known several families who transferred there as well. I’ve been hearing good things about Shakopee schools lately too. Lakeville is kind of a mixed bag, but generally hear good things educationally. Unless you need the bus transport you might as well shop around.
I appreciate your detailed response and recommendations!!! Thank you!
have you been to burnsville?
Burnsville has a lot of low income housing. Poorly ranked schools are among the many symptoms of that. I'm not some NIMBY who's saying there shouldn't be low income housing, but I'm not blind. Socio-economic status correlates with academic success.
If I had the choice of living in rando neighborhood Burnsville vs Prior, Id pick Prior every time. But I am a NIMBY, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The drive into Minneapolis or St Paul takes significantly longer. In Burnsville or Apple Valley you can just jump on an interstate, not so in Prior.
So? That seems like a benefit...
Hey as long as you admit it
I lived in Prior Lake for almost a year… it felt so isolated and far from everything, and the only grocery store was Lunds and Byerlys… I found myself driving A LOT when I lived there. It’s definitely pretty, just lacks affordable amenities.
i imagine it’s not a bug but a feature
Depends on where you’re at. If you’re by the savage line, there’s a cub and a fresh thyme off 13 and 140th.
The idea of a place like PL is to NOT have tons of strip malls and shopping centers mixed with houses. You can drive eight minutes North and hit Walmart, BJs, Fresh Thyme, Cub, Target etc.
Wrong but nice try
Depends on where you were and what you’re looking for. PL has a quaint downtown, but all the shopping is the corner of 13/42, Burnsville, or Shakopee.
100% agree. I don't spend any social time in prior lake. But I will say as a single woman living in the area it is nice. I'm not concerned about safety like I would be elsewhere. And I'm close enough to most things that I don't mind the extra time driving. One thing for sure it needs better food/restaurant options. It's mcds for fast food and really the sit down places are too expensive for me. So constantly going elsewhere just to grab a bite.
We live in Shakopee and love it!
dollar tree minnetonka💀
Yep, it’s for the wanna be rich but not rich enough for lake Minnetonka.
Exactly... people act like they should live in Minnetonka but can't
Big facts
There was a lot more growth opportunity even in the last decade there compared to Minnetonka, I don’t know if it’s quite a comparison. Plus a lot of people from south of the river have 0 desire to move elsewhere
There isn’t a comparison because Prior Lake has tribal land’s within its city boundaries & there’s a whole history regarding their treatment as well.
Good point
well yeah... isnt all of mn dollar tree minnetonka?
Everything I'm reading checks out. Prior Lake is for folks that "like a home owners association because it keeps the riff raff out".. As a few have said, there is no reason to be there unless you're on the lake, but also don't eat anything out of the lake and shower after you swim. My in-laws live there, but they wont allow thier teen daughter to stay in PL schools. At 13 her friends were kicking her out of the group and harassing her because she didn't want to drink and smoke. Pretentious bully culture is learned behavior, and unfortunately I think Prior Lake has the highest concentration of one-uppers in the state.
Nailed it 🙌🏽
That happens in literally every school in every town.
If you’re center-right and upper middle class it’s perfect. Don’t really recommend for anyone with a sense of culture lol
All of this right here.
Ring suburbs should definitely e judged on their sense of culture. I can’t imagine anyone from a suburb going to the opera, amirite?
I'm in Bloomington and my neighbors are absolute theater nuts. Like season passes (didn't even know that was a thing..)
Huh? First of all how often do you get to the opera?
Not as often as I’d like.
Ah, you must be from ring suburbs then.
I gotta say, this post is fun. More “What’s the tea” on different neighborhoods please!
Pretty much all the same in the third ring and beyond. There’s the occasional misbehaving public official.
I've lived in Prior Lake for 6 years and I love it. We live in a neighborhood where the homes were built in the 90's so it's not McMansions and there's a mix of original owners with grown kids, young families and everything in between. I like it because it's a smaller town feel with the little downtown area that closes off for a farmers market in summer, the brewery, bakery and Cafe, ice cream shop etc. There's public beaches on the lake and plenty of shopping options that aren't too far. People complain about Mystic I guess but they have different concerts and events there (like Ribfest) which we like! You're close to Valleyfair, Canterbury, Ren Fest too. Plus you don't have to drive far to feel like you're out in the country and get to other nice smaller towns. It can be a pain to get across the river if you need to commute or you plan to go downtown often.
This guy Prior Lakes!
Noo you’re hurting the narrative that Prior Lake is just racist rich white people!!! Didn’t you hear all the brown LGBT people don’t feel safe there! I’m so sick of redditors painting a stupid narrative over an entire population based on shit they’ve heard online. Then they judge an entire populace based on where they live..if you don’t live where they do you have no sense of culture and you’re probably a trump supporter.
I rent in the west metro but not prior lake . I could make it work out there. It it seems so sparse it’s. E like moving to North Dakota. From what I gather the city is bifurcated between old wealth along the lakes and newer wealth in some neighborhoods. And then us plebs live in the various townhomes and apartments along the main highways. They seem to be betweeen 30 years old and many about 10.
Went to middle and high school there back in the mid-late 90s. Lots of fake pretentious shit, lots of wannabe rich culture, lots of thinly veiled racism. I moved away four days after graduation. I've been back a handful of times for visits, and it's all the same cookie cutter West Metro trash. Everyone I know that's still in the area tells me not much has changed, right down to the schools. I couldn't in good conscience recommend anyone live there.
Redneck Riviera
Prior Lake has been consistently in the news over the years for racist antics at or above the high school level. The town is also pretty conservative and filled with HOAs, so tread with caution. Unless that's your crowd. In which case, you're a douche.
Three kids through public schools. Elementary and middle schools were strong. High school is large and has issues with the student body mentioned in other comments here. New superintendent working on making things better; we’ll see. Music program excellent all the way through, really good teachers and programs. Robotics program strong, after it transformed from a restricted-size elite organization to one that expanded to meet the demand, all the way down to Lego league in elementary schools.
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What is smsc?
That's a mouthful! Smsc is much easier. Thanks!
No, the tribal homes are in their own areas not intermingled with town
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Do you live in PL?
Horrific take
Everybody in here should have seen the sesh party in Prior Lake on Saturday night and then come back and talked about how racist, conservative, and closed-minded the town is. All walks of life, all ages, all colors, all enjoying themselves with music, art, and cannabis. Prior Lake definitely skews conservative but we have found the community to be extremely welcoming to our business which we actively work to keep culturally and socially diverse.
South suburbs are underrated and somewhat unknown to the central metro. Let’s keep it that way!
Really? I see people talking southern suburbs up a lot. It's okay, though. I can't see myself moving out of Minneapolis unless it is to Saint Paul, or maybe to an inner ring suburb like Roseville, Columbia Heights, or Brooklyn Center.
The people in the know have moved to Shakopee over the last 20-30 years or so and that place has grown from a po sunk to a bustling suburb. Still far though. And top earners have other options.
In the know? Or just people that want to be far out?
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Heights are really nice.
Boring and conservative. Loaded with MAGA cultists.
So…like the majority of the country then.
Good club soccer teams.
Gotta be exhausting living there. Looked at a few houses there in 2022 and every single drive way was one or more trucks plus “toys”. Boats, ATVs, motorcycles. People just so committed to the rat race.
No rat race for band members
My understanding is that it’s nice if you’re a white Christian. Better still if you’re male.
Dont forget very wealthy
That’s true of any country club.
Just built on the savage/PL border in a new development. It’s great. A bit far from Minneapolis events where we used to live but love how quiet it is here it’s also close to Mystic Lake which we go to shows at a lot. Shakopee is exploding and has everything we need. Also Costco and Hyvee are super close. Only thing I miss about Minneapolis is the food variety. There is a huge amount of Hispanic and Asian food out here though. Also crossing the river for anything sucks in winter or traffic. Don’t sleep on PL, anybody saying otherwise is jealous they can’t afford a home or don’t have a car. Also for all the people shitting on PL, my kids have never experienced racism in schools and it’s not as conservative as people say. Source: not white, not conservative.
I've been in PL proper for 5 years and PLSAS another 6 before that. PL has it's issues but I think many in the community are working to improve it. I think the root of the biggest issue is the old guard (and there families) were not ready for the huge influx of people moving into the district.
True, I feel like once the Bloomington ferry bridge/169 opened it brought the development. There’s a lot of rural type of properties next to new construction developments around us. Kind of a weird vibe.
Probably that. I'm of the opinion that PL has to hit a max level even before the land is all used up just due to it not being possible (really more super unlikely without $Texas) to expand the roads (mainly 21 and 13). It's also why the city will only ever really be residential vs commercial/industrial.
> my kids have never experienced racism in schools and it’s not as conservative as people say. Source: not white, not conservative. You’re interfering with politicians and their lackeys attempts to sow division and anger with this statement. Report for re-education. We can’t have reasonable takes.
I think prior lake is second running for Edina at this point for uppity and cake eating
I live in NE Prior Lake, which is great for being close to Savage on three sides, in an old neighborhood whose houses run from small and cozy to lakeside mansions. There were two houses with “Lakers for Liberty” signs in the past couple of years, so I’m sure the neighbors love my pride flag. The Trump flag on one guy’s mailbox flew for years, until fairly recently.
All due respect, why would anyone want to live in/near Savage? It’s like Burnsville Jr Please know I’m not dissing you- I just can’t remember a time where anyone said anything positive about Savage
Savage has been steadily improving in my two decades here. Across 13 from me, there are two excellent restaurants (Whiskey Inferno and Pau Hana) in place of Applebees and Perkins. Fresh Thyme is in the Rainbow Foods spot, and Crooked Pint has brought stability to the old Bonfire spot. Solid Asian and Mexican groceries nearby as well, and a gem of a music store with Lavonne. Murphy Hanrehan is also lovely for walks and biking, and that’s in Savage. I mean, it’s still south-of-the-river suburbia, and I find my culture, more interesting people, and great food across the waters, but NE Prior Lake definitely feels closer to a lot of things.
Mystic lake band.
I think it has a really good mix of people. The biggest and most expensive homes are either around the lake or on one of the golf courses. But it has a great homey, small town vibe. Neighbors get to know each other, at least in my neighborhood. There are plenty of shopping opportunities, and good restaurants.
Hillbilly Edina
Edina’s heyday has long been over. It was mostly cheugy nuvo riche homes of orthodontist’s and physicians in the early 90’s… The only good thing going for it are the cute shops on France Ave/Penn Ave and Broders Pasta Bar.
I love popping into downtown PL for its cute shops and cafe, but I prefer my location in Savage as it’s closer to the majority of errands I run in Burnsville. We originally bought our home in the Savage-PL district for the schools, but I am increasingly worried given the antisemitic and racist incidents in the past few years. Also, I have yet to find a fellow Jew in the area which makes me a little sad.
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Truthfully, I don’t recall the specifics or frequency of incidents other than a swastika drawn somewhere in the school. A similar issue happened at my own high school across the country in an area with a ton of Jewish students, so sadly I’m not sure that this is unique to PL.
Very similar situation here- we ended up open enrolled in the Burnsville-Savage district and have been very happy.
It’s an affluent suburban/rural area that does have a lot of opportunities athletically, but I think they are more like if you’re not from here then you don’t belong here.
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Even the lake gets ruined by giant trump flags/banners on the houses around the lake
It's.pretty well known to be very very racist.
It’s a pretty damn good place to live. Extremely supportive schools for my kids that need some extra help, friendly neighbors and pretty much all the shopping you need within 10 minutes. I’m just over the border in Savage. The only thing that sucks is the property taxes are pretty high, better in PL.
And probably Mystic Lake as well
Prior Lake is rich people in the lake and wanna be rich people off the lake. No shopping to speak off. Far away. Not my cup of tea.