Woodbury

Woodbury

Welcome to Woodbury, one of the biggest suburbs in the Twin Cities Metro area. Woodbury is nine miles east of St. Paul and has a population of 72,000. That makes it a fantastic mid-size city where you can access lots of shops, restaurants, and activities without having to deal with the traffic and other hassles of a large city. It also makes for an easy commute into St. Paul. Money Magazine rated Woodbury as number nine of the ten best U.S. cities to live in and if you spend any time here it’s easy to see why.

Things To Do

Woodbury has one of the largest sports facilities in the U.S. so if you or your kids are into sports there’s no better place to be. The Health East Sports Center has a 90,000 square foot field house with swimming, indoor sports facilities, and training centers. It also has outdoor hockey rinks, 36 different types of sports fields, and a handicap-accessible state of the art playground. There are also lots of other outdoor activities and great places to visit like Carver Lake Park which has a splash pad for the smaller kids, a beach, and a playground. There’s also a bike park designed to accommodate different ages and abilities so that all the kids can ride safely and it has six miles of mountain bike trails.

If you’d rather spend your time indoors there are great shopping and dining opportunities here in Woodbury. There are four large shopping centers Tamarack Village, Woodbury Lakes, Woodbury Marketplace, and Woodbury Village that house a wide range of boutiques and specialty stores as well as more standard department style stores. You can also find chain stores throughout Woodbury. Woodbury Lakes has an Alamo Draft House movie theater where you can order drinks and dinner while watching first run movies and enjoy special film events.

Housing And Schools

If you’ve got kids and you’re curious how Woodbury schools rank compared to other suburban schools you can relax knowing that Woodbury schools were ranked 12^th best in the entire state and they have an A- overall rating. Academics, sports, diversity, and other factors all play a part in the ratings, they’re not just based on academics.

Housing in Woodbury is a good mix of luxury housing and affordable townhomes and starter homes. Royal Oaks is a moderately priced neighborhood great for first time buyers or those who are looking for a home that is more affordable than updated. If you’re a DIY type and you enjoy home projects you can find some great homes at reasonable prices in the Royal Oaks area. In general you can expect to pay in the $200ks for a town home in Royal Oaks and expect single family homes to start in the low $300ks.

If you have a bigger budget and you’re looking for more square footage and more updates you will want to visit Powers Lake. This neighborhood was built in the early 2000s so it’s established and even though the homes are older most of them have been meticulously maintained and updated with luxury amenities and on-trend finishes. This is a lakefront neighborhood that sits on Powers Lake although not all the homes have waterfront access. Waterfront properties may be available depending on the inventory but that access will cost more. The homes in Powers Lake that are on the higher end of the market have a custom feel and upgraded amenities. So can expect the prices for these types of homes to start around $650k and go up to around a million dollars. Woodbury really has it all which is why it attracts a wide variety of people.