- 1Edina, MN
Edina is home to Southdale Center, which opened in 1956 as the first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in the United States — architect Victor Gruen designed it specifically to bring a European-style indoor town square to a Minnesota suburb that had to contend with brutal winters, and the concept went on to reshape American retail development for the rest of the 20th century. The city's public schools have consistently ranked among the strongest in Minnesota, and Edina's residential streets, built out substantially through the mid-20th century as one of the Twin Cities' earliest planned suburbs, have kept a reputation as one of the more consistently affluent communities in the entire Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. Edina's Country Club neighborhood, developed in the 1920s around a private golf club and built with unusually strict architectural covenants for its era, remains one of the more historically preserved planned residential districts anywhere in the Twin Cities. Edina's combination of hosting the literal birthplace of the modern indoor shopping mall, consistently top-ranked schools, and well-preserved early-20th-century planned neighborhoods has made it one of the most historically significant and consistently desirable suburbs anywhere in the greater Minneapolis area.
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0 - 2Wayzata, MN
Wayzata sits on the northern shore of Lake Minnetonka, one of the largest and most developed recreational lakes in the entire Twin Cities region, and its compact downtown along Lake Street has built a genuine small-town lakefront character around boating, sailing, and waterfront dining. The city's history as a lake resort destination dates back to the late 19th century, when wealthy Minneapolis families began building summer estates along Minnetonka's shoreline specifically to escape the city heat, a pattern that established the area's enduring reputation as one of the more exclusive lakefront addresses in the entire state. Wayzata's historic railroad depot, built in 1906 for what was then the Great Northern Railway, has been preserved and repurposed as a public building along the lakefront, giving the small city's walkable downtown a direct architectural link back to its resort-town origins. Wayzata's combination of direct Lake Minnetonka waterfront access, a genuine 19th-century lake-resort history, and a walkable, well-preserved historic downtown has made it one of the most consistently desirable and expensive small lakefront communities anywhere in the greater Minneapolis metropolitan area.
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0 - 3Eden Prairie, MN
Eden Prairie sits along the Minnesota River valley southwest of Minneapolis, and it's grown since the 1970s and '80s from a largely agricultural township into one of the larger and more corporate-employment-dense suburbs in the entire Twin Cities metro area, home to a substantial concentration of corporate offices along the Highway 212 and Interstate 494 corridors. The city's extensive park and trail system, including Eden Prairie's own portion of the Minnesota River Bluffs regional trail network, has given the rapidly developed suburb a substantial amount of preserved natural space relative to its overall commercial and residential growth. Eden Prairie's public schools have consistently ranked among the strongest in Minnesota, a reputation that's been a significant driver of the city's sustained residential growth even as its commercial corridors have simultaneously expanded to accommodate a growing corporate employment base. Eden Prairie's combination of substantial corporate office development, an extensive preserved trail and park network along the Minnesota River valley, and consistently top-ranked schools has made it one of the more economically and recreationally balanced suburbs anywhere in the greater Minneapolis area.
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0 - 4Minnetonka, MN
Minnetonka takes its name from the lake it borders, though the city itself sits primarily inland from Lake Minnetonka's main body along smaller connected bays, giving it a somewhat different, less exclusively lakefront-focused character than neighboring Wayzata despite the shared name. Ridgedale Center, one of the larger enclosed shopping malls in the western Twin Cities suburbs, anchors a substantial commercial corridor that's made Minnetonka a significant regional retail destination alongside its residential development. The city has built an extensive network of paved trails connecting its parks and neighborhoods, including segments along Purgatory Creek and several smaller lakes within its borders, giving residents substantial recreational green space distributed throughout the community rather than concentrated in a single large park. Minnetonka's combination of Lake Minnetonka-adjacent geography, significant regional retail anchored by Ridgedale Center, and an extensive internal trail and park network has made it one of the larger and more consistently desirable suburbs anywhere in the western Twin Cities metro area.
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0 - 5St. Louis Park, MN
St. Louis Park sits directly west of Minneapolis, close enough to the city that it functions almost as a close-in urban neighborhood as much as a traditional suburb, and its position along both Highway 100 and several Twin Cities rail lines has made it one of the more consistently convenient commuter suburbs for residents working in downtown Minneapolis. The West End, a large mixed-use development combining office towers, retail, and entertainment venues, opened in the 2010s on former industrial land along Interstate 394, giving the city a significant modern commercial and entertainment district well beyond its historically more modest suburban retail base. The city has built a reputation for religious and cultural diversity relative to some of its neighboring suburbs, with a historically significant Jewish community that's shaped several long-standing local institutions, alongside a broader and increasingly diverse population reflecting the Twin Cities' overall demographic changes in recent decades. St. Louis Park's combination of close proximity to downtown Minneapolis, the substantial modern West End development, and a historically diverse community has made it one of the more urban-feeling and consistently convenient suburbs anywhere in the immediate Minneapolis metro area.
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0 - 6Excelsior, MN
Excelsior is one of the smallest incorporated cities on Lake Minnetonka, and its walkable downtown along Water Street has preserved a concentration of small, independently owned shops and restaurants that's given the tiny lakefront city an outsized reputation as one of the more charming small towns anywhere in the Twin Cities metro area. The city's history as a 19th-century steamboat resort destination is still visible in its lakefront layout, and the Steamboat Minnehaha, a restored historic vessel, operates seasonally out of Excelsior Commons park, offering public rides on the same lake the boat once served as passenger transportation across generations ago. Excelsior's compact size — under one square mile — has kept its downtown genuinely walkable in a way most of its larger, more car-dependent Twin Cities suburban neighbors aren't, and its lakefront Commons park gives residents and visitors direct public beach and dock access right at the edge of the downtown business district. Excelsior's combination of a preserved 19th-century steamboat-resort history, a genuinely walkable small-town downtown, and direct public Lake Minnetonka access has made it one of the most distinctively charming small lakefront communities anywhere in the greater Minneapolis metropolitan area.
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