Stillwater or St. Paul for a black family? (best neighborhood, schools)

[Cruz Azul Guy]

It depends where though. The Mississippi is actually very clean before the Minnesota River runs into it.

[west336]

Except for the occasional floating dead body, now and again...

[iNviNciBL3]

Both Cities and the whole metro area itself is accepting towards people of different race and religion. Everyone gets treated the same. Plenty of Black families live and Stillwater and Saint Paul.

A friend of mine who is Muslim moved here from the South because he and his family kept getting harassed. He said when he moved to Minnesota he felt more accepted. people treat him like any other person, he said he really loved how the locals really accept there cities building Islamic Centers versus his old place in Tennessee where the locals were furious about the idea of a Islamic center being built (this was actually on CNN).

But now more about the two cities

Stillwater is very unique its a pretty mid sized town about 20,000 people live there bet the Downtown area is pretty packed during the weekends with tourist from the area.

Saint Paul is where i would go. More going on and centrally located. easier drive to the Mall Of America. Valley Fair. MN Zoo and Minneapolis compared to Stillwater

[sammybitsey]

Sad that this is even an issue for any family in the USA!!! With Bi-racial grandchildren, I get it. We haven't had an issue...yet...but it is something that weighs on our hearts. We live in Oakdale and have family also in Stillwater. Get the job, tour the schools!!!!

[Beenhere4ever]

In the last 10-20 years, black families have moved into nearly every suburb. I'd choose geographically. But if you move into St. Paul, choose a nice neighborhood of which there are many. Look at a crime map and avoid the areas that show lots of violent or property crimes. May be cheaper to live there, but not worth it IMO.

[west336]

You know, Stillwater needs more black folks (any good people for that matter), so please move in and assimilate and get back to us and let us know how it went. I'm sure you'll do fine anywhere!

[keri578]

I went to High School in Stillwater. In my grad class there were about 10 black people total, in the whole school, probably about 30. The thing is, no one in Stillwater is necessarily "racist" per say, but the black kids pretty much stick together. It's not because they aren't accepted, it's almost an unwritten rule that they just choose to do so. They ate lunch at the same table together, hung out in the same hallways together and just did their own thing. (Same with the Asian students) Stillwater is a nice town, with everything you could ever need and better schools, but like many people mentioned, there is more diversity in Saint Paul. The schools in Saint Paul, like Johnson HS for example (definitely not one of the better schools), are about 30/30/30 when it comes to black, white and asian students, and then 10% other races. There are many parts of Saint Paul however with high crime rates. Stay out of East St. Paul and Frogtown/Midway areas. Roseville is nice and borders the midway/frogtown area. I don't know the stats on their school system though. There are some other nice areas just outside of Saint Paul that have decent schools, Oakdale has Tartan High which is decent and Oakdale has many nice neighborhoods. Oakdale isn't quite as diverse as Saint Paul but more diverse than Stillwater.. kind of a happy medium?

Either way, whichever area you decide, you won't face any of the same stuff as in Idaho. There are far more people in MN who aren't racist than who are.

[trackstar13]

I don't even think this is a question, St. Paul is a much better than Stillwater for diverse family.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by track2514

I don't even think this is a question, St. Paul is a much better than Stillwater for diverse family.

I guess it depends on if you want diversity or acceptance....the OP said acceptance. Stillwater will be just fine if they want great schools, a nice community and a good place to work and live. If they want crappy schools with diversity, St. Paul is the answer.

[asitshouldbe]

St. Paul would be the best choice.