What about St. Michael? (Buffalo: commute, cities, places)

[Minnehahapolitan]

Yeah, Albertville is not the quaint, sentimental town that any Iowan is used to. If you want an actual, bona fide town take 212. 55 or 12 out of The Cities. There is a nice railroad town every ten miles. Those are towns, Albertville is an exurb. The commute wouldn't be that much worse either. If I am right in thinking this job is at the Target building on 394 after Wirth Park, Albertville is equidistant with Delano or Montrose. They are killer commutes, but if you are going to commute you will at least get more of the small town feeling you want in those towns.

[moving123456]

Check out the Mound area. It is a nice smaller sized town of about 10,000 people on Lake Minnetonka with a real downtown area. The commute is not bad around the lake on CR 15 to 394.

[Not Iowa]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Farmington is ok. There are areas of Farmington that are in the 196 school district and I would look for houses there if possible. I personally wouldn't buy a house in the Farmington district when you can go a mile away and be in the 196 district (Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eagan).

I agree. 196 is a fantastic school district. If you can find your niche here, you would have the best of all worlds.

[QueenBee]

You'd asked about Andover. I live in Coon Rapids, just south of Andover and know lots of people who live there. I have heard nothing but great things about it. Lots of younger families and kids. Also, district 11 has a huge homeschooling population. Many, many co-ops and other opportunities.

The only downside to Andover, I think, would be the commute. It's do-able but it could get long. Andover is one of the only suburbs with no direct highway access, so traffic would be an issue for sure. Probably around 45 minutes or so for your husband's commute.

[zoohoo]

Also, consider Delano. With the new roads being completed...your commute will be relatively easy. If you live in the St. Michael area, you will have to fight down the 94 corridor and it is a mess. Delano also has an excellent school district (Rated as one of the top 10), and the small town feel. Very affordable no matter what price range you are looking for.

[knke0402]

I have lived in St. Michael my whole life and this is what I can say:

St. Michael is a great city. The city officials have their heads on straight, and are pushing the city forward into a great direction, similar to what Maple Grove did in the early 1980s. It should be said that the community is more of like St. Michael-Albertville, as the city limits of St Mike surround Albertville almost, they share school districts, and shopping and recreation is done by crossing borders and you can never notice. St Mike has a lot of potential too, its still a growing place, and has been hit pretty hard by foreclosures and commercial development slow down (but where hasnt it?) Its a community that is a bedroom community, where most people work in the metro and are only in St. Michael to sleep and bring kids to schools. Now here's my other topic, schools.

STMA school district will have built 4 brand new schools from 2000-2009, inlcuding the states newest, largest, and most expensive high school, opening in 2009. It has great sports programs (the area is KNOWN for wrestling across the country) I have been bred through STMA athletics and all the coaches and parents are class acts. The education is great, they are strict, but its for a good reason, to keep kids in line. They have great test scores, and great teachers, who strive to deliever great education.

The roads are all being redone currently as ST Mike is now encroaching into its ACTION section of the Comp Plan, meaning **** is going to start getting done.

People arent too politically concerned, and culturally, the city isnt much. It once was, thirving on German heritage, as up until the 1950s German was fluent in the town, even having a German newspaper. There once was Saurkraut Days or something , but the AXED that once all the Newbies from the "Cities" moved into their generic neighborhoods, and generic homes.

The commute does suck, but what most newbies dont understand is that there ARE backroads, that are JUST as fast , even faster. Everyone just flocks to the interstate and it gets jammed up. If you work in Plymouth you can get to st michael in 15 minutes with backroads.

Commute times (i know, ive done all over 100 times)

St Mike -St Cloud: 75 mph- 35 minutes
St Mike - Maple Grove: 75 mph - 12 minutes
St Mike - Brainerd: - 75 mph - 120 minutes
St Mike - DT MPLS: 75 mph - 25 minutes
St Mike - Elk River: 15 minutes
St Mike - Bloomington:75 mph - 35 minutes
of course, all these times are without traffic, which is pretty rare now days in the TC metro, there TRAFFIC ALL THE DAMN TIME NOW!
but, mnDOt did aprove for 3rd freeway lane to be added from Rogers to Monticello, both east and westbound to be done by 2010.

Bottom line: the area is great. Great schools, great families, great homes, great kids. Downfalls is that there isnt much dining and fun things to do, but its a bedroom community, just a place to live, go have fun in the Twin Cities which are a 20 min. drive away.
Also, prices are a lot cheaper for everything since St Mike is in Wright County, but its also on the Hennepin County border, so its like being in Hennpein, but getting to pay the cheaper Wright County taxes.

Close to the outlet mall, best movie theater in the state(IMAX), lots of pretty farmland, near the Crow River, nice golf courses, nice parks, and a quick drive to TWINS games.

[knke0402]

Another things with St. Michael: It has a huge land area. I had friends who lived on BeeBee Lake, which seemed like a cabin, and then friends that lived on Fox Hallow Golf Course, which seemed like a giant home in Edina, and it was a 15 minute drive to each others homes.

The city has a nice trail system too, great for walking and biking, and its scenic, where you dont see much of the city at all.

Oh yeah, and another thing, there is almost NO crime here. NONE, maybe because at any given moment there are at LEAST 15 squad cars within the ST. Michael, ALBERTVILLE, city limits...

[knke0402]

Originally Posted by Moncriefjj

I think you might have to give up the idea of "living in a small town" if you want to be in a reasonable commuting distance to your husband's office. As someone else said, these outlying suburbs may look small on paper, but they're really just smaller suburbs on the cutting edge of development. In five years or less, there won't be anything at all "small town" about them. I think you'd find more stability and peace in a suburb like Golden Valley than a fake "small town" like St. Michael. Just my two cents.

Golden Valley? HA! Golden Valley is garbage, there is nothing GOLDEN about it. You can HAVE Golden Valley, with all its crime and thugs, with the exception of Wirth Golf Course, and Park, Golden Valley is trash

Fake Small Town? How do you figure? ST MICHAEL is the apitamy of a small town. I lived there just 10 years ago when it was a great rural farming community. I think the 4 way intersection that makes "downtown" St. Michael depicts a perfect "small town" A Historically known church that is 8 stories tall sits on one corner, a former small town Cafe (used to be best food in town, with the small town atmosphere, now sits a Snap Fitness) the other corner is the "Corner bar" which is a building from 1890s, and is on National historic register, and the other corner has a Catholic School. And then the main street is specaled with small town..Like...Local newspaper building, a LEGION, an elemenetary school ,a community ed building, a dairy queen. I dont get why you call it fake?

Is it because a bunch of developers offered MILLIONS to struggling farmers for acerage, and in turn built generic cookie cutter homes on the hills in the 1990s? Its still a very small town, where you see Combines and other John Deeres driving through Main Street, with 15 BMWs, Tahoes, and other White Collar pricks shaking their fists out the window.

Its funny, because all the newbies hate the old ST MIKE ways, like tractors on the streets, and manure smell once and awhile, but its like hey. if you dont like it, move out. we were here first.

[knke0402]

Originally Posted by moma24

Thanks so much for all of the information! For the time being we are going to rent a house until we can get a feel for each of the neighborhoods. We were able to get a nine month lease, bringing us to the middle of summer. That should be plenty of time to check things out before we buy. Then we will also be able to look into houses over 250K, hopefully up to 300k.

I do realize that I am not going to replace what I have in rural Iowa. I am looking forward to the opportunities that my family will gain. It is just a matter of getting used to it I guess. We will just look at it as our newest adventure!

You have all been very nice, I hope this is just an indication of the nice people we will meet in Minnesota!

Oh yeah, and you can find HUGE HUGE brand new homes in ST Michael for $215,000 right now if youre looking to buy. such good deals, these homes were once priced at $280,000 -$350,000

[knke0402]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

Saint Michael's population may be small, but it is a small suburb, not a Main Street, Iowa like town. I would personally tell you to look into Hopkins, a sinch of a commute, relatively inexpensive, good schools, a bona fide Main Street and a good community.

I wouldnt call 17,000 small. Especiall if you count Albertville's 7,000, and Otsego's 17,000. That makes up a pretty large area of about 40,000 people in a land size simiar to an Andover-Anoka-Ramsey.