Rural areas commutable to Twin Cities (St. Paul, Bloomington: new house, neighborhoods, construction)

[polaris4455]

Im moving to the twin cities area in the near future and im looking for a smaller town, are there any towns commutable to the cities (within an hours commute) that are more rural as opposed to many of the suburban areas

[pollywannacracker]

are you interested in the minneapolis side of town or st paul. For St. Paul you could probably consider Hastings, it is kind of a cute town right on the river.

[wil45]

There's Hutchinson...A cute rural town with some nice old buildings...

[golfgal]

Elko and Cannon Falls come to mind. They are both smaller towns, although growing, that are pretty rural. Both have a central downtown area and spread out from there. A lot of the new construction in Elko is on larger, acre+ lots.

Hutchinson is a great town too.

How small do you want to go? Henderson is close to that hour commute but a cute river town.

[hchermak]

Buffalo or Maple Plain are under 1 hour west, those aren't bad.

[Hoosier]

Originally Posted by polaris4455

Im moving to the twin cities area in the near future and im looking for a smaller town, are there any towns commutable to the cities (within an hours commute) that are more rural as opposed to many of the suburban areas

It really depends greatly on where you will be commuting to. I live on the northwest side of the cities and commute to Bloomington. I wouldn't wish my commute on anyone...well maybe one of my co-workers. If you could give us an idea of where I betcha you'd get some great ideas! There are so many wonderful small towns all around the cities.

[chilaili]

Take the country roads from St Paul to Bayport south of I-95. That will take you thro places like Afton, Lakeland and Lakeland Shores along the St Croix Trail. Going north of I-95 takes you thro Lake Elmo and Siegel. All this area is rural and quite pretty. And if you want really rural, try across the border in places like Somerset, WI.

[30cent]

I am in kind of the same boat. My wife and i work in E.P. and Bloomington. we are looking at Waconia anybody have any thoughts on this city?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by 30cent

I am in kind of the same boat. My wife and i work in E.P. and Bloomington. we are looking at Waconia anybody have any thoughts on this city?

We considered Waconia when we moved to the cities. It is a lovely town on the lake with older neighborhoods, mature trees, etc. It was just too far of a commute for DH in Bloomington (by the Mall of America). It would be someplace we would consider for retirement some day though.

[Camden Northsider]

some great small towns off of highway 12 west of the cities - waverly, howard lake, winsted are some neat little towns, waverly's about 35 - 40 minute drive to the cities, rush hour will take a little longer but they are expanding the highway (maybe turning it into interstate?-not sure) all the way up to this area which will make the commute much more easy/ doable. New houses are being built in these areas in developments but it is still pretty small town/ rural. St. Bonifacius (spelling?) is another neat little town, this isn't far from Waconia.