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Old 06-16-2011, 02:51 PM
 
5 posts, read 11,906 times
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anyone have any insight about the city Forest Lake? We are now thinking about being somewhat closer to the cities for job security. still looking keep feeding ideas we appreciate the feedback. another thought is White bear lake
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Old 06-17-2011, 04:33 AM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,189,627 times
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Originally Posted by northstar22 View Post
Good info, but a little nitpick on your post -- Marshall's unemployment rate is 3.5%, not 2%. It's still ridiculously low -- if you want a job in Marshall, you can find one. You can rent a 3-bedroom house for less than $600/month (but you will pay through the nose for utilities). Lake Shetek is good if you like fishing. There's a movie theater in town that shows new releases. There are a few state parks around where you can see authentic, unplowed prairie grassland. Other than that, there really isn't much to do. The weather can be crazy -- 100 degrees and sunny one day, 55 and rainy the next. Winds are usually above 30 miles per hour, especially during the winter, spring and fall.

The big downside of Marshall is that it's so isolated; there is nothing but corn and soybeans around for miles. Sioux Falls and Mankato are about 90 minutes to 2 hours away. They aren't big cities by any stretch, but they have full-service malls and they're good for little shopping trips. If you ever want to go to a large city to do something, you'll have to drive at least 3 hours to Minneapolis, St. Paul, Des Moines or Omaha. Winnipeg is a 6-hour drive away. Chicago is about 10 hours away, so is Kansas City. Denver is 12 hours. If you need to catch a flight or a train, you'll have to drive to The Cities, Sioux Falls or Omaha. You can get to the Corn Palace (a big building made out of corn -- no joke) in Mitchell, SD in about three hours. The Black Hills and Mount Rushmore are 6 hours away.
Not to nitpick about your post but our utilities in Marshall were HALF what we pay in the cities..... Marshall is as isolated as you let it be. There is plenty to do right in town or close by and an occasional trip to Sioux Falls or the Twin Cities is always a bonus. I would move back to Marshall in a heartbeat.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Buyense View Post
anyone have any insight about the city Forest Lake? We are now thinking about being somewhat closer to the cities for job security. still looking keep feeding ideas we appreciate the feedback. another thought is White bear lake
White Bear is a better choice than Forest Lake. The schools are a better, closer to the cities so less of a commute. Forest Lake is a nice area though. I think you might find, however, that you will have more job stability in some of the larger outstate towns. If you like smaller town living, companies will do a lot to attract you to work there--and keep you. It is also significantly less expensive to live an hour or more from the Twin Cities metro area.
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Old 06-17-2011, 05:19 AM
 
Location: Southern Minnesota
5,984 posts, read 13,383,777 times
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Originally Posted by golfgal View Post
Not to nitpick about your post but our utilities in Marshall were HALF what we pay in the cities..... Marshall is as isolated as you let it be. There is plenty to do right in town or close by and an occasional trip to Sioux Falls or the Twin Cities is always a bonus. I would move back to Marshall in a heartbeat.
MMU just jacked up their rates not too long ago. My heating bill was over $300 in February . . . and I just had a small apartment. I'm not sure how that compares to the Cities, but that's really high compared to what I used to pay in Michigan. Home insulation plays a huge role, too. If you rent an older, poorly insulated home, putting plastic over your windows will help keep the heat in and reduce your energy costs.

I don't have any problem with Marshall. I actually like it. It's almost like a miniature version of my hometown, right down to the university with a horse-themed mascot (I graduated from Western Michigan University, which is the "Broncos" and has the same school colors as SMSU). My main issue is the driving distance to go shopping/do "city" things. You won't notice it if you're a Great Plains native, but if you're from a more populated part of the country, the three hour drives to the Cities will seem ridiculously long -- especially during the winter. I don't consider Sioux Falls a big city. It is by South Dakota/Southwest Minnesota standards, but it wouldn't even crack the top 6 largest metros in Michigan, Illinois or Ohio, let alone somewhere like California.

Last edited by northstar22; 06-17-2011 at 05:29 AM..
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Old 06-17-2011, 09:29 AM
 
221 posts, read 1,192,443 times
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I'd encourage you to look continue looking at Grand Rapids. I used to live nearby . . . it is the regional shopping hub, so you'll find all of the chain big box stores in addition to nice local stores in town.

It is very pretty, low crime, good schools, good community college, excellent public library, very affordable.

There is a huge paper mill there which sometimes is running, sometimes not. When it is in operation the town does smell like paper mill.

If you want to look for rental housing in GR look in the fall/winter/spring - in the summertime when people come north to escape the metropolitan life employment in GR picks up - so rentals are harder to find in the summer.

If it matters to you - politics are very much on the liberal DFL (Democrat/Farm/Labor) end of the spectrum.

It's so beautiful there! Lots of fun outdoor stuff to do, great for families.

There's a wonderful local radio station in GR I still listen to on-line: KAXE.org. Give it a listen!
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Old 07-11-2011, 12:44 AM
 
4 posts, read 4,783 times
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Default About Marshall, MN

I wouldn't say that Marshall is a very VERY affordable place to live. As for jobs, my husband was out of work from June 2010-June 2011. I am from California and never wanted to live in Marshall, MN yet here I am (that's a long story). If there are three bedroom houses here for less than $600 a month that are available-I'd love for you to point me in that direction-because I have been looking to move out of this $800 dollar a month 3 bdrm modular which is sitting in a worn down, poorly taken care of mobile home park (but we had a limited amount of time and in 4 months this is all we could find). I have seen places for rent that are cheap-but they are gone very quickly and they usually rent them out to people they know. So I think it depends on who you know. And most of these houses are TINY-we couldn't even have fit a CA king size bed in the "master" bedroom. The state parks, are not impressive either. I also have two teenagers who have complained that there is nothing to do and I can easily agree. The weather IS crazy and there is always the threat of tornado's or very high winds, which this past week damaged the side of our modular-putting large holes in the siding. I realize that was written in 2008-but I just have say that I wish Marshall was as great as this person makes it sound though. Oh, and forget about sunny summer's if you come here-expect rain at least a few times a week all summer long! Hope Grand Rapids is better lol...my daughter visited Duluth and said it was okay. I prefer the Minneapolis/city area though. No matter what, I miss the beach that's for sure!This a very s-l-o-w and out of touch with the times place to live. It's really best for old people who just like to stay home or get out once in a while and take a long boring drive with boring scenery. Oh..and a lot of Minnesota smells like manure (because of all of the farming).

[quote=northstar22;19620432]Good info, but a little nitpick on your post -- Marshall's unemployment rate is 3.5%, not 2%. It's still ridiculously low -- if you want a job in Marshall, you can find one. You can rent a 3-bedroom house for less than $600/month (but you will pay through the nose for utilities). Lake Shetek is good if you like fishing. There's a movie theater in town that shows new releases. There are a few state parks around where you can see authentic, unplowed prairie grassland. Other than that, there really isn't much to do. The weather can be crazy -- 100 degrees and sunny one day, 55 and rainy the next. Winds are usually above 30 miles per hour, especially during the winter, spring and fall.
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Old 07-17-2011, 12:42 PM
 
429 posts, read 1,146,780 times
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I grew up in California and moved to Minnesota in my 30's. The culture's quite different (not better or worse, just different) and moreso as you move farther out from the cities. I lived in several towns before eventually choosing Woodbury. It's similar in mindset to California with a friendly, diverse culture but without the high crime and low level of community services that have befallen many California cities. Check it out, and welcome!
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Old 07-19-2011, 02:09 AM
 
Location: U.S.A.
92 posts, read 249,202 times
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I would suggest living a bit closer to Minneapolis than Grand Rapids. Yeah, defenitly don't move that far up unless you want to be in the middle of no where. Especially if you have 3 teenagers what do you expect them to do up there?

If you want remote rural living with alot of misquitos and beauitful nature than this is your location


Yeah i just read a couple people's posts of them trying to convince you to move to this wonderful town, I would say don't listen to them. Theres seriosuly no point to living up there unless you own a cabin or are an extreme outdoorsmen.
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Old 07-21-2011, 05:47 AM
 
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Well, my husband's new job cut him down to 2 days a week. He started out good at 5-6 days full time. He is having to drive an hour and a half OUT of Marshall for extra work with his company. Besides that, with the government shut down-you can't even access the minnesotaworks.net website to hunt for jobs-which many employers usually use. *sighs* We are moving out of this $800 dollar a month modular. If anybody else an afford it-good luck. Expect to pay trash, electric, gas, water/sewer, cable and internet or you will be bored out of your mind. We are going to hunt for that miracle 3 bedroom for 600 or less a month that someone else keeps claiming is here. So far, I still cannot find one! 15-20 miles away there might be! We just cannot afford this place anymore-especially not having decent hours for work. The utilities are cheaper here than they were for us in Oregon-where it only snowed may two inches a year and never got below 25 degrees in the winter. You know what else is not fair? We asked about a rental down the road and the manager told us it was $600 for this single-wide mobile. Yet, he rented it out to some young woman for only $500. That just isn't right. We don't know what we will end up in. It just has to be cheaper than this place. The houses that are listed right now are 1,000 for a nice three bedroom, two bath in Marshall. A 3bd, 2ba duplex for $675, and a 2 bd for $600. In Garvin (about 15 miles away) there is a 3bd for $600 listed. There are a couple 2 bedrooms for $650, one is here, one is in Cottonwood. That's it. You also have to figure that since all of the budget cuts, HUD has lowered the payment standard for all families, forcing them to pay the increase or move into smaller, cheaper units. A 3-5 person family no longer qualifies for a 3bdrm voucher, no matter the sex or age of the children. They only qualify for a two bedroom. What is happening, is that many people cannot afford to move. So they pay the difference in the increase in rent. This means less money into the economy-and into the landlord/owner's pockets. This also means-cheap rentals, gone in a heartbeat.

At least Marshall HAS a movie theatre. But new movies are out elsewhere WEEKS before they get to this movie theatre-so that part sucks. My daughter has a ton of friends and they ALL complain that there is nothing to do here-so they all hang out at my house.
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Old 07-21-2011, 11:35 AM
 
Location: Southern Minnesota
5,984 posts, read 13,383,777 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fireflybuzzing View Post
We are going to hunt for that miracle 3 bedroom for 600 or less a month that someone else keeps claiming is here. So far, I still cannot find one!
I'm moving out of my 3-bedroom house in Marshall in a few days. It will still rent for $575. Send me a PM if you're interested.
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Old 07-21-2011, 12:13 PM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,189,627 times
Reputation: 10694
Quote:
Originally Posted by fireflybuzzing View Post
Well, my husband's new job cut him down to 2 days a week. He started out good at 5-6 days full time. He is having to drive an hour and a half OUT of Marshall for extra work with his company. Besides that, with the government shut down-you can't even access the minnesotaworks.net website to hunt for jobs-which many employers usually use. *sighs* We are moving out of this $800 dollar a month modular. If anybody else an afford it-good luck. Expect to pay trash, electric, gas, water/sewer, cable and internet or you will be bored out of your mind. We are going to hunt for that miracle 3 bedroom for 600 or less a month that someone else keeps claiming is here. So far, I still cannot find one! 15-20 miles away there might be! We just cannot afford this place anymore-especially not having decent hours for work. The utilities are cheaper here than they were for us in Oregon-where it only snowed may two inches a year and never got below 25 degrees in the winter. You know what else is not fair? We asked about a rental down the road and the manager told us it was $600 for this single-wide mobile. Yet, he rented it out to some young woman for only $500. That just isn't right. We don't know what we will end up in. It just has to be cheaper than this place. The houses that are listed right now are 1,000 for a nice three bedroom, two bath in Marshall. A 3bd, 2ba duplex for $675, and a 2 bd for $600. In Garvin (about 15 miles away) there is a 3bd for $600 listed. There are a couple 2 bedrooms for $650, one is here, one is in Cottonwood. That's it. You also have to figure that since all of the budget cuts, HUD has lowered the payment standard for all families, forcing them to pay the increase or move into smaller, cheaper units. A 3-5 person family no longer qualifies for a 3bdrm voucher, no matter the sex or age of the children. They only qualify for a two bedroom. What is happening, is that many people cannot afford to move. So they pay the difference in the increase in rent. This means less money into the economy-and into the landlord/owner's pockets. This also means-cheap rentals, gone in a heartbeat.

At least Marshall HAS a movie theatre. But new movies are out elsewhere WEEKS before they get to this movie theatre-so that part sucks. My daughter has a ton of friends and they ALL complain that there is nothing to do here-so they all hang out at my house.
That is NOT true....


Also, try living in the Twin Cities-your $800/month would get you a dump in the worst part of Minneapolis
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