Moving to Mt Lake in Sept (Mankato, St. James: real estate market, homes, school district)

[krjmagnolia3]

Hi,
My family and I are moving to Mt Lake MN in Sept 2007 from Alabama, and would like some info good or bad if anyone can help.

[golfgal]

Why there? It is a small town in South Central MN, part of a combined school district with 3 or 4 other town. Not much there. It is close to Windom but there isn't much there either.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Yeah, I had to look that one up. I'm sure it is a stereotypical Minnesota town. Looking on Wikipedia, it was settled by 1,800 Russian Mennonites. Hope you find some actual info.

[krjmagnolia3]

my husband and I are already from a small town in Alabama, so why do you feel that Mt lake is not so good? Karen in bama

[golfgal]

I didn't say it was bad, just a really small town kind of in the middle of nowhere. Other then just driving through the general area I don't know much about the actual town. It just isn't a town you normally here people from out of state moving into.

[krjmagnolia3]

Thanks for the info we hope we like it when we get there, how is the weather in those parts around mt Lake?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by krjmagnolia3

Thanks for the info we hope we like it when we get there, how is the weather in those parts around mt Lake?

Hot in the summer, cold in the winter and windy most of the time. It is pretty much flat open country so the wind does blow quite a bit. If you get a heavy snowfall plan on Interstate 90 being closed for some of it. My guess is that you will find very nice people, neighborly come on over and have a beer with us type of people. Most of your shopping will happen in Sioux Falls, SD or Mankato, MN but Windom will have everyday things you need if they don't have it in Mountain Lake. I know they are paired with Butterfield but I can't remember all the other schools. YOu will get used to all the acronyms for the various combined schools in that area. If I remember correctly they had a pretty good either Volleyball or Basketball team not long ago--did well in the state tournament.

[windtimber]

I'm from SoDak but my in-laws are from Mountain Lake. It's not a bad little town...the real estate market seems very soft so there should be some reasonably priced homes available. It's small town living, no question about that, with limited retail businesses. There is a nice drug store/pharmacy, grocer, hardware store/oil company, and a few other shops, but nothing comprehensive. It's an easy drive to Windom [west] and St. James [east] which have more developed retail areas. My neices and nephews seem to have gotten an adequate education - they've gone on to college and work without trouble. Sure, it's no exciting metropolis, but who wants that?