Smaller towns in Southern MN? (Minneapolis, Rochester: health insurance, for sale, jobs)

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by mmm19562001

I would like to move to Ortonville however I can't find any web site or phone listing for apartment rental there. Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow. My Dad grew up in Ortonville, and his dad grew up in Big Stone City SD just across the border on the south end of Big Stone Lake.

It's a very nice little town -- I love the park in the center, although when we visited there a few years ago they'd cut down a lot of the big trees (or maybe a storm knocked them down). But the stone bridge and stairs going up the hill are really cool! :-)

[bobloblaw]

Originally Posted by weerheimj

My husband and I are interested in moving to a smaller town in Southern/SouthWestern Minnesota. This will happen in about a year, but i'm trying to do some homework. Does anybody know anything about New Ulm, Willmar, Albert Lea? Are there any other smaller towns we should be looking at? Right now we are pretty interested in Albert Lea, but would love to hear some feedback! I'm pretty new to this so i'm really sorry if something like this has already been posted!

Thank you for any advice you may offer!

My hometown is almost equal distances to Marshall, Willmar and New Ulm so I know these towns well and I also currently live in Albert Lea.

Marshall is a nice little college town, quite, but not much there. It's far from any larger cities and shopping is not great. I think the school system is supposed to be pretty good but it's also located more in a flat prairie area so fewer trees.

Willmar is a nice town located near a couple nice lakes and it's growing. It's close enough to St. Cloud for shopping but I think crime is a bit higher than average there for the size of the town.

New Ulm is a very cute town with many beautiful old brick houses, quiet and quiant. Very scenic and driving distance from Mankato, which is a good sized city with lots to offer.

Albert Lea is a gorgeous little town but a bit smaller than the others. The whole town is built around lakes, which are beautiful! It has wonderful parks and is only about an 45 minutes from the southern suburbs of the Cities.

I also lived in the TC for a while and S. MN is surely not as cultured but people here are more laid back, have known eachother for years and would do anything to help eachother out. I would suggest looking into New Ulm, Mankato or Albert Lea rather than Marshall and Willmar but it's all about what you are looking for.

[derrick_debaere9009]

Willmar n Marshall r nice but u might also wanna think about Montevideo smaller than Willmar n Marshall but just as nice

[Brockage]

Not to add to your research, but if you're after a small town, at least look at Windom or for a slightly larger one, Worthington -- others abound in southern "Minnahsoda" -- Fairmont, say, or tiny Madelia -- they're all worth looking at, because for the most part, they have retained their character and are close enough to Mankato so you'll have all the services you need within reasonable distance. Good luck in your move.

[jonasjff]

Originally Posted by weerheimj

My husband and I are interested in moving to a smaller town in Southern/SouthWestern Minnesota. This will happen in about a year, but i'm trying to do some homework. Does anybody know anything about New Ulm, Willmar, Albert Lea? Are there any other smaller towns we should be looking at? Right now we are pretty interested in Albert Lea, but would love to hear some feedback! I'm pretty new to this so i'm really sorry if something like this has already been posted!

Thank you for any advice you may offer!

Hello...

I moved to So. MN. a little over a year ago. Even though I am from a small town, and have lived in towns/cities of all sizes, get ready for culture shock!

There are a lot of opinions being given, and I agree with most all of them. But, I do see things from a different perspective than many people.

To truely be of assistance to you, I would suggest you post a little of your background (where you are currently from), and what are you looking for in a small town. Are you self-employed, looking for employment, retired? Have small children, teen-agers??? What do you need to be happy in your surroundings? Everything you need can be found in the area, but not necessarily all in one place.

PS...others have mentioned "the cities"...they are referring to Minneapolis/St. Paul...so ya know

[srands]

Hello, I just moved back to the twin cities from my 2 year nightmare of living in Westbrook , MN which is located in the middle of marshall, Windom, Worthington. I should of done my homework before I ever bought a house there. I got sucked in by a beautiful house for 60,000. Without thinking about anything else. My house is still sitting there unoccupied for sale. Want to buy a house? Anyways to make a long story short. If you like driving 40 minutes to any shopping places or restaraunts then you will be fine. I put almost 60,000 miles on my car in less than 2 years. Marshall is okay but houses are high buck. There is a walmart there at least. You go 30 miles and you hit tracy and walnut grove which the population is hmong. Worthington is all mexican. What I figured out basically if you are not farmers you really dont have any reason to be out there! Take in consideration the winters are brutual, roads are horrifying! Its flat country and there are huge drifts in the roads.Roads do not get the same attention as the twin cities. some roads dont get plowed at all!! I would look up north instead of south! Just another comment. Small towns are clicky and if you are not born and raised there, you are an outsider, its very tough to get jobs and any breaks. Not to mention check out sex offenders list!

[srands]

Originally Posted by lukeache

My fiance is from Faribault and I know Southern Minnesota quite well. I would think twice before moving to any of the towns mentioned. The problem with Southern Minnesota generally speaking is that, it is overall very backwards, religious, ignorant and hick. Also, towns like Owatonna, Faribault and Waseca have fast growing Hispanic populations and there is racial tension between Whites and Hispanics in those towns, If I had to choose a town, I would probably live in Faribault, but it is a town with no culture, and absolutely nothing to do! If you dont mind living around tons of ignorant, narrow-minded and uneducated people, then Faribault or Owatonna are the best choices IMO

"Thank god there is someone else who feels the same"

[Isaysos]

Originally Posted by srands

Hello, I just moved back to the twin cities from my 2 year nightmare of living in Westbrook , MN which is located in the middle of marshall, Windom, Worthington. I should of done my homework before I ever bought a house there. I got sucked in by a beautiful house for 60,000. Without thinking about anything else. My house is still sitting there unoccupied for sale. Want to buy a house? Anyways to make a long story short. If you like driving 40 minutes to any shopping places or restaraunts then you will be fine. I put almost 60,000 miles on my car in less than 2 years. Marshall is okay but houses are high buck. There is a walmart there at least. You go 30 miles and you hit tracy and walnut grove which the population is hmong. Worthington is all mexican. What I figured out basically if you are not farmers you really dont have any reason to be out there! Take in consideration the winters are brutual, roads are horrifying! Its flat country and there are huge drifts in the roads.Roads do not get the same attention as the twin cities. some roads dont get plowed at all!! I would look up north instead of south! Just another comment. Small towns are clicky and if you are not born and raised there, you are an outsider, its very tough to get jobs and any breaks. Not to mention check out sex offenders list!

Like I said, Marshall (or near by) would be basically the only town worth looking at if you are in SW Minnesota. It is real nice if you like the small town, but has all of the basic ammenities you would need, so you dont need to drive out of town much. (Super Wal-Mart, Shopko, K-Mart, Menards (soon) Applebees, Perkins, a few large grocery stores, almost any chain restaurants you can think of. A nice hospital and university, nice schools, and a new YMCA, two golf courses, pool, many parks, private schools, movie theater, and what not. Has everything from Mc Mansions, to smaller homes and condos. Most people are white, but there are many diverse ethnic groups from all types for a small time (Samalians, Indian(Hindu), Mexican, Asian, etc) There are even hindi and mexican grocery stores downtown that cator to these groups, or anyone else interestd. Yes, the housing is a little pricey for the area in Marshall, but I think it would be worth it compared to living in a place like Westbrook. In SW minnesota, Marshall blows any other town out of the water so to speak, so I would check it out if you are looking at that area. Its also constantly growing, slowly but surley, so if you want to sell there, it shouldnt be a problem (hence the higher home prices). I have lived in Marshall off an on over the years, and it has more than met my expectations, Im sad to leave in December, but am moving back to my hometown of Chicago for a job. Marshall is kind of a "micro-politan" area of sorts. Oh, I forgot to mention they just re-did their downtowns main street and it looks awsome! Thats my 2 cents on SW Minnesota. Not as bad as people say, if you choose the right areas.

[derrick_debaere9009]

Montevideo is another town worth looking at the housing isnt a spendy as Marshall are schools r pretty good we just opened a new superwalmart there is lots of jobs to choose from like manufacturing retail clinic/ hospital since we are opening a new clinic/hospital in 09 although Monte is diverse as Marshall we have a pretty good sized mexican/honduran population as well as many other kinds of ethinic groups here too. the area in and around Montevideo is growing as well

[weerheimj]

Wow,

Thanks for all the responses!! It's given me alot to think about!
Basically my husband is finishing up school to be a specialized type of chiropractor in about a year. Our dream has always been to live in a smaller lake town. We both come from smaller towns so that is something we are used to (we had to drive about 45 min to Sioux Falls, SD anytime we wanted to do some shopping) - but now we are also very used to living in a diverse city so i'm not sure how easy it will be to give up all the conveniences of that either. Our obvious first choice would be to live in Northern MN but we also realize with our plans to start a family in the near future, that we would like to be with in a few hours drive of our family in Northwest IA, hence the info request regarding SW MN. Again, thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions!