Marcell, Minnesota (Duluth, Grand Rapids, Cannon Falls: vacation, jobs, move)

[deanbean]

Hi,

I am a seventeen-year-old student from Cannon Falls, MN, and I vacation regularly every summer in Marcell, Minnesota, a small town (pop. 300-something) 30-miles north of Grand Rapids. I would love to live up there, as I absolutely love it! The small town feel, the woods, etc.

I am hoping to be a teacher, so I'm thinking I could live in Marcell and commute to either Bigfork High School or Grand Rapid High School.

But, I only vacation up there, so I never get the chance to feel what it's like to live up there 24/7. Are there any people on this forum who are familar with Marcell on a more day-to-day basis? Anyone on this forum who actually lives in Marcell?

Thanks!

[MidniteBreeze]

Hi,

I live in the Grand Rapids area (about 15 minutes outside of town). While I'm originally from Duluth, we moved here from Colorado Springs, so it was a pretty big change for us!

Though I don't live in Marcell (we go up to that area a lot to camp and stuff though), I can probably give you a pretty good idea of what it's like to live "up north." I'm not sure exactly what kind of information you're looking for, but here are some random thoughts:

As you can imagine, the winters are longer here than in southern MN. Can be great if you love winter sports, but can be a drag if you tend to get spring fever. Being in a more rural area, it also takes them longer sometimes to plow/maintain the roads in the winter. While you don't absolutely NEED a 4WD, it really does make life a lot easier...but of course you'll spend more money in gas too (unless you can afford a "winter" truck/suv and a "summer" car.) It also depends where you live...we live on a hill on a private road that we have to plow ourselves, so we really do *need* a 4WD.

The people around here are, as a whole, friendly, down to earth, etc. as you would imagine. They're very much into their hunting/fishing/snowmobiling, etc., so if you're coming with strong animal rights and/or "extreme" enviornmental views (of course there's a difference between being conservation-minded and "extreme"), you may be met with some resistance. And as with any town that small, of course, you'll have to be prepared to be the "outsider" for a while.

In my opinion though, this is a great place to live. It's safe, beautiful and if you're into the outdoors, there's lots to do. So many beautiful lakes around here...we've been here for over 3 years and still haven't even scratched the sruface! And when you want some "civilization", Grand Rapids actually has a lot for a town of its size....it's nice to be able to go shop at Target, catch a movie or eat some Mexican food after a long day of playing in the woods

FYI: teaching jobs are pretty competitive around here. It took my husband a couple of years to get a permanent teaching job even though he came here with 7 years of experience. The job he finally landed had like 100 applicants! Of course you'll have better luck if you teach in a high demand area like math, science or special education. Just something to keep in mind.

Hope that helps!