Stillwater, MN (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Apple Valley: for rent, insurance, low crime)

[robcynd]

i really appreciate the passionate opinions. It seems that Minnesotans are proud of their state. I would like to potentially be a proud Minnesotan myself, if this all works out.

Stillwater seems safe, and close to the TC area. Seems like there's things to do etc...

With a family of 4, we're 100% not interested in living 10 minutes out of the TC, due to safety concerns mostly.

We are more than likely looking at St. Cloud or someone in the vein of Stillwater. 20-30 minute drive from TC area is what we're looking for really, but rent for an apartment is high usually. So it's tough.

What are the differences in MPLS to SP?

[robcynd]

Originally Posted by Thedosius

Stillwater is beautiful, both the natural landscape and the buildings. I personally would not do the commute to the Twin Cities but a lot of people are more "commute resilient" than I am, so that's really a matter of personal preference (i.e.: there's no objectively 'easy' commute, really - it depends on what you're willing to put up with). If I were at all interested in living in small town, Stillwater would definitely be one I would consider. Beauty aside, I think the fact that it is very touristy means that restaurants and shops are a notch or two above what one would normally expect in a town its size. Conversely, the tourism means a lot more traffic on many summer weekends than you might expect. I've had the foolish tendency to go there during some of it's busiest weekends and experienced bumper-to-bumper traffic down the main drag. Side streets even then were a whole lot quieter, however.

So i've heard a couple of times that it's a tourist town?

Why is this? Whatt makes it a tourist town? Seems like a strange place for tourism.

Enlighten me please.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by robcynd

So i've heard a couple of times that it's a tourist town?

Why is this? Whatt makes it a tourist town? Seems like a strange place for tourism.

Enlighten me please.

Stillwater was the first town in MN. It is a lovely, Victorian town on the river with many antique stores and fun shops in the lovely downtown area. Being on the river it is also a place where people dock their boats and enjoy an evening in one of the restaurants, bars, parks, etc. The town is full of refurbished 150+ year old houses and many people enjoy touring those houses. There are several bed and breakfasts in town. Yes, the downtown area gets busy on weekends but if you live in town you just know to not drive down there or just go elsewhere in town--or you know the back roads to avoid the traffic.

[Kayekaye]

I live near Stillwater and it's a very nice place. The weekends in nice weather are always full of day tourists and sometimes can be quite crowded. Entering Stillwater from highway 36 can be a traffic jam sometimes on weekends, entering on the north side from 96 is much easier and a much prettier ride. Stillwater attracts a lot of motorcyclist out for day trips as well. In addition to the attractions mentioned above they have a nice art community with several art galleries.

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by robcynd

So i've heard a couple of times that it's a tourist town?

Why is this? Whatt makes it a tourist town? Seems like a strange place for tourism.

Enlighten me please.

I have nothing to add to what Golfgal wrote and agree 100%. I would advise you to do a Google image search on Stillwater, Minnesota and you'll see how pretty it is.

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by robcynd

Just wanted to make an updated thread on this place.

Thinking about here also. I like what I've been able to research. (and no I'm not going to start a new thread for every city lol)

It's like 4 miles away from St. Paul... seems to be very safe. Or safer than the MPLS area.

Just wanted anyone who has lived here or been through there.

Thanks.

You would be 22-25 miles from downtown Minneapolis depending where in Stillwater you would be living (eastern edge of town makes it about 22, central area 25). Yahoo maps from both downtown areas indicated 25 miles.

You might try a "test drive" to downtown Minneapolis from there at about 7:30 or 8:00 AM on a weekday morning and find out for yourself when you are visiting the area.

The town is great. I had the opportunity to visit it twice when I last visited MN and it was convenient to relatives in western WI, too. I think I "cheated" them out of a couple hours because of Stillwater. LOL!

Good luck in your search!

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by chessgeek

You would be 22-25 miles from downtown Minneapolis depending where in Stillwater you would be living (eastern edge of town makes it about 22, central area 25). Yahoo maps from both downtown areas indicated 25 miles.

You might try a "test drive" to downtown Minneapolis from there at about 7:30 or 8:00 AM on a weekday morning and find out for yourself when you are visiting the area.

The town is great. I had the opportunity to visit it twice when I last visited MN and it was convenient to relatives in western WI, too. I think I "cheated" them out of a couple hours because of Stillwater. LOL!

Good luck in your search!

There I go again...the western edge of town would be closer...about 22 miles or so.

[unnativeelpasoan]

I agree with others that Stillwater is a very nice town, but hasn't it gotten pretty expensive to live there in recent years?? It doesn't seem like the best choice if one's budget is a large concern.

[unnativeelpasoan]

Originally Posted by robcynd

With a family of 4, we're 100% not interested in living 10 minutes out of the TC, due to safety concerns mostly.

We are more than likely looking at St. Cloud or someone in the vein of Stillwater. 20-30 minute drive from TC area is what we're looking for really, but rent for an apartment is high usually. So it's tough.

Maybe look at some of the burbs that are farther away from Mpls-St Paul proper. Like Shakopee, Apple Valley or even Lakeville. (I wouldn't really consider Stillwater a suburb, btw.) And fyi, a lot of the suburbs also have lower crime rates than St Cloud.

You also might want to check out Hastings, which is not too far from the cities and is on the river like Stillwater. Hudson, Wisconsin might also be an option. It's a really nice small town, right on the state border (sort of located between Stillwater and Hastings).

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Wow..you've been to Stillwater, I lived there. It's an easy commute into both St. Paul and Minneapolis on a 4 lane, 65 MPH freeway...hardly a difficult commute. 30 minutes is not a bad commute anywhere in the metro. Getting into Downtown Minneapolis from Stillwater is far easier than most commutes in the metro. Given you don't drive and don't understand they dynamics of freeway driving vs driving on 30 mph roads with stop signs every block, you won't ever get how it IS easier to commute from the suburbs....for you anything that you can't walk to is "long" and given your fear of busy roads, I'll just disregard your opinion on something you have no experience with at all...

Golfgal is certainly not one to take a differing opinion.

Look, you've lived in Stillwater. Great. You have experience. You also recommend it a lot, so you've obviously got a lot of investment in it. But you're making ad hominem attacks aimed at UU just because she has a different idea of a reasonable commute.

If this wasn't one of your favorite towns, you wouldn't be recommending it for a commute to Minneapolis. That's a Lakeville or Elko New Market distance. Or Delano. Or East Bethal. Except that instead of passing by/through one core city, you have to deal with both.

Now of course, the OP clearly doesn't want to be anywhere near Minneapolis (and if that's the case, avoid St. Paul too), so Stillwater is a decent choice as long as they can afford it. But let's chill out on rhetoric, eh?