Possible new job in New Ulm, MN...HELP ME!

[mom2cjj]

Originally Posted by golfgal

It's very much a family town but there are older people and younger people too.

That is good to know. My hubby still hasn't heard anything so we'll see.

[AndreaSoup]

I have spent a LOT of time in NU. My best friend has lived there for almost 18 years now...well, bounced around between there, Mankato, and 2 other small towns. I absolutely LOVE that area of MN. The people are great, the town is big enough to have a Target, good restaurants (love the Lamplighter), some fun stuff to do (we love the water park in Sleepy Eye on a hot summer day!), and the houses are cheap! My BF lives in town (is a teacher in the public school, actually), and her "commute" is 5 minutes. Her husband works in Mankato and the drive can be hellish on a winter day...I would definitely avoid that if possible.

I think it is a great town to raise a family in, good schools (public and private), little to no crime, fun atmosphere...especially the fests that Schell's puts on...and there are things to do.

I hope your husband get the promotion and you find yourself there!

Also, it's a quick jaunt up 169 to the cities - 90 minutes max if you want to escape small town for a few days!

[ocsid]

I know quite a bit about New Ulm. My father's family is from the area, and I still have some cousins there. I also have some friends from college who moved there on a corporate relocation and have been there for about ten years.

It's a beautiful small town. One of the nicest towns of its size in the state. There are some things about it that would annoy me. As some have mentioned, it does very much have a busybody vibe where everyone knows/wants to know everything. Far more so than most towns of its size. The other thing I hear about most is that the powers that be (school board, city leaders) are extremely crotchety and conservative, making it nearly impossible to get anything done. This isn't uncommon in smaller towns, since the people that run for office often tend to be people with nothing else to do and that like to boss others around and wield control. That said, I've heard it's particularly bad there, to the point where our friends are seriously considering pulling up and moving.

I would rather live there than Mankato though. I'd also avoid living in a lot of the small towns around New Ulm - many are in decline and as someone told me "they tend to attract people who don't do a whole lot of anything other than hanging around and causing trouble."

[lordvader44]

I lived in New Ulm in the late 90s and a couple of years ago so I will tell you my take as someone who has lived there. Nice german town. It has a very good micro economy because of the two big employers in town, 3m and kraft foods. Its not like it was in the late 90s as far as bang for your buck but that can be said of everywhere. But it still is doing better than most towns its size. Again very german and the thing to do in that town is to go to the downtown bars. Very nice downtown especially when they put up the Christmas lights. Not too much in the way of food unless you like german( I don't). The Kaiserhof is famous for its german food and its pink bbq (yuck). Happy Joes is a nice pizza and pasta joint and they have the standard chain joints like Perkins and Applebees. The Asian buffet is one of the worst Asian buffets I have ever had. They used to have a wonderful small Asian place in the basement of a business downtown but that's gone, too bad,it was awesome.They have a nice state park on the outskerts of town that has a man made sand swimming pool. Oh and the town is obsessed with baseball because Terry Stinebach of the Oakland A's was born there.

[mom2cjj]

Originally Posted by lordvader44

I lived in New Ulm in the late 90s and a couple of years ago so I will tell you my take as someone who has lived there. Nice german town. It has a very good micro economy because of the two big employers in town, 3m and kraft foods. Its not like it was in the late 90s as far as bang for your buck but that can be said of everywhere. But it still is doing better than most towns its size. Again very german and the thing to do in that town is to go to the downtown bars. Very nice downtown especially when they put up the Christmas lights. Not too much in the way of food unless you like german( I don't). The Kaiserhof is famous for its german food and its pink bbq (yuck). Happy Joes is a nice pizza and pasta joint and they have the standard chain joints like Perkins and Applebees. The Asian buffet is one of the worst Asian buffets I have ever had. They used to have a wonderful small Asian place in the basement of a business downtown but that's gone, too bad,it was awesome.They have a nice state park on the outskerts of town that has a man made sand swimming pool. Oh and the town is obsessed with baseball because Terry Stinebach of the Oakland A's was born there.

My husband is now considered a front-runner for the position. The best part I read about this whole paragraph was the town is obsessed with baseball! HUGE Baseball fan here! lol

Seriously it sounds like somewhere I'd love to live. I want a town with a downtown area! Are their neighborhoods nearby that are walkable to the downtown?

The only MAJOR downside is the weather for me.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by mom2cjj

My husband is now considered a front-runner for the position. The best part I read about this whole paragraph was the town is obsessed with baseball! HUGE Baseball fan here! lol

Seriously it sounds like somewhere I'd love to live. I want a town with a downtown area! Are their neighborhoods nearby that are walkable to the downtown?

The only MAJOR downside is the weather for me.

The whole town is walkable to downtown for the most part--it's not that big

[ocsid]

Originally Posted by mom2cjj

My husband is now considered a front-runner for the position. The best part I read about this whole paragraph was the town is obsessed with baseball! HUGE Baseball fan here! lol

Seriously it sounds like somewhere I'd love to live. I want a town with a downtown area! Are their neighborhoods nearby that are walkable to the downtown?

The only MAJOR downside is the weather for me.

It is a big baseball town, and Johnson Park is one of the nicest town ball fields in the state. If you love amateur baseball, there are few places better than New Ulm.

Downtown is pretty nice. Nicer than many of the similar sized towns in S. Minnesota. Other than, as I mentioned, the crotchety city and school board government, it really is a nice place. I would live there.