Do High School Kids wear coats in the winter in Minnesota? (Minneapolis: transplants, violent crime)

[readyformajorchange]

I have been during the summer and we're coming in the beginning of November. . Not sure if that is to early or not. But if so, we take a trip to Vegas every year (the husband and I) the day after Christmas and come back New Years Day, maybe we can switch them up this year. I know he really wants to do the Sema show in Vegas in November anyway. I am the one that wants to go to Mn instead.
The camp does sound interested. I will keep that in mind if we do decide to make the big move for sure. This move is not set in stone btw. It is a serious consideration though. I simply want a better place to raise my family. I have kids from 22 to 5, so I really would love to give my youngest more than my older kids have gotten. If you have ever been just south of New Orleans you would understand. My oldest 2 children will not be coming. They have good jobs and their own lives settled here.
Winter sports have not been something we have been around so no I have done none of those. I will try anything once though. The only skiing I have ever done is on water. hehe

[Kayekaye]

Yes November can still be a bit nicer than January. Hockey and snowboarding is pretty popular for the little ones too. Once you get out in the snow and do some activity it doesn't feel as cold.

Never been down south, too hot and humid for me. I do go to Hawaii a lot though, but the tradewinds keep it perfect for me.

[readyformajorchange]

Ah, the south and its hot humidity. The worse part of it is that it last most of the year. I don't even own a coat at all.

I will run it by my husband tonight whether or not he wants to go in November or December. Undecided if I want to experience the harsher winter or just the beginning of it before I make my decision. I know my husband is concerned about getting stranded in MN. due to airport issues in the winter. Not sure if that's a real concern or not.

I was thinking of the Eyota area. I'm wanting a small town, good schools, close enough to employment, and some good grocery stores. Do you know if there is a Whole Foods or even better a Trader Joes in the area. Where I am now, I have to drive 45 minutes to get to Whole Foods and 1 1/2 hours to Trader Joes. Getting closer to these stores would be great but certainly not a deal breaker.
I was also considering Boone, Ia. Unfortunately I have heard some unsavory things about Iowa in general.
I won't be leaving till next summer. Only because I don't think moving to a cold state in winter is a good idea and it will take me about 6 months to get all my affairs in order here and actually be able to head out. My goal is be gone before my youngest hits 1st grade.
Any thoughts? I have researched till my head hurts but nothing like getting info straight from the residents.

[golfgal]

Spring Lake south of Rochester is a lovely little town since you are looking in that area. Try some of the smaller towns around Makato too, St. Peter for sure. Marshall is a great town and depending on what you do for a living, has surprisingly many job opportunities.

There is either a Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods in Rochester-can't remember which.

[Kayekaye]

Love St. Peter, it has a nice big modern food coop but they have had two serious tornado incidents that involved a lot of rebuilding. Marshall is beautiful too, but stay away from the river for flooding, though they have tackled it to keep it under control.

I'm partial to further north, have a look at Foley, same size town and close to St. Cloud for shopping and work.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by Kayekaye

Love St. Peter, it has a nice big modern food coop but they have had two serious tornado incidents that involved a lot of rebuilding. Marshall is beautiful too, but stay away from the river for flooding, though they have tackled it to keep it under control.

I'm partial to further north, have a look at Foley, same size town and close to St. Cloud for shopping and work.

Funny enough I know somebody from Foley. They seemed to like it. But I heard the school there is subpar.

[readyformajorchange]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have them jotted down and note beside them each.
I have to admit the north parts are appealing, however the winters up that way scare me.
We have decided to skip our November trip entirely this year and just do the December one. The 26th to the 2cd of January to be exact. Hope that will be the best way to really understand and experience winter first hand. The husband is a wimp with the cold so this should be interesting. lol
Relieved that there is a Whole Foods or Trader Joes in Rochester. I will go see where all the locations are in MN, hope its a Trader Joes. The food coop is exciting! We don't have them here. Even a decent farmers market is hard to come by. I actually have not find one yet. Followed some leads online but they are never what they are advertised to be.
My 14 year old is so stressed that we will end up to far for shopping. Haha Only if I'm lucky!

[golfgal]

Sounds like you might want to live a little closer to the Twin Cities Metro area. Depending on how "small" you want to get, towns like Stillwater, Hastings, Rosemount are all in the 15,000-20,000 range and have a lot of the small town characteristics--knowing 1/2 the people at the grocery store, etc. There are a lot of farmers markets, etc. and for shopping, we have this mall called the Mall of America . Cannon Falls might be a good choice too or Northfield.

One word of caution of a winter vacation...even us northerners need time to adjust to the temperature changes. If we have a suddenly cold fall day, it feels pretty dang cold, say 30 degrees. But that same 30 degrees in the middle of February is down right balmy. In the fall we are pulling on warmer clothing when the temps hit the 40's, but in the late winter with those same 40's, people are wearing shorts . Just don't make and judgements about the weather until the end of your visit when you have had a chance to sort of get used to the weather.

[Beenhere4ever]

For sure. There's hardly a town size you can't find in the immediate metro area. And lots of them are actually separate, not like in SoCal or PA where each town merges into the next. Ham Lake or Cambridge or Spring Lake Park are actually distinct towns.

[Kayekaye]

The winters in the southern half compared to the metro area and a bit north are not that much different. Right now I have relatives in Mankato, which is about as far south as the town you selected. The last several winters were pretty much the same as ours in the metro. The gardening zones are different and you can grow a few more things but some of most beautiful gardens are further north, like St. Cloud's Munsinger garden
www.munsingerclemens.com/‎

I don't see a Trader Joe's in St. Cloud but there a couple others:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inez-...47309878629847
https://www.facebook.com/GoodEarthFoodCoop

This Foley location also gets you into our major metro area in an hour or so, including a Trader Joe's in Maple Grove, so lot's of shopping possibilities when you want to make a day of it.