Moving to St. Cloud... help!

[in_the_gloaming]

I hope you'll accept this with a grain of salt, considering the time gap between then and now..., Winter Quarter 1966, when I shared the basement of a house with five other guys who were going to St. Cloud State College..., which much later became St. Cloud State University. Our landlord worked as a guard at the reform school there. So, when you come into St. Cloud from the south, you may notice a huge grey wall. That's the reform school for boys.

Because St. Cloud State is or was such a huge party school, I found it difficult to concentrate on my studies, sharing that basement with those other guys. I didn't do very well there and the following quarter, I returned to the U. of M. in Minneapolis. Viet Nam was very big back then and I lost interest in my studies, my grade point average had dropped, I got a letter from my draft board in Ramsey County, so I had to go into the military service..., Navy, because I enlisted instead of waiting until I was drafted. At least that way, I could choose which branch of service I would serve in.

The calibre of the faculty at that time left a lot to be desired. One of my professors only had a bachelors degree and for a teaching position at that college, I felt there wasn't that much of a difference between his educational level and ours.

Back then, there was a black market bottling company where I could buy cases of soda pop cheaper than anywhere else. Fingerhut is in St. Cloud. It gets cold there! -59 degrees below zero on occaision with lots of humidity from the Mississippi River. If you plan on staying there any length of time, be sure to get an engine block heater installed in your vehicle! Or else you won't be able to start your vehicle on a cold day during the Winter! Lots of snow too!

The Saint Germaine Hotel is nice, very nice! If you just want to visit.

Originally, I'm a native of Minnesota! I was born there, grew up there. Dad grew up north of Lake Superior on the Mesabe Iron Range. Mom lived in east central Minnesota near the Wisconsin State Line. Both of them moved to the Twin Cities, which is where I am originally from.

Personally, if I may insert my two cents worth..., I liked Kansas City Missouri much better than I did St. Cloud! When I lived in Kansas City Missouri, I lived near Broadway off of 36th. and Baltimore in an apartment house. It was within easy walking distance to Safeway, and my life in Kansas City was one of the happiest times I can remember. Back then, the only drawbacks were: cockaroaches and parking. I really enjoyed the farmers market in Kansas City!!! On Saturday mornings I really enjoyed shopping there!!! They had almost everything one could want at that market.., fruits, vegetables, clothing, teddy bears, and so much more! I don't remember a farmers market in St. Cloud!

My preference it I ever moved back to good old Minnesota would be that I would greatly prefer the Twin Cities over St. Cloud hands down any day of the week for employment possibilities!!! My first choice for living there again would be in one of the suburbs, rather than the inner city, if I could find something attractive at a decent price. I have family in Cottage Grove, Lake Elmo, Forest Lake, Roseville, St. Paul, and Minneapolis. But, after reading some of the other posts, I feel my opinion may not be current considering all the recent developments in that area.

When talking with my youngest brother recently, he told me that they have taken the lid off of real estate prices in Minnesota and people have purchased hunting lands they only use once a year for outrageous prices. Minnesota also has a hefty tax on real estate.

[in-mn]

South St cloud is being built up for middle class. Middle St Cloud is poverty, trash, and retiree's watching their house values **** away one hud home at a time.

Sauk rapids has some upper class, but for the most part its a middle class town.

Waite Park is highest crime rate in area

Sartell is in the mix, primarily due to a signed agreement where they have to develop 10-20% "affordable" ie low income housing. So you will start to see the decline in the community if they start pushing out hud homes. Granted some may be actual families that needed a starter home, etc.. We shall see. One plus is the Sartell police department is really good at keeping crime down. Thefts and vandalisms usually only a handful of incidents in this town.

St Joseph is a college town only on certain days. St Benedict girls college is there. That means the drunk rich kids come to St Joseph from collegeville and tear **** apart off main street. Theres a turkey barn to the N of the town that will smell terrible in the summer, however if you pickup land S of Highway 75, far North or West of the turkey barn its actually a nice little community. They always have a big 4th of july bash and it brings back all the old residents to hang with childhood friends. Very small town feel 5-10 minutes away from St Cloud. St Joe also has option to send children to Holdingford schools. Which is a small farmtown school, grade sizes i believe are about 150 kids per grade. (Vs the option of st cloud schools - apollo class sizes I belive are 700 or so).

Or theres Avon/Albany for the true small town feel.

Little falls is ok - but lot of poverty up there. Also a good amount of meth problems in that area. The further out you get from town, the more meth is available it seems.

And I know - many will disagree. But I have been in so many ex meth houses in little falls it made my arm fall off. Plus there are poor people there that have flooded basements, cats running alover with feces floating around.

Rice/Royalton not too bad though

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by nsomniac

Hey, I might be taking a job in St. Cloud, MN... I'd be relocating from Kansas City, can anyone offer me some advice about the area? I noticed housing and cost of living is more expensive...assuming utilities play a big role in that. Any other things I should know about the area or things that might be surprising for a newcomer?

I noticed there aren't any Sonics! I guess I'll have to learn to deal with that...ha! What about school districts, (my wife is a teacher and will be looking for a job) and parts of town to live in, etc...

Is St. Cloud a big college town? Sounds like the University is fairly decent size...

Anyways, any help or advice or tips would be great, thanks...

What type of neighborhood are you going for? St Cloud is a middle-class town. The incomes are higher than other outstate towns like Mankato and Duluth. The main industries are in the medical field and education. SE St Cloud is upper-middle class. With some upper class neighborhoods like Walden Woods, Tiffany Park, and Deer Creek. The more humble areas are East and parts of North St Cloud. I'm not a big fan of either of these neighborhoods. West St Cloud is newer and is a mix of patio homes and average split levels. There are a couple of nice developments, but nothing like SE St Cloud or Sartell.

The downtown is making a huge comeback. There are several new restaurants and coffee shops that line the street and ING Bank just built a new building that will ad 400 employees. You have to check out Mi Famiglia. It;s a new Italian place. The interior is so upscale and contemporary that it blew my mind. There is a new $30mil library that is incredible. Also, the city and private developers will be connection the South end of SCSU to downtown with "main street" type buildings. Retail on the main level and loft living above. It's going to be an awesome and classy development.

Sartell and Sauk Rapids both have very strong school districts and they are both smaller towns than St Cloud. They both border the city. Sartell is more upscale than Sauk Rapids, but both have lots of young families. Waite Park is also another border city. But it is completely retail and industry. The Crossroads Mall is located in Waite Park. That wold be the main shopping center. Waite Park residents are mainly retirees that live in patio homes and apartment dwellers.

The university is around 16,000. St John's and St Ben's are in just a few miles away. Plus there is a good size technical college. So yes, St Cloud is a college town. Hopefully you take advantage of the arts and athletics that all of the colleges provide. SCSU hockey and SJU football are the most popular sports in the area. Followed by SCSU basketball. It can be allot of fun if you choose to get involved.

When is the big move?

[in-mn]

one downside to downtown though is that there is a lot of crack slingers plaquing the areas. I think they moved the library hoping to get away from the trash so families feel safe going there.

Lets not forget the serial rapist we had last winter, raping women at knifepoint.

Stay out of downtown st cloud, S st cloud, Pantown, and Waite Park areas.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by in-mn

one downside to downtown though is that there is a lot of crack slingers plaquing the areas. I think they moved the library hoping to get away from the trash so families feel safe going there.

Lets not forget the serial rapist we had last winter, raping women at knifepoint.

Stay out of downtown st cloud, S st cloud, Pantown, and Waite Park areas.

Are you nutz? Every city has suspect neighborhoods. But our downtown is a historic gem. One end of downtown is the theatre district with The Paramount, ethnic restaurants, and coffee shops. The other end has the college bars, hotels, and shopping. Just wait for the new 5th ave development. Many of us who do not want to go to an Applebees type of establishment frequent downtown on the weekends. It just feels a little more classy.

You must end up on some lonely streets to find all of the rapists and crack dealers The library is being moved because we are building a new library on the west end of downtown. Surely you have seen it. The building that looks like a spaceship with all of the copper on it. I know the expansion of the civic center has something to do with the new libraries location. You must be a Northsider.

[taw1955]

When I lived in St. Cloud none of this stuff was a problem. I love Saint cloud. As far as poverty? Heck thats everywhere. They all have top notch school districts up in the St Cloud, Sartell and Sauk Rapids area. I worked in Sauk Rapids for 5 years it's a great town.

[icequeen2008]

Originally Posted by MNboundmommy

We are also looking to move to the St. Cloud area. We're looking at Sartell as the best option to raise a family. I read that St. Cloud has a lot of violence, and Sartell is near a paper mill, which makes it stinky (literally). Can anyone shed some light on this?

That paper mill has been their for so long I never noticed any smell but then maybe it did and I didnt notice.

[kg1701d]

St Cloud is fine, good place to raise a family. Its getting better as it gets "closer" to the Twin Cities. Anyone who thinks St Cloud has a lot of crime are the same people who think that crime is coming to Big Lake once the train gets there. Every crime is bad, thats not the point but let's get a little perspective. I'd definately look to Sartell if you want to be very close or Albany/Avon if you're looking for a small town feel. Both have new developments going on and Albany is the process of building a new industrial park with $20 million in investments. The paper mill doesn't smell at all in 90% of Sartell, I've noticed in once in my life.

[snwbunni]

Could I ask for an update on this topic? I am a single mom of 4 & I am currently looking into relocating to the St.Cloud area. Sartell is a big interest, yet I would like to hear from some who have or do live in the area with high schoolers. I am not totally locked into Sartell, its just high on my list of possibilities. Currently, I live in Duluth~ but I really want out of here, their school district is horrible. I appreciate any help you care to share with me

[knke0402]

Originally Posted by snwbunni

Could I ask for an update on this topic? I am a single mom of 4 & I am currently looking into relocating to the St.Cloud area. Sartell is a big interest, yet I would like to hear from some who have or do live in the area with high schoolers. I am not totally locked into Sartell, its just high on my list of possibilities. Currently, I live in Duluth~ but I really want out of here, their school district is horrible. I appreciate any help you care to share with me

I just moved to Duluth from St. Cloud.

My pick? St Cloud any and everyday. Yes, Duluth is "cool" but frankly is too old and grungy for me.

You can listen to what you want about SCSU being a "party" school, but the FACT is that half these people in here have never spent significant time near and arond SCSU so they dont know what they are saying. SCSU isnt a party school. It may have been in the early 1990s, but I went there for 4 years and NEVER felt any over excessive partying. Just the same as any UNIVERSITY with 20,000 kids.

As for the city? Well, you can listen to these geniusses saying that "there is crime" and bla bla bla, but if they had brains, they would understand that its a growing city-60 miles from the HUGE Twin Cities-a growing city with nearly 70,000 people. What 70,000 pop. city do you know that has NO crime or poverty? The southside neighborhood is 90% college kids, so yea it is a litttle run down and has its problems, but what do you think youll get when there is 6000 kids crammed into a 6 x 10 block radius, aged from 18-22 yrs old? I wouldnt think twice about walking around there though.

Division St. does stink. its horrid. But there are other transportation options and routes that people dont realize. 2nd St south is a nice corridor as well as 3 rd st N, both go East and west and both have less traffic. Whats good is that the city knows this problem and is working dilligently to fix it. 23 is getting a new bridge and is being redone for 10 blocks west of the river. There is a new library, new ING and Parkign ramp. New remodleing and addition to convention center. NEw police headquarters. and many new improvements to the University.

South St. Cloud has the suburban type mcmansions and homes you would see in the suburbs. Its a very nice area. I lived about a mile from the prison and could see Turkeys, Deer, and bald eagles on a daily basis,and be 5 minutes from SCSU and downtown.