Moving 2 Granite Falls Mn area (Willmar, Marshall: transplants, for sale, rental)

[twinze1]

Family of 5 looking for home to rent in the Granite Falls MN Area this spring due to a job relocation. Never been to the area..anyone have any positive or negative info to share about the cities/towns around there?

[golfgal]

Since you are stating Granite Falls I am going to assume you will be working in Granite Falls. If so, try to find something right there. It is a nice little town but about 30 minutes or more from any town of any real size thus making a commute in the winter not much fun.

We lived in Marshall, about 30 miles south of Granite, for many year. I love the area. Your best bet for finding a rental home might be contacting a local realtor to see if someone has a house for sale that they would rent out.

[twinze1]

Thanks golfgal..any thoughts on Montevideo..will be looking for a good school for our first born in a year!

[golfgal]

Montevideo is a little bit larger town. I would say that the schools are very comparable. They are both smaller schools so the programs are limited but in the elementary years that usually is a benefit. We have a good friend that is a teacher in the Granite Falls schools and she likes it there.
If you move to Granite, just be careful of not living too close to the river. It floods quite often.

Keep in mind that it is pretty flat and open around there (although Granite has some nice river bluffs) so commuting can be a major issue in the winter.


The golf course in Monetvideo is nicer then the one in Granite Falls .

[roxygirl197928]

I recomend not moving to monte i have lived there and there is way to many bad ppl in that town and it is on the top ten list for drug dealers.I love granite falls the school is the best i have an 8 year old in there and he started in k and now is in 2 he went to headstart in monte and they didnt want to work with me on his adhd and granite works with me not against me.

[Camden Northsider]

Beautiful area - many nice small towns close by the Minnesota River Valley. If it were me personally, I might try and look for "country" homes along the Minnesota River Valley just for the great views, but you could find these in Granite Falls proper also (one of the neighborhoods on the NE side of town basically sits on the crest of a bluff overlooking Hwy 23 and the Minnesota River Valley. There aren't many (non-river) lakes in that area, you have to go north or NE to run into them (but not too far - once you get to Willmar area, about an hour, there's a ton of lakes in that region). But Lac Qui Parle is close by, has a nice state park and is a beautiful lake.

I have family in Clara City, MN which is just up Hwy 23 from granite (about 20-25 min) - they were transplants to the town about 10 years ago to take new jobs once they became empty nesters. Formerly "urban/ city" persons that moved around a lot, they've really fallen in love with the town and plan to stay awhile. The people there have been extremely friendly, helpful, and welcoming - it's one of those true close-knit small town communities where people really look out for each other and support their neighbors. And the school district (MACCRAY) sounds pretty great - they just moved to a 4 day school week this year as a way to save some money and it sounds like it's been going pretty well. Really tidy and well kept town, but a lot of the towns around there seem to be that way. And although it's a little bit of a drive from Granite, it's about equidistant between Granite and Willmar (kind of a little regional "hub" with more shopping, etc.). But it would put you farther away from Marshall, which I believe is the biggest city in the SW/ West Central part of the state, and Golfgal is very correct in that you want to be concerned about commuting on the highways in the winter time, it's very much on the prairie out there so there's a lot of blowing/ drifting snow in the winter - major highways like 7 and 23 aren't too bad and get plowed pretty quickly, but still can be prone to drifting/ ice.

Monte seems fine and nice enough, although Granite IMO feels like a nicer and more scenic town than Monte. Monte is bigger and has more shopping, however, but it's only 15 minutes or so from Granite. Good luck-

[golfgal]

Wilmar is only about 30 minutes from Granite, not an hour-which is important because that is where most of your major shopping will be done.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Wilmar is only about 30 minutes from Granite, not an hour-which is important because that is where most of your major shopping will be done.

Willmar is at least 45 minutes from Granite, but closer to 50 or 55. It takes at least 20 minutes to go from Granite to Clara City, and Clara City to Willmar is a solid 30 minutes or more (trust me, I have driven it many times, and you DO NOT want to drive faster than 55mph on Hwy 23). Marshall is actually closer and faster to get to from Granite than Willmar.

from:willmar, mn to:45.000738,-95.267944 to:Granite Falls, MN - Google Maps

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

Willmar is at least 45 minutes from Granite, but closer to 50 or 55. It takes at least 20 minutes to go from Granite to Clara City, and Clara City to Willmar is a solid 30 minutes or more (trust me, I have driven it many times, and you DO NOT want to drive faster than 55mph on Hwy 23). Marshall is actually closer and faster to get to from Granite than Willmar.

from:willmar, mn to:45.000738,-95.267944 to:Granite Falls, MN - Google Maps

The speed limit in 23 is 60-65 mph now, depending on where you are on the road, closer to Willmar it is 65. I have driven that route 100's of times, it is 70 minutes from Marshall to Willmar, there is no way it takes close to an hour to get from Granite to Willmar.