St. Cloud, MN (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Sauk Rapids: best cities, low crime, house)

[Stonecoldharbours]

Hello

My husband and I are searching into the idea of living in St. Cloud, due to a possible position within a new company. I have heard it is a safe, low crime area with good schools...and I just wanted to verify that and to find out if there are better areas to live and better schools with the area.

We are fairly conservative and want to have a family oriented atmosphere, where people live fairly quite but active outdoor lives...hiking, biking and organic food stores would be super. We do not like urban areas with loud music or people, so please direct me to a nice safe area, thanks a bunch and god bless!

[MattDen]

I dont know about the K-12 schools.

But I have been in St. Cloud many times and in my opinion its one of the best cities in Minnesota.

Its a very clean and well-maintained city for sure. The people there seemed extremely friendly. The housing in St. Cloud is better quality then a majority of midwestern small cities. Every neighborhood I went through there was in extremely good shape they seem to really take pride in their city.

The scenery in that area is great, lots of trees but it is a little flat city topography wise.

Besides the area of SCSU which is near downtown, the city just seemed very quaint quiet and just a very pleasent place overall.

I think St. Cloud might be the best of both worlds: a fairly quiet well-kept small city with a high quality of life that is close to the big city amenities in Minneapolis less then an hour away.

[grace1202]

Originally Posted by PghPaNative

Hello

My husband and I are searching into the idea of living in St. Cloud, due to a possible position within a new company. I have heard it is a safe, low crime area with good schools...and I just wanted to verify that and to find out if there are better areas to live and better schools with the area.

We are fairly conservative and want to have a family oriented atmosphere, where people live fairly quite but active outdoor lives...hiking, biking and organic food stores would be super. We do not like urban areas with loud music or people, so please direct me to a nice safe area, thanks a bunch and god bless!

PghPaNative,

If you decide to relocate to the St. Cloud area you also have the option of 3 bedroom communities surrounding St. Cloud which include Waite Park, Sauk Rapids, and Sartell. My opinion as far as the best schools in that area would be Sartell. There is Oak Ridge Elementary and Pine Meadow Elementary and then Sartell Middle and Sartell High. It is a very family-oriented community with nice parks and they continue to add more and more bike trails. They also have a hockey arena and an outdoor rink. Crime in Sartell is really not an issue. They are developing a "downtown" area along Pine Cone Road. It has a Coburn's Grocery store that has a very nice organic section.

Here is the city's website - http://www.sartellmn.com/

It is a city of about 10,000 people.

We lived in Sartell for 3 1/2 years and loved it. The only reason we moved was due to DH's job. You can PM me if you would like more specific information. Blessings to you and your family as you weigh this important decision.

[grace1202]

Here is the link for the "school report card" for Sartell-St. Stephen school district through the MN Department of Education -

http://education.state.mn.us/ReportC...T_TYPE=01tion:

Hope that helps...

[Stonecoldharbours]

I really appreciate the time and effort you guys put into my thread here and I am leaning towards this move more and more, we have a few choices but from what I gather, out of all of them, this area would be best for raising children in! THANKS again!

[ramblinrose]

hey, the city of Becker- just one half hour drive (on Hwy 10) to St. Cloud - is a clean, conservative small town community. There's a great golf course, many lakes around the town and also miles of trails to cross country ski and hike in the surrounding Sand Dunes State Forest and Sherburne County National Wildlife Refuge. They also have a wonderful community center, with an indoor pool and waterslide, and fitness center ...the place definitely rivals any Minnneapolis community center!

The high school and middle school share a state of the art field house for indoor practice of any sport. The coaches and teachers at their schools can not be beat. The schools have more than most school districts in the metropolitan area.

There are a lot of rural homes, and also new developments in the city limits. If you like to hunt and fish, then this area is for you. A commute to St. Cloud is easy, as well as only an hour drive to a job in the Twin Cities. Check it out, this town has everything a family could want!

[kubbs17]

Having grown up in St. Cloud, MN and having attended the schools here, I can attest to their quality. First, there are several quality schools to choose from, both private and public. I went to a private grade school and then switched to a public high school. The schools provide good education, extra-curricular activities, and I always felt safe.

St. Cloud often gets a bad rap for being "boring," but it is a great place to raise a family, and there are plenty of things to do. There are theaters, parks, malls, and a nice downtown.

Lastly, there are several safe neighborhoods. All the people who posted definitely mentioned some of them, but I would also encourage you to look at areas by Westwood (the west side of town). It is quiet, and only a five minute drive to the heart of St. Cloud.

Hope that helps.

[grace1202]

PhgPaNative,

Kubb17 brings up a good point...are you interested in the public schools or private schools? There are some nice private schools available. We sent our kids to a private school the first 2 years we lived there and then kept hearing about how great the public schools were (we moved from out-of-state and our kids had previously been in private schhool in GA) and then decided to make the switch. Our kids preferred the public schools over the private school that they attended.

[Stonecoldharbours]

Public if they are safe and good and possibly private if I can find a decent paying job, which is a challenge at my age, since I been a stay at home for ever now..LOL...anyhow, thanks so much for the info, we have elminated some places but we still have MN on our list, sounds great to me and not boring at all, then again...when your married with an impressionable child to raise, you are not looking for that kind of excitement anymore, thanks so much!

[golfgal]

St. Cloud is a great family town. The area has a lot to offer with St. Cloud State, St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict right there. The schools are great. The Sartell area is a GREAT place to raise kids. It is also a quick hop to Minneapolis/St. Paul area, heck, St. Cloud is almost a suburb of the Twin Cities now. You are also close to central MN and the lakes, resorts, camping, fishing, etc.