Mississippi River Towns/Life in MN south of metro

[summersun]

Hi MN_Nana - I agree with you and I hope I didn't give the impression that I was knocking Red Wing. I fell in love with it, and the surrounding area, a few years ago. (I always figured I'd stay in the northern part of the state but now I want to "move south". ) When I referred to what I read in RW newspaper perhaps I just caught some negative stuff that is out of the ordinary. I know that there is no perfect place. Anyway, thanks for your answer! Oh, you mentioned eagles - have you ever been to the Eagle Center in Wabasha? I have not but look forward to it.

[scrapperoni]

Don't have a lot of time to post but I'll give you a couple responses to earlier posts. I've lived in Red Wing for 8 years now.

The railroad tracks do run next to the river near the downtown area. I wouldn't consider that as the railroad blocking river access. A train comes through once in a while. It's not a big deal.

Amtrak follows those same tracks and stops in Red Wing just as it stops in Winona on it's way to Chicago.

Do not in any way judge Red Wing based on the comments people post on Republican Eagle.com news stories. I'm not saying you are. I'm just saying the comments posted are almost always negative and generally childish. Of course the actual news stories are true. Crime probably has gone up in Red Wing lately but I wouldn't think that the crime rate is rising at a rate any faster than any other town along the river. It doesn't help that we have some high profile stuff that makes it in the Mpls. news (i.e. one murder last year).

Red Wing has all the basic amenities to live with. Theoretically you could live your entire life in Red Wing without having to go anywhere else to shop. It would get extremely boring after awhile but it can be done.

I'll post more when I have time to think about it.

[buffettguy]

I grew up in Red Wing, lived in Winona while attending college for 5 some years, and somehow ended up living back in Red Wing and have been back there for about 14 years now(I also spent a few years living in St. Paul, another lovely river town ). I really like both cities. Winona has a lot to offer as mentioned before. Red Wing really has much the same but fewer dining choices and nightlife options. However, I have to disagree with the comment that Red Wing is cutoff from River by railroad. Actually, I found that Red Wing embraces the Mississippi much more that Winona. A lot of activities focus on the river in Red Wing, including the annual River City Days. Winona focus more on their 2 beautiful lakes and surrounding parks/trails. Either city is a great choice as would be most other cities along the river south of the cities. I think the key is how big a city do you want to live in and how close to major metro areas do you want to be. Red Wing is only 45 minutes from both the twin cities and Rochester. Winona is only 30 minutes from LaCrosse,WI and 45 to Roch. I prefer being close to major metro area so RW.