Faribault? (Bloomington, Owatonna, Northfield: house, buy, new construction)

[snowblind9]

I have not seen many threads on Faribault. A few that I saw noted that Faribault has issues or problems. Like what? A job position opened there for my company. Considering the move. I need to know the good and bad.

[golfgal]

Faribault isn't a bad town. It is pretty blue collar/industrial looking in many areas but they are working on cleaning some of that up. There is a lot of new construction for homes mixed in with some GREAT older homes. The schools are ok, not the top in the state but still good. Northfield is close and may be an option. The schools there are better plus the colleges. Faribault is less expensive though. I don't know that I would live in Faribault and commute to the cities but if I were working in town I wouldn't mind living there.

[Diamond Dee]

Hey theirs a good Chinese place called southern china cafe a must place to eat I lived their several yrs. ago and had a good job at the turkey factory their and I belonged to a great church.I lived with my mom at the time in the southeast part of town near some loud neigbors{music}but the area had plenty sidewalks,clean air and a beautiful public park,check it out!!

[Slig]

There is also a fantastic Mexican restaurant in Faribault called El Tequila.

[BJB817]

I have to agree that El Tequila is great, but Southern China, eh, yech...

I've lived here for 8+ years now but will be leaving soon(hopefully). Feel free to PM me with any q's you have.

[Diamond Dee]

I lived in the Faribault and Owatonna area in the early 1990's I'm sure a lot has changed.when I was their the main employer in town was Jerome Foods.but I thought the park was a decent place to picnic,and the downtown area was interesting as well as the public Library.and going west of town it was interasting driving to LeSuer,and seeing the changes in the trees and country side.

[busylizzy]

Faribault is a great community. I was born and raised there and there are a lot of great things within the community. There are several great restaurants, historic homes, an outdoor aquatic center, public library which is attached to the community center which you will find as a steal for membership compared to the twin cities gyms and offers not just the facilities, but also community teams and an indoor swimming pool. Additionally the nature center is a great place to attend between the multiple walking paths and many annual activities it hosts.
The class sizes are mid range however it also has several private school options including the Lutheran high school near by. It also the home of the MN school for the deaf and the Blind, and the prestigious Shattuck St. Mary's school.

As for the "bad", the only true areas in which to be concerned would be the trailer parks on the outskirts of town. The more the town grows, the better the situation will be.

Faribault is gaining a competitive edge over Northfield and Owatonna such as lower housing costs, and extremely lower property taxes over Steele County. Additionally, it's in the economic growth stimulus zone so more businesses are being welcomed into the community with special tax benefits.

As for the commute to the cities...I've been commuting the 45 miles to Bloomington for several years and it's not bad. Think about it.. 70 mph until you hit burnsville it's not even a 1/2 hour away. Most people in the cities commute more than that to go 15 miles or less.
I hope this helps anyone interested in making the move to the SE suburbs.

[mhoy22]

I would have to agree here, this all sounds about right. It is a great community, I moved here from Michigan, following my husband and his entire family. It is a pretty area and there have been alot of great changes happening since I have been here, about 5 years now. As far as the schools, Shattuck is one of the best private schools around, people from all over the world come here for this school alone.

Originally Posted by busylizzy

Faribault is a great community. I was born and raised there and there are a lot of great things within the community. There are several great restaurants, historic homes, an outdoor aquatic center, public library which is attached to the community center which you will find as a steal for membership compared to the twin cities gyms and offers not just the facilities, but also community teams and an indoor swimming pool. Additionally the nature center is a great place to attend between the multiple walking paths and many annual activities it hosts.
The class sizes are mid range however it also has several private school options including the Lutheran high school near by. It also the home of the MN school for the deaf and the Blind, and the prestigious Shattuck St. Mary's school.

As for the "bad", the only true areas in which to be concerned would be the trailer parks on the outskirts of town. The more the town grows, the better the situation will be.

Faribault is gaining a competitive edge over Northfield and Owatonna such as lower housing costs, and extremely lower property taxes over Steele County. Additionally, it's in the economic growth stimulus zone so more businesses are being welcomed into the community with special tax benefits.

As for the commute to the cities...I've been commuting the 45 miles to Bloomington for several years and it's not bad. Think about it.. 70 mph until you hit burnsville it's not even a 1/2 hour away. Most people in the cities commute more than that to go 15 miles or less.
I hope this helps anyone interested in making the move to the SE suburbs.

[Minnesota Niiiccceee]

I might disagree about Faribault. There seems to be an unusually large amount of thugs for such a small town. When we were looking to move we WANTED to move to Faribault but after spending some time there decided it wasn't a good place to live. I wouldn't buy a house or anything without spending some time there first.