Work Owatonna Live? Rochester or MPLS? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: how much, hotel, taxis)

[ravenov]

Hi,
Long story short it just so happened that I found out today that I will be moving to MN leaving on Monday. I am moving with a friend who just accepted a job in Owatonna. As 2 gay women we would rather live in a bit bigger city/town especially considering I am disabled and without a car at this time.
We were considering Rochester as were told that would be about a 45 min commute but according to map sites it may be closer to an hour. About the same, it appears, as from Minneapolis.
Which would be better commute wise? Which would be better community wise? Does Rochester have a "gayborhood"? Mpls? Rochester was also appealing as I have a not quite common chronic pain nerve disorder and hoping to find some clinical trials, etc.
However I don't want my friend to have an excessive commute. Any ideas or recommendations? Time is rather of the essence here as she starts her job on 12/14 and we need to have a place, moved in and get it furnished!
Thanks,
Raven

[golfgal]

I would say that as far as the "commute" goes, the commute from Minneapolis would bet slightly better than the one from Rochester ONLY because of how open the road is from Rochester to Owatonna and how much the snow blows in the winter BUT that is a couple days out of the year.

The commute from Minneapolis proper would take about an hour to an hour and a half, without traffic, depending on exactly where in Minneapolis. From the southern suburbs where we live it is 55 minutes to Owatonna (my BIL and his family live there so we make the trek frequently).

You are more likely to find a gayborhood in Minneapolis/St. Paul but anywhere in the metro are is going to be fine-people are pretty open minded here. Rochester is going to be similar. It is such a transient community that pretty much anything goes there.

I have 2 friends that are doctors that specialize in pain management, one at Mayo in Rochester and one in Minneapolis. Both do clinical trials (Mayo and the U of M) so you will be able to find what you need either place. MN has a very extensive medical system so that will be the least of your concerns.

The hospital in Owatonna is actually part of the Mayo System and Owatonna itself has quite a bit going for it so don't automatically rule that out as a place to live. It is much easier to have a 5 minute daily commute and drive 45 miles on a weekend night to go out than it is to drive 45 minutes each way every day and have a 5 minute weekend commute to go out.

[fromupthere]

I agree with Minneapolis over Rochester. Hwy 14 can get pretty nasty in the winter. I wouldn't want to do that commute. Rochester is a great city, really growing, lots of diversity, etc., but again the commute in the winter would not be fun. I also agree with not completely ruling out Owatonna as a place to live too.

[ravenov]

I really would not mind living in Owatonna at all except that right now I don't have a car and must rely on public transportation. I did not see that Owatonna has a busline. By any chance was I mistaken?

Or would their be an easy way to get around there?
Thanks
Raven

[golfgal]

They have a taxi service for sure. I am going to guess that there is some kind of bus service that you can call for rides to take you places.

[uptown_urbanist]

I see that Steele County does have some limited bus service (rather unfortunately named "SCAT"):
Steele County | Area Transit/SCAT (http://www.co.steele.mn.us/Community_Info/SCAT.html - broken link)
It appears to be point-to-point service, so it might work for what you need.

[wiseguymn]

The drive between Owatonna and Rochester is only around 40 minutes .I used to live in Dodge Center which is half way between both and have worked in Owatonna and Rochester.I live in kasson now which is 5 miles closer to Rochester.The drive is never all that bad unless its a white out and then it dosnt matter if you have 5 or 50 miles to drive its going to be a b..ch but that is rare.There are many many people that live in Owatonna and work in Rochester,and many many people who live in Owatonna and work in the Twin Cities. I think you could find every thing you need to live in any of your choices of cities.It really comes down to where you feel more comfortable at. Rochester and Owatonna are both great places and both have pretty much anything you need.I sometimes prefer to go shopping in Owatonna even though its a few more miles for me just so I dont have to deal with as many people and as much traffic but thats just me Im more of the small town kind of person.
Good luck where ever you choose.

[fishingprof]

I live in rochester now and drive to the cities every weekend its about 65-70 miles from saint paul and takes about an hour give or take to get back and forth thats without rush hour traffic.

Personally If I were you I wouldn't do it. It would get old really fast doing the drive every day

[molochai2580]

Before the company closed the store and laid us all off, I had a co-worker who lived in Owatonna and worked here in Rochester. He said the drive gets old real quick, especially in the winter. The worst he said were the semi trucks driving on 14. There were a few times in the last 3 years he had to get a hotel here in Rochester, because of whiteout conditions.
My husband drives from Rochester to Farmington to work everyday and it's hard on the vehicles and his free time is almost nil from the drive. It's hard to convince him to go anywhere since he drives 120 miles a day for work.

I'm not sure about Owatonna, but Rochester has a gay community and I'm sure the cities do as well.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[5boyd]

What did you decide? I hope you temporarily located in O to give yourself time to evaluate things. The cost of housing is a LOT lower than the Twin Cities and somewhat better than R. You could use taxis frequently and still come out ahead considering the commuting and housing cost differences. Later,if you decide that O is not for you, you'll be able to do a better search for the right place. One tip, check out the Unitarian congregations in Rochester and Bloomington. They are warm communities, GLBT friendly, and include L couples as members.