What About Northfield?

[golfgal]

Yes, there seems to be a heroin ring with some high school students in Northfield but they aren't unusual for most upper income high schools. The GOOD thing about this is that the police are on top of things and are bringing in assistance to get a handle on this. You will find the same issues in the Eden Prairie, Lakeville, Minnetonka, etc. as well, they just don't seem to be taking as active of a stance on the issue.

[catluvr]

First off, I love Northfield. Beautiful schools and talk about an academic mecca! However, be aware that Rice county has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy's, abortions and drug use. It's great if you have a well rounded family. If you have any children that easily get into trouble or are left unattended, I'd be careful about this town. It's not the awesome small town it used to be.

[midwest456]

I too saw the Star Tribune article by Estrada, and talked about it while visiting my aunt and uncle down in Goodhue for the 4th. My cousin's wife has a teaching job in Northfield, so the thought of the situation there going downhill concerned. The police chief claims that it has gone from a handful of users to more than 250 former or current students (the total school enrollment was about 1300), some of whom are consuming as much as $800 of heroin a day. I certainly hope that is exaggerated.
One bright spot (at least as I read the article) was that the users are going into the city to get the drug, which would suggest that at least most of the pushers/dealers haven't moved into the town yet.
I think that the fair use concept allows you to post limited quotes from an article (as long as you give credit to the source). I've also been allowed to post URLs to articles on here (as opposed to the article text itself) with no problem. I think the admins are more offended by attempts to post anything that could be seen as advertising in the forums.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by catluvr

First off, I love Northfield. Beautiful schools and talk about an academic mecca! However, be aware that Rice county has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy's, abortions and drug use. It's great if you have a well rounded family. If you have any children that easily get into trouble or are left unattended, I'd be careful about this town. It's not the awesome small town it used to be.

I would really like to see a published study on this because I find it VERY hard to believe that Rice county, which is mostly rural, has a higher teen pregnancy rate the say Hennipen or Ramsey county.

[cavewoman]

Originally Posted by snowlandcook

I've lived in Northfield, and our first child was born there.

It is a very picturesque town. Quaint, safe, good schools. People can be uppity, but most are friendly.

Here's a sidenote: In an effort to keep the town pretty, the planning commission actually has (or at least had) a sign ordinance. They regulate(d) the size, color, and shape of business signs (and building designs). For instance, when we lived there, a particular gas station/convenience store wanted to expand to Nfld, but the planning commission made them change the color of their roof (from bright red to green) which also affected the design of their sign! It may seem silly, but it does/did help preserve the cuteness of the town. Haven't been there in a few years now, so I don't know for sure if this rule is still practiced.

One caution I would note: Housing in Nfld was and IS very, very expensive. Of course, since it's a buyer's market, you might have some leeway, but in general it's quite spendy there.

All these comments are accurate... the planning commision still have some interesting ideas, which are great if you don't mind suffering businesses who cannot tell you the special of the day because the sign ordinance only allows you to tell the time.

Housing is high.... unclear as to the issues at City Hall and schools with drugs.
Like I said, cute place to visit, some nice places to eat, but all depends on what your looking for.

[cavewoman]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Yes, there seems to be a heroin ring with some high school students in Northfield but they aren't unusual for most upper income high schools. The GOOD thing about this is that the police are on top of things and are bringing in assistance to get a handle on this. You will find the same issues in the Eden Prairie, Lakeville, Minnetonka, etc. as well, they just don't seem to be taking as active of a stance on the issue.

The Police chief was run out of town.... and now a year and a half later, they are working on it.
Sorry Golfgal, I applaud your defending Northfield, but the town has been slowly going downhill and the business community is hurting. Not good...

[Collideascope]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I would really like to see a published study on this because I find it VERY hard to believe that Rice county, which is mostly rural, has a higher teen pregnancy rate the say Hennipen or Ramsey county.

I find it rather hard to believe as well.

Actually, Rice County has a considerably lower pregnancy rate than the state of Minnesota as a whole and ranks 62nd out of 87 counties for pregnancy rates. So, yeah, the claim that Northfield has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy's is incorrect.

http://moappp.org/Documents/adolesce...ized%201yr.pdf

Last time I was there it looked like the vibrant place I left. Stores are never empty downtown, the town is growing quite fast, there's a brand new Middle School (makes me a little sad to see the one I attended sitting empty) and a brand new - and very nice - swimming pool.

An aside, I hear Joel and Ethan Coen were at St. Olaf doing advance work on shooting locations for their upcoming film "A Serious Man".

[cavewoman]

plenty of empty spaces downtown and many of the buildings run down and outdated.
Some are adorable... but again everything is about timing.

If I was to live in Minnesota again, visiting Northfield and some friends would be all that I would do. Home were over priced in my book and people not what I call friendly for the most part. Political nightmare.... the poor Mayor. How sad, what they did to him.

[Collideascope]

Originally Posted by cavewoman

plenty of empty spaces downtown

I guess there's been a mass exodus from Northfield's downtown in the last few weeks, because when I spent a week there over the 4th of July the downtown looked healthier than ever (and I spent 30+ years there, and the downtown has always been healthy).

In reality, most of the shops there have been there for years. And the only small businesses that last for years are successful small businesses.

I have no regrets moving, but I wish the (smaller) town I live in now was as vibrant.

[cavewoman]

Downtown area in Northfield is very nice. I know there were some vacancies, old bagel shop, one spot next to remax, but your are correct. Alot of other downtowns are not as alive or vibrant as you say. The taxes downtown and the prices were high that is ll and mostly geared towards tourists and visitors, that was my only point.