River Falls to Minneapolis airport? (Hudson, New Richmond: construction, good schools, living in)

[dallasmom2]

We are considering moving from Dallas to the twin cities area, and are looking at River Falls. My husband will be traveling alot, and will need to be able to easily get to and from the big airport.

How long of a commute is it?

What about in bad weather? Is there good mass transportation? Being from Texas, we aren't used to driving in snow, so any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!

[Trabbz]

Originally Posted by dallasmom2

We are considering moving from Dallas to the twin cities area, and are looking at River Falls. My husband will be traveling alot, and will need to be able to easily get to and from the big airport.

How long of a commute is it?

What about in bad weather? Is there good mass transportation? Being from Texas, we aren't used to driving in snow, so any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!

I think the commute will be about 45 minutes with free flowing traffic. I don't think the mass transit on the Minnesota or Wisconsin side is that great. The twin cities are a very sprawling and spread out metro. All I can say is when the snow flies, leave early and drive SLOW or wait it out and don't drive at all.

[huggybear28]

That is a long drive (45min-1hr 15mins depending on traffic) and in the winter it would not be an enjoyable one. Is there a reason you want to live in River Falls? If not I suggest you look closer to the cities. Try either the suburbs like Burnsville, Apple Valley, and Eagan or a closer smaller town like Cannon Falls or Hastings. River Falls is not a good commute, especially with the Wakota bridge under construction on I-494 over the Mississippi he would probably sit in traffic. I suggest living in the southern suburbs of the cities as that would give him a very quick commute and he probably would not have to worry about the weather until he gets to the airport in terms of delayed or canceled flights. From there he could also pick up mass transit. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

[sconnielove]

That isn't a long drive AT ALL! Huggybear is ridiculous! I would MUCH rather live in River Falls and do the 35-40 minute commute, AT MOST, than live in one of those cookie-cutter suburbs like Lakeville or Burnsville. You will have virtually no traffic at all until you hit 494 South, and it's a breeze from there. I grew up in River Falls and you have the best of both worlds. You have a unique town that is part of the metro, in Wisconsin, and don't have to deal with much traffic for the most part. People from the Minnesota suburbs think the Wisconsin suburbs are so far away, but I guarantee you, you can get anywhere in the metro faster than they can because of the traffic they deal with. We're closer than they are 25 miles away.

[Hanna B.]

I agree with ~45 minutes from RF-MSP. River Falls is lovely, and I would choose to live there over a place closer to the cities. Unfortunately, there is no public transportation from RF to the Cities or the airport.

[crazyme4878]

Many, many, many people commute from Hudson, River Falls, New Richmond and beyond to the city. The commute from RF to the airport is really nice, as far as commutes go. I always go on 494 (or 694--I have always gotten the two mixed up) through South St. Paul and there can be some jam-ups there, but that was at least five years ago. My father has driven most of that route for over 15 years (and continues to) and it has never been a big deal.

River Falls is a great town and good schools from what I hear. My cousin sends her children to the Catholic school and loves it.

As for driving in snow--a quick search of the Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan forums will yield you more information than you ever wanted to know! Everyone is a bad driver after the first big storm (getting use to it again), and you will be at first too. I recommend practicing on your very quiet residential street going at very slow speeds so you can get a feel for what your car will do under certain circumstances. But realize that driving in the snow isn't a constant thing--the plows do a great job and the sun melts off a lot of it (and it doesn't snow everyday, much less a big storm).

Edit: Darn it--another old thread! Stop giving advice to old threads--they aren't reading it any more! (Note to self: be better at checking the dates...)