Moving to St.Cloud from NY (Minneapolis, St. Cloud: to rent, townhome, transfer)

[tandish]

Hi all,
Our family is moving to St. Cloud, MN for my husband's job. His office will be in Waite Park. We have a 3yr old and we are looking to rent a house or townhome in the area. Any suggestions about safe, family friendly neighborhoods would be welcome. Though we like to live in suburbs but we would still prefer not living too far from a big city.
I was doing some research and have picked these towns to look into-
Sartell
Big Lake
Elk River
I like Big Lake and Elk River as they are in between St. Cloud and Minneapolis.
I would also like to know about the commute from St. Cloud to these areas. Do many people travel to Minneapolis for work on a daily basis from St. Cloud area? We will be moving within a month so any help is more than welcome.

Thanks,
Tandish

[Radical_Car]

Where in Waite Park did your husband get a job offer all the way in NY?

Anyways, Look in Sartell, not to mention they have some of the best schools in the state and don't have open enrollment like most other Minnesota schools because their schools are so desirable. I went to both Apollo and Tech High School (the two high schools in St Cloud) and also Annandale (where I used to live and went to school before I moved to St Cloud), and Apollo and Tech were just awful, especially compared to Annandale. And there are no "unsafe" areas in St Cloud. it's not even anywhere big enough to have "bad" areas. And there are really no suburbs either, besides Sartell and Sauk Rapids and if you're looking for a suburb-ish place, even more reason to choose Sartell. Waite Park is technically a suburb but it's pretty much apart of St Cloud, you can't even tell when you crossover from St Cloud into Waite Park and vice versa.

Big Lake and Elk River are straight shots down highway 10 from St Cloud. About 30 minutes to Big Lake and 40 minutes to Elk River. Not sure why you would look in those towns if you're living in St Cloud unless you want to be closer to the Twin Cities area. Those are smaller cities/towns too, something to keep in mind. Not sure where you currently live in New York if it's a big city or what.

I lived in St Cloud for 5 and a half years (I now live in a suburb close to North Minneapolis) and lived in Annandale for 16 years. (town of about 3000 people bout 40 minutes from St Cloud)

And from atleast the people I knew, no they don't really travel all the way to Minneapolis for work. If they did work in the Metro it was usually an outer part closer to St Cloud like Rogers or Maple Grove something. I commuted from St Cloud to Maple Grove for work (I still work that same job in Maple Grove) for a month before I officially moved out of St Cloud and down to the Twin Cities, but that was only for a month before that was the only time I could transfer my job.