where to live in rochester, mn (Jordan, Hills: apartment complexes, rental, violent crime)

[B.angelmom]

Hello intrigued with these comments...my family and i are toying with the idea of moving to rochester area for mayo clinic care for my very ill daughter...my husband works at parker hanifin there is a few off sets of his company 1/2hrs. Away from rochester close to the twin cities..we are small town country folks ...any ideas on small town halfway between rochester and twin cities? With great schools?

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by B.angelmom

Hello intrigued with these comments...my family and i are toying with the idea of moving to rochester area for mayo clinic care for my very ill daughter...my husband works at parker hanifin there is a few off sets of his company 1/2hrs. Away from rochester close to the twin cities..we are small town country folks ...any ideas on small town halfway between rochester and twin cities? With great schools?

So sorry to hear about your daughter.

You might start your own thread; I see that you posted your question in several threads, once in the Ely thread... which is very far away from where you're looking.

You might look at Northfield; it's about half way between Rochester and TC and has several good colleges. Cannon Falls would be another option.

[fromupthere]

Originally Posted by B.angelmom

Hello intrigued with these comments...my family and i are toying with the idea of moving to rochester area for mayo clinic care for my very ill daughter...my husband works at parker hanifin there is a few off sets of his company 1/2hrs. Away from rochester close to the twin cities..we are small town country folks ...any ideas on small town halfway between rochester and twin cities? With great schools?

Check this site out for school information: Find a School or Public Library I do not know the specifics of districts between Rochester, but like Campeador suggested, there is Cannon Falls and Northfield as well as Hampton, Faribault, Zumbrota (which is closer to Rochester, but still not far from the Cities). Depending on how far you want to be from Rochester, you could look at the Rosemount area too.

[scottishpiperswife]

Hi. My husband work for the Federal Prison system and is considering a transfer from Fort Worth, TX to the medical center in Rochester. We have 1 kindergartener and own our home. I am nervous about this possible transfer as I have no idea what to even consider or where to look and we have 1 week to decide. It sounds like this Manor area could be good. Are there other good, family friendly areas that would be a decent commute for my husband? I am concerned about the six months of winter (darkness and confinement for so long). I am worried about the "Minnesota Nice" attitude as well. Does anyone have any advice? I would prefer a newer home (maybe less than 10 years) with 2500+ sq.ft. for around $200k. Is that even possible? And I guess getting into a Choice school mid year is unheard of? Also, looking for good church (we currently attend a Baptist church).

[golfgal]

It is not dark for 6 months nor is there any reason to be "confined" for 6 months. What do you do in Texas when it's 110 outside?

Commuting in Rochester is easy and there isn't really any "bad" place to commute from. Finding what you want for a home/schools will be very easy there.

[r_shackleford]

Rochester is occasionally criticized for being too family friendly. The worst possible commute between two points in Rochester would be about 20 minutes. If he's working at the FMC, I'd lean towards the east side of town. There are some neighborhoods near Viola Road NE and East Circle Drive that should fit your specifications. Compared to Manor Park, it will take 5-10 minutes to get there instead of 10-20 and would avoid dealing with Rochester's rush half-hour to and from Mayo. I don't know specifics about schools, but I think they should all be fine. Really, you could throw a dart at a map of Rochester and hit a family friendly neighborhood with good schools that's no more than 20 minutes from work.

A quick internet search reveals a good delegation of Baptist churches in Rochester. You could do that to check that your particular denomination is represented among them.

Minnesota winters will be darker, colder, and snowier than Texas. Your kid will probably love sledding, building snow men and snow forts, or ice skating. Do you or your husband fish? If he does, I bet somebody at church would love to introduce him to ice fishing. During the week or two that it's dangerously cold, you stay inside, bake cookies, and make hot chocolate. It will undoubtedly be an adjustment, but the local customs are some of the best ways to transform it from enduring to enjoying. As for the darkness, you get paid back in the summer when it's still broad daylight at 9:15 and you can still see light on the horizon until 11:00.

[fromupthere]

It is not entirely unheard of to get into a choice school mid-year. People do move away from Rochester during the school year. It's always worth a shot if the choice school option interests you to contact whichever (or even all) school you are interested in.

Rochester Public Schools

As has been pointed out, there are many, many family friendly neighborhoods in Rochester. It's just a matter of finding the right house whichever part of town that may be.

RE/MAX Results - Minnesota Real Estate Agents Try the map search to see what is close to your husband's work and what might be farther away. If small town living interests you, you could look at Eyota, Dover, Elgin and Plainview to name a few that would be easy commutes into Rochester for your husband too.

Rochester winters are not nearly as dreadful as you imagine them to be. I grew up in Northern Minnesota and the winters here are much easier and it's not dark half the year. You might feel it's dreadfully dark in December and January when it's around the shortest daylight of the year, but otherwise, really, it's not that bad. There are plenty of activities to do and before you know you'll not even realize it is dark early.

We tried a Baptist church when we first moved here. Wasn't really our "cup of tea" if you will, but it was still a nice place in NW Rochester - Calvary Baptist. There are other Baptist churches as well as other denominations or nondenominational churches in town that I can't imagine you won't find something. Like r_shackleford pointed out, just Google Baptist churches in Rochester. I'm sure most if not all have websites where you can explore their doctrine and such.

Really wish "Minnesota Nice" would go away. People are people. Mostly they are going to be friendly if a bit reserved but they will help out if you need it. There many, many people in Rochester who are not originally from Minnesota or even the Midwest, so I don't think you should have any issues. Having a school age child gives you the opportunity to meet people through the PTA/PTSA and finding a church will obviously bring about friends and acquaintances.

There's nothing to fear moving here.

[txmg]

I grew up in Texas and have now lived in Minnesota for 20 years, so I can understand your trepidation about the weather. The winters are long, dark and cold. But, to me, they've just been the opposite of a Texas summer. In the winter here you are inside most of the time, just like you are inside most of the time during a Texas summer.

The hardest adjustment for me was the lack of light. Good winter wear and a couple of seasons will make the coldness in winter not so bad, but the light issue has always troubled me. I just make sure in the winter to be near windows as much as possible during the dark phase.

For Rochester, if you have a family, you can't really go wrong. It is an excellent place to raise kids. I have yet to see a 'bad' neighborhood. There are lower income neighborhoods, but most seem to be first generation immigrants, not multi-generational poverty.

I would look for housing in Rochester. Unless you have a strong reason to be in Manor, it seems like a bit of a drive for no real reason. You won't believe how easy commutes are here if you are used to DFW traffic.

The choice schools are public schools. They operate on a lottery basis. I do not think there are any 'bad' public schools here either. Rochester really is a great place to raise a family. Probably not such a great place to meet someone to raise a family with, but once you are settled, it is a very nice place.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by txmg

The hardest adjustment for me was the lack of light. Good winter wear and a couple of seasons will make the coldness in winter not so bad, but the light issue has always troubled me. I just make sure in the winter to be near windows as much as possible during the dark phase.

By "lack of light", I assume you're referring to the shorter days during winter.

The daylight hours are actually quite bright during the winter, and the weather is sunny more often than an outsider might expect.

[sevdie]

Originally Posted by BillWallace

John Marshall = ghetto? This is Rochester you are talking about. Everyone has an above average standard of living there. As a JM grad I can think of a lot worse you can do at many schools here in the Twin Cities.

As to vpresa's question - a lot has to do with what you want from a neighborhood. $1500/mo isn't a huge amount if you are renting so check out craigslist to see what that will get you. Personally, I've never been a huge "manor" fan. Other places to maybe avoid are NW Rochester, north of 37th and between Hwy 52 and 18th Avenue as well as SE Rochester on the downtown side of Hwy 14.

Depending on how old your kids are you might want to look at school data to see which ones have the best performance and target living in those boundaries.

Whatever you select, it's hard to go wrong. Rochester is and was a great place to raise a family.

Why stay away from those areas? Because of the high cost or because of the bad nieghborhoods?

Can you list any other areas of rochester to stay away from as far as bad nieghborhoods and crime? Thanks in advance.