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Old 10-04-2011, 04:42 PM
 
Location: La Paz county, Arizona
16 posts, read 46,076 times
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My family and I are considering moving from Arizona to either Minnesota or Missouri. We like smaller towns and the rural lifestyle. The weather is not much of a concern. Which state would you recommend and what areas? We love trees, living out of town, but not having to drive 30 minutes to shop. Thank you in advance for your input. -John
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Old 10-04-2011, 06:48 PM
 
Location: The Lakes
2,368 posts, read 5,104,821 times
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MN. The woods of Minnesota are incredible. Roseau, Bemidji, Mankato, Duluth, Crookston, Morris, International Falls, Moorhead, Detroit Lakes, East Grand Forks... There are so many nice areas near larger cities as well as self-sustaining cities on their own that you could choose from. I personally love Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks-EGF. If you want your children to be hockey prodigies, pick Roseau :P
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Old 10-04-2011, 06:59 PM
 
1,816 posts, read 3,027,465 times
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Do you have any reasons to pick these two states in particular? You didn't give people much to go on. Minnesota has a lot to offer, but based on what you have listed, it's hard to tell if it's actually for you or not.
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Old 10-04-2011, 11:05 PM
 
Location: La Paz county, Arizona
16 posts, read 46,076 times
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I apologize for lack of details. We have horses and like to ride. We perfer hilly vs flat land, decidious vs conifers. We like to hike, camp and fish. Our son is a rock hound. We'd like to be within 10 -15 miles of a town of 20K or less.
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Old 10-04-2011, 11:40 PM
 
Location: Sector 001
15,945 posts, read 12,282,765 times
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Eastern MN and south/east Missouri are both good choices. Minnesota has many, many more lakes, but the tree density is fairly similar in the eastern portion.

Minnesota is much colder in the winter, while missouri is downright pleasant. Missouri is much warmer in the summer, there can be heat waves with 90's to 100's for weeks and high humidity with little wind. Minnesota has better summers in the east and south portion. The northern portion, IMO, is too cold all around.

Economy is probably better in Minnesota then Missouri, but if you have a job lined up, houses in Missouri are quite inexpensive, in places like Springfield, MO. Springfield MO was on my short list as a relocation destination, because I like it warm, like thunderstorms, tree filled hilly areas, mild winters.. downside.. few lakes like I mentioned.

If you have no particular job lined up may I also suggest southern and eastern Wisconsin. Around Appleton is a great spot. As is Saukville. And Baraboo. Madison, if you want a larger city. Southern and extreme eastern WI are warmer then anywhere in MN. Lake Michigan has a moderating effect on temperature. And low pressure systems in the winter, and the movement of the jet stream, are such, that eastern WI gets more warm fronts in the winter that bring temps into the 40's for stretches and melt snow.
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Old 10-05-2011, 05:26 AM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,297,575 times
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MN ranks #1 in almost every educational category there is, Missouri ranks in the bottom 3....

Having spent a lot of time in Missouri and living in MN, MN hands down. The eastern side of Missouri along the river is beautiful and you would find a lot of land to ride horses but after that MO just doesn't have much to offer.

In MN you can have a lovely tract of land and be within 30 minutes of Minneapolis or St. Paul. If you want even more rural, it sounds like the area north along 35 toward Duluth would be perfect. If you want more mild temps in the winter, then maybe look at some of the towns around the Rochester/Owatonna/LaCrosse are in SE MN. One town that I always like when we drive through there is Spring Lake. It's about 30 miles south of Rochester, very rural, population there is about 3000 maybe but Rochester is about 80,000. Anywhere around Rochester is going to be pretty rural so you can live as close as 5-10 miles to Rochester so you don't have to drive too far for shopping, etc.

All of the outer suburbs in the Twin Cities are going to give you want you want as well. The outer limits of all of these outer suburbs roll into farm land. You pretty much have endless options in MN for what you want.

I guess the question is, what are you planning on doing for work?
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Old 10-05-2011, 06:00 PM
 
Location: M I N N E S O T A
14,773 posts, read 21,494,000 times
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You would love the Brainerd Lakes Area
The area has a population of 90,000
VERY beautiful

Brainerd is the main town in the area population of 15,000
Brainerd and Baxter (Borders Brainerd to the East) is the main area where everyone does there shopping. We have all the shopping you need. Wal Mart, JCPennies, Gander Mt., Kohl's and Cub Foods.

The Paul Bunyan State Trail cuts through the area. Great for hiking biking or snowmobiling

Just north of Brainerd is a cute little touristy town of Nisswa. Alot of cute little shops and friendly people

This area is a really fun place to live. Lakes everywhere (Mille Lacs is just a short drive east)
If your a Casino person Grand Casino Mille Lacs 45 min drive
and Northern Lights Casino 1 hour drive

Centrally located between Duluth, Minneapolis and Fargo. 2.5 hour drive to each city which is nice

Also id like to not how different the landscape is. Theres sooo much trees everywhere. Not just flat farm land but acres and acres of pine trees its really beautiful!

//www.city-data.com/city/Brainerd-Minnesota.html
Brainerd MN Lakes Vacation | Family Vacations | Official Source Brainerd Minnesota Chamber Visitor Information
Lakes Area | Resort Guide for the Brainerd Lakes Area - Brainerd Minnesota. Your vacation destination - lodging - golf- conferences and skiing and snowmobiling.
City of Brainerd, Minnesota
City of Baxter
Welcome to Crow Wing County, Minnesota - Home Page

Hope this was helpful to you and i hope you look into the area!
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Old 10-05-2011, 06:22 PM
 
Location: M I N N E S O T A
14,773 posts, read 21,494,000 times
Reputation: 9263
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal View Post

I guess the question is, what are you planning on doing for work?
OP's Occupation is a Paramedic, Fire Chief

I don't know too much about jobs down in Rochester. Im guessing you have more information about that
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Old 10-05-2011, 07:57 PM
 
Location: Southern Minnesota
5,984 posts, read 13,411,972 times
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SE Minnesota would probably be the best option for you. Look into towns like Caledonia, La Crescent and Houston, though really you'd love any small town in the SE part of the state.
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Old 10-05-2011, 08:07 PM
 
Location: Sector 001
15,945 posts, read 12,282,765 times
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Rochester is on my short list if I ever lost my job. Just like it's location, not to far from Minnapolis, La Crosse, close to the interstate, nice and pretty but still rural, good modern rock radio station and fairly low crime rates. Minnesota as a whole has far lower crime then Missouri, for whatever reason. Less diversity?

Crime Rate by State: The United States — Infoplease.com

Southern part of the state so warmer.. pretty typical of the winters I grew up with perhaps a tad colder.

Fast growing ... something of note is the largest job source by far there is the Mayo Clinic. Wouldn't be surprised if property values are stable there, for better or worse.

The La Crescent or Winona idea is perhaps an even better one. Very beautiful area.. basically suburbs of La Crosse, WI but it's not super far to the cities and it's some scenic driving.

Interesting factoid...

Winona's weather station, as well as neighboring city, La Crescent's station, records the warmest climate of any in Minnesota, with a normal year-round average (1971–2000) temperature of 48.9°F,[7] compared to 43.2° in Austin to the city's southwest or 45.4° in Minneapolis, to the northwest, which experiences a strong urban heat island effect. Temperatures are generally very mild by Minnesota standards year-round; the January mean is 17.6°, while that of July is 75.8°."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winona,_Minnesota

Last edited by sholomar; 10-05-2011 at 08:17 PM..
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