Might be moving to St. Paul area, with horses? (Minneapolis: for sale, real estate)

[hoofs2118]

My husband and I a young-ish couple with no children. We had moved around the country, and ended up back in our home town. Now being more stable, we want to find a home in the midwest. I am deeply involved in showing horses, and my husband races mountain bikes. We have family in Rosemount, so this seems like a good move.
There are 2 issues with moving to St. Paul for us.

1) Jobs. I am a paralegal, and my husband works from home (and can take his job with him). So only I will need to find employment. I have a bachelors and a paralegal certificate and have just under 4 years of expereince. How's the job market?

2)Finding horse boarding.. I know great barns are out there!! We sort of have to find a home first and then board though.

3) We don't want to be stuck in suburbia. Our family lives in suburbia, and its fantastic for some people (especially with kids), but not for us. We love odd, old, interesting small homes. Condos are also perfectly find as well. We have a very large dog though, so this can be prohibiting.

Any advice? We are not limiting ourselves to St. Paul. It can be anywhere around St. Paul/Minneapolis area, North, South, East and West.

[mn55110]

There are a number of rural area's just 10 mi, 15 mi and 20-miles from Downtown St. Paul where your husband and yourself could either purchase a hobby farm or board your horses.

For mountain bike racing, your husband could check-out the Three Rivers Park Reserve District's website for trail information, any of the county park websites will give info as would the DNR website for state park information. Also, do a google search for area mountain bike races or area clubs as well. Any Erik's Bike shop location in the Twin Cities, St. Cloud and Rochester would also have that information too.

Being that you have family in Rosemount, which is right on the edge of transforming from suburbia to the country, anywhere south or east of Rosemount will have numerous hobby farms and boarding facilities along with horse trainning facilities as well. Check with the same park reserve district website information will have horseback riding trail information as well.

All the surrounding counties circling around the immediate Twin Cities all have plenty of land for riding: Dakota County , Scott County , Carver County , Wright County , Sherburne County , Anoka County , Isanti County , Chisago County , Washington County , all have great horseriding/horseboarding facilities, riding trails, plenty of horse farms and mountain biking area. Even the western portion of Minnesota's most populous county, Hennepin County has a number of hobby farms and property for sale with acerage. Check any of the real estate websites. Bunker Hills Regional park in Coon Rapids and Ham Lake has riding stables on site. I am not sure if Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan still has their riding stables or not. Canterbury Park in Shakopee and Running Aces Harness Park near Forest Lake in Columbus Township are Minnesota's two main horse racing facilitites

Specific cities to check out include: Corcoran , Dayton , Rockford , Independence , St. Bonifacious , Waconia , Cologne , Lorreto , Jordan , Belle Plaine , New Prague , Buffalo , Monticello , Northfield , Cannon Falls , Hastings , West Lakeland , Lake Elmo , Mahtomedi , Hugo , Grant , Forest Lake , Otsego , Elk River , Big Lake , Medina , East Bethel , Delano , Elko , New Market , etc.

[trip_shakespeare]

There are, I think, several horse boarding facilities in or around Stillwater - a short drive from St. Paul. As an extra bonus, the city itself is quaint, filled with antique stores, bars/restaurants, ect.