Considering Minnesota Need advice (Mankato, Cottage Grove: rentals, transferring to, college)

[ERD055]

Hello Forum,

I am currently thinking about transfering to a different location for the company I work for right now. They are in Waseca MN & was wondering what Waseca its self is like & some of the other towns in the area are like? I am willing to drive up to 30 miles for a commute. I see Mankato & Owatonna are decent sized & fairly close. I used to live in Wisconsin a city of 7,500 but moved to Huron South Dakota for this job but SD just isnt my kind of living. All the Major shopping is 50+ miles away depending where you are & my case its well over 50. I am used to having everything within resonable distance which I think MN would be better off. I been having difficulty making friends in SD too (I'm young) most the older people are friendly but people my own age are hard to come by as they tend to keep to their selves & not welcome in someone like me or they leave town for college as soon as they can. I was wondering maybe if any of the cities around Waseca/Mankato/Owatonna are Friendly for new comers, cost of living & decent age groups. I like to do outdoor activities like Hunt, Fish, ATV Ride, Snowmobile, Also like to do Photography of anything to my interest, avid Sports fan of all kinds & ages. Most my hobbies are fun but it would be nice to have someone else to do them with instead of being a solo man all the time. A major plus moving to this area moves me closer to my Family in WI. The company I work for has places around the Midwest & Northeast but my seniority district only allows me to go to Waseca or Rapid City SD & RC would be moving further away from my issues.

Appreciate any responses.

[golfgal]

All of the towns you listed are nice towns, especially if you are more accustomed to living in smaller towns. Mankato, being the largest, has the most "stuff" to do in town. Owatonna has quite a bit of shopping, etc. as well. Waseca is a beautiful town on the lake. I know several people that live there and they love it. Highway 14 had had some major updating and is a pretty decent road to travel either for commuting or to go shopping, etc. You are also about an hour to the southern edge of the Twin Cities from Waseca so you do have that option as well.

Personally I would live in Waseca since you are working there. It's going to be more of a family oriented town but most smaller towns are.

[sholomar]

looks like a nice location to me! Have driven through that area, it's proximity to Mankato, the twin cities, and those lakes to the north, makes it more appealing to me than where I'm at. You are right that South Dakota is just too isolated, even along the I-29 corridor. Huron is a long ways from anything. I've thought about transferring to Hutchinson, MN or Cottage Grove, which are among the choices where I could go where there are other plants.

Of course you'll have state income taxes, but there are benefits to that such as having far more frequency of paved roads (I am a road biker) even in the extreme western part of the state, compared to South Dakota for example.

[ERD055]

Sounds like its a good area to live in. After doing some Research both Owatonna & Mankato have the amenities I like. Also being close to the Twin Cities is a plus. Just need to look into cost of living in those cities & what rentals are like.