Retiring to MN from WI: Best Small Towns to Live

[tornado9989]

I would say Owatonna. You wouldn't be too far from the Twin Cities or Rochester, but you would be close enough to the big cities, so if you needed to, you could easily drive into one. And for a good hospital, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester is one of the best in the world.

You said you wouldn't want to live in or near a metro, and listed Mankato. Mankato actually sound perfect. It really isn't that big of a city. It's population is a little over 30,000. It has a fairly good downtown, and good recreation. It's hospital is run by the Mayo Clinic, so you have good health care. I think Mankato would be a good fit.

[MinnesotaBob]

You really should take a long look at Crosby, Minnesota as a top town for retirees. Has nice downtown area, many lakes nearby, up north feel, good medical facilities, lots of outdoor recreation, and not that far from Brainerd or Saint Cloud for shopping.

[light_shimmer]

I would choose Bemidji out of your list, but it's a bit of a "bigger" small city. Have you looked at Walker at all? It's a neat litte town, seems to be the best small downtown I've seen in the northern MN area as far as welcoming and things to enjoy/participate in. It's about a 45 minute drive from Bemidji, which has the nearest larger hopsital ( I believe)

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by MinnesotaBob

You really should take a long look at Crosby, Minnesota as a top town for retirees. Has nice downtown area, many lakes nearby, up north feel, good medical facilities, lots of outdoor recreation, and not that far from Brainerd or Saint Cloud for shopping.

I just drove through Crosby (and ate at the Subway) this past weekend. It's a nice little town from what I can tell, but I've only driven through it and haven't really spent any time there.