Moving to MN - need help! (Minneapolis, St. Paul: sales, buying a home, buying)

[kmay2989]

My family is considering moving to MN sometime at the beginning of next year. After living in a suburb of Dallas, TX for 6 years my husband and I are done with the burbs lifestyle. My husband is in the auto sales industry and would need to stay close to several major new car dealerships. We will idealy be buying a home outside of a city on aprox 2-3 acres, but would like to remain somewhat close to a good "hub" city (no more than 30mins away). A city to do grocery/retail shopping, work for my husband, and community events are all important for us. We have elementry age children and want to be in a school district with good schools k-12. We have researched some cities (ex: Rochester, Mankota, and St. Cloud) but haven't been able to decide on one. Any town/city suggestions? Any areas to stay away from?

Thank you!!

[BryaninMSP]

OK, so it's technically a suburb, but likely less of a "suburban" feel than around Dallas: White Bear Lake. If you look in the immediate areas to the north and east you can find places with quite a bit of land, there are a bunch of new car dealerships along Highway 61, and you're close to St. Paul and Minneapolis. You could also look at Stillwater, but I'm not sure work-wise what there would be close by (I haven't shopped for a car over there).

I lived in southern Minnesota for a time and Rochester is another great option. St. Cloud is nice, if you want to go that direction (though if I had to pick between Rochester and St. Cloud, I would definitely pick Rochester). Can't speak to Mankato as I've only spent limited amounts of time there. No matter where you go in Minnesota, the schools will be above average, especially compared to Texas.

[kbug3]

same question but what about smaller towns say 30k or less?