considering move to St. Cloud/ Sartell (Sauk Rapids, Stephen: buying a home, neighborhoods, buying)

[mitre10]

I have been offered a great job in the St. Cloud area and my husband and I are mulling it over. We currently live in California and have a 1.5 year old. I have a couple of questions if anyone knows anything about this area. We would be interested in buying a home right away.

1. are the schools in st. cloud and sartell dramatically different in quality? I looked on Great Schools and was suprised by the high scores of Sartell schools and the low scores of St. Cloud.

2. what are the differences between sartell and st. cloud as communities? My family is fairly low-maintenance, but I would like to be able to grab some take out (not fast food) for dinners some nights--does Sartell have restaurants like St. Cloud does? (sorry if this is stupid--I drove through but I didn't see a "town" to Sartell). Is Sartell snobby?

3. Are there any established, nice neighborhoods that you would direct me to in St. Cloud, Sartell, or other nearby towns? I would like to avoid new developments in fields. We're looking for safe, nice, neighboorhoods--not huge houses. I dislike cleaning

4. Any great preschools in the area?

Thanks!

[jphengel]

I would go for Sartell, Great clean town. A large choice of homes. And the best of schools. John

[uptown_urbanist]

I don't know the St. Cloud area at all, but isn't Sartell mostly just a suburb (not a town)?

This is what Sartell's own website has to say about it:

"The town continued to grow slowly and developed a number of businesses and a "downtown" on the east side of the Mississippi along US Highway #10. In the 1960's US Highway #10 was re-routed and greatly contributed to the demise of the downtown area. Then the construction of the new bridge over the Mississippi in the early 1980's replaced the remaining businesses. This and Sartell's nearby location to St. Cloud's major retail center account for Sartell not having a traditional "downtown"."

[ozzie679]

Before moving to St Cloud I lived in Sartell for two years.

Sartell-St Stephen is one of the best school districts in the state. St Cloud schools are fine. The SC schools are much more diverse than Sartell, so the test scores are low.

There is not much of a shopping district in Sartell. They border St Cloud so that's where they all eat/shop. There are some restaurnats in Sartell. There's Mexican, Chinese, 3-4 pizza places, A&W, Japanese, Perkins, etc. Maybe 15-20 places for takeout.

I've never felt that Sartell is snobby. I would describe the people as confident. There's a mix of executive types and middle class families. The town is very family orientated. Lots of young families...

How "nice" of a neighborhood are you looking for? Higher end homes? You should look up Celebration in Sartell. If you're looking at St Cloud, go west or Southeast.

I have some great friends that live there. Personally I would move to Sartell. Especially if you're a young family...you'll love it.

[marmac]

Sartell-St Stephen is an excellent school.

Minnesota has open enrollment so you can send your kids to any school you want.
However, Sartell-St Stephen is so attractive to parents, they are one of the few schools in Minnesota not accepting open enrolles.

If you want to send your kids there, you have to live within the school district.

[mitre10]

Thank you, all! By "nice" I didn't mean high end, more like good places to ride bikes, with well-kept homes and yards.

[yuppa12]

If you move to St. Cloud live on the south side where your child will attend oak hill elementray school. By far the best school in St. Cloud. That area you will find nice homes with plenty of areas to walk and bike. The homes are mostly newer in that area, but can be affordable with ranges from 150,00 to 600,000.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by mitre10

Thank you, all! By "nice" I didn't mean high end, more like good places to ride bikes, with well-kept homes and yards.

Both Sartell and SE St Cloud both have mid to high end homes with very well kept yards.

[marmac]

I wouild consider Sartell to be more of a suburb than an actual city.

By that, I mean, you won't find an actual historic downtown area.
In the 1950's, basically all Sartell had was DeZurik ( valve manufacturer) one bar ( Mississippi View) on the west side of the river.

Paper mill and one small bar on the east side of the river.

Sauk Raoids ( closer to St Cloud) did have an actual down town.

If I was choosing, I would choose Sartell ( especially for schools)
St Cloud Schools are good schools, but are in the news frequently for having money troubles and troubles negotiating teacher salaries nearly every time contracts come up.

[Radical_Car]

Sauk Rapids school is better then st cloud as well and my sisters go there and we live in St. Cloud out of the sauk rapids school district, though I have heard of sartell turning down people out of the district