Please tell me about Northfield (Minneapolis, Bloomington: house, theater, schools)

[northfieldmn]

Hello:

I am wondering if anybody can give me info on Northfield, MN. It's a lovely little city to see, but what is it like to live there? I've read past forums and got some negative information. I understand that everybody has their opinion and no place is perfect. I thought since it has a population of 20,000 it might avoid that small town negative gossip, etc, but perhaps since many are college students the actual people living there/community is insular? Are drugs a big issue? Is the local government that corrupt? This is coming from past forums a few years back. Maybe things have changed? I assumed it was quite a educated community (due to 2 higher ed institutions) and open-minded. I hear things about many organic small farms/co-ops/programs, etc. Is it a good place to raise a family? I have a young family and assume I would meet other people through my children's school/activities. Are people open to friendships? I assume it's as any place where you must work to meet people. Are the schools good? Are there activities besides sports in the schools (music, theater, arts that are accepted)? I guess I should look more into the school website. Is Northfield expected to grow in population? I tried to look for projected growth and couldn't find much. I assume it will never be the "next place" to grow from the city/suburbs since it's a little further out. I love the idea of a smaller community, but can't have the negative/narrow-minded attitudes often associated with small towns. I was hoping between the population size and fact of two colleges it would avoid that. Please, if you know about or live in Northfield give me some insight. Thanks!

[golfgal]

Northfield is a highly educated, pretty liberal town. Take past posts with a grain of salt..often those are people that have had issues with the law or whatnot and just have an axe to grind. You will find lifelong Northfield residents but also a pretty large "new" population because of the colleges and other businesses in town. Schools are pretty good. It's a really nice area, especially is you want a smaller town but still closeish to the Twin Cities. They have music and theater programs but they aren't anything outstanding. I guess it just depends on what you are looking for too. If you are working in Northfield, by all means, live there. If you are working in the Twin Cities, you can have similar options with more opportunities for music, theater, etc. in similar sized towns closer to the metro without the long commute.

[Lafferty Daniel]

Northfield is where learning comes to life.

[wushuliu]

And you couldn't have two more different colleges in the same town. It's been a some years since I was down there but one thing to beware of the annoying smell of the cereal (?) factory that could sometimes seem ever present, assuming the factory is still there. I believe there was also a turkey farm which also had its own contribution! It was quite the assault on the nose from one smell to the other.

I went to one of the colleges there and haven't been back in almost ten years so I'm sure a lot had changed, but I know people who live there and they love it.

[chessgeek]

Not only is it a two college town with one of the finest arboretums in the country (believe it is adjacent to Carleton), it has a great "Old West" reenactment of the failed James Gang bank robbery attempt during the Defeat of Jesse James Days in early September. That will be happening very soon. I have heard the town is really into music and there a few music festivals on the calendar, too.

I was able to walk around its nice downtown area when I last visited Minnesota eight years ago and enjoyed it. In fact, I wish I had spent more time. There should be a decent commute to any job in Dakota County and Bloomington probably would not be too bad, either. Anything further north would be difficult.

[wushuliu]

Originally Posted by chessgeek

Not only is it a two college town with one of the finest arboretums in the country (believe it is adjacent to Carleton), it has a great "Old West" reenactment of the failed James Gang bank robbery attempt during the Defeat of Jesse James Days in early September. That will be happening very soon. I have heard the town is really into music and there a few music festivals on the calendar, too.

I was able to walk around its nice downtown area when I last visited Minnesota eight years ago and enjoyed it. In fact, I wish I had spent more time. There should be a decent commute to any job in Dakota County and Bloomington probably would not be too bad, either. Anything further north would be difficult.

I'll never forget When I moved from New Jersey to Northfield for college, the very first thing I saw as I rode into town on a Greyhound was a bunch of guys on horses shooting revolvers and riding through town. It was Jesse James Day but I had no idea. I thought holy $*** what did I just get myself into

[ocsid]

Northfield is kind of a weird place. It's a college town, but the two schools feel kind of isolated from the town in a way. Most college towns have thriving bar/music scene, but Northfield isn't that way. The residents seem quite insular/provincial - not super welcoming to outsiders. They're glad to have people spend money in town, but don't want them living there. They aren't really welcoming to blue collar types - they feel they're above that, which is why most of the employees of Malt o Meal and any other industry tend to live in Faribault, Dundas or other surrounding towns. I've spent quite a bit of time there, and I wouldn't live there. The best word to describe Northfield might be "snotty." People there seem to feel they're better than anyone else.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by ocsid

Northfield is kind of a weird place. It's a college town, but the two schools feel kind of isolated from the town in a way. Most college towns have thriving bar/music scene, but Northfield isn't that way. The residents seem quite insular/provincial - not super welcoming to outsiders. They're glad to have people spend money in town, but don't want them living there. They aren't really welcoming to blue collar types - they feel they're above that, which is why most of the employees of Malt o Meal and any other industry tend to live in Faribault, Dundas or other surrounding towns. I've spent quite a bit of time there, and I wouldn't live there. The best word to describe Northfield might be "snotty." People there seem to feel they're better than anyone else.

I agree it's a 'weird' or at least 'unique' place but I'm not sure this description is wholly apt. There is a town-gown tension, or more aptly a gown-town-gown tension since you have two colleges acting on each other as well as the town. I'm sure there are factions that are haughty, but I think this is a bit dismissive.

E.g. a lot of blue collar workers live outside the relatively small confines of Northfield by choice simply because a) your housing dollar often goes farther, and b) if you want a house with any land at all, you really have no choice but to look outside the city limit. Plus even outside the town most of the areas you're talking about are a 5-20 minute commute to MoM, so it's not like living outside city limits is a hardship.

There isn't a thriving music scene in part for lack of venues. But St. Olaf is very rich with musical performance, even if it's not your typical college band scene, and Carleton has 'the Cave.' Downtown is much more limited. Hogan Bros, or maybe a small acoustic gig at Goodbye Blue Monday or the wine bar.

The bar scene picture is complex, but it's partly because 'The Reub' had a near monopoly on the liquor license for several decades. Also, unlike many other 'college towns' both St. Olaf (a dry campus) and Carleton (historically a very wet campus, though dryer than it used to be) are primarily traditional undergrad institutions, so the actual number of college students of legal age to drink is pretty small, and then a sizable percent of those won't be drinkers or bar-goers in any case. It's not like Durham or Ithaca or Minneapolis where there are hordes of 20 somethings figuring which bar/club to hit every night.

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by bler144

I agree it's a 'weird' or at least 'unique' place but I'm not sure this description is wholly apt. There is a town-gown tension, or more aptly a gown-town-gown tension since you have two colleges acting on each other as well as the town. I'm sure there are factions that are haughty, but I think this is a bit dismissive.

E.g. a lot of blue collar workers live outside the relatively small confines of Northfield by choice simply because a) your housing dollar often goes farther, and b) if you want a house with any land at all, you really have no choice but to look outside the city limit. Plus even outside the town most of the areas you're talking about are a 5-20 minute commute to MoM, so it's not like living outside city limits is a hardship.

There isn't a thriving music scene in part for lack of venues. But St. Olaf is very rich with musical performance, even if it's not your typical college band scene, and Carleton has 'the Cave.' Downtown is much more limited. Hogan Bros, or maybe a small acoustic gig at Goodbye Blue Monday or the wine bar.

The bar scene picture is complex, but it's partly because 'The Reub' had a near monopoly on the liquor license for several decades. Also, unlike many other 'college towns' both St. Olaf (a dry campus) and Carleton (historically a very wet campus, though dryer than it used to be) are primarily traditional undergrad institutions, so the actual number of college students of legal age to drink is pretty small, and then a sizable percent of those won't be drinkers or bar-goers in any case. It's not like Durham or Ithaca or Minneapolis where there are hordes of 20 somethings figuring which bar/club to hit every night.

They also have the Contented Cow Pub, Froggy Bottoms Pub, and some music in the lounge area at Tavern of Northfield. People really can't expect it to be as hopping as Minneapolis (pop. near 400,000). I would bet it has more nightlife and music options than almost all towns of approx. 20,000 in Minnesota. I would say maybe all of them except possibly Stillwater. The music festivals also add to the town's entertainment (Vintage Band, June Bug and the college performances), too.

[Oildog]

Northfield is not part of Mpls/St Paul, its an hour south.