***How is the Princeton, Monticello, Zimmerman areas for retirement? (Minneapolis: for sale, real estate)

[folkguitarist555]

Anyone familiar with these small areas north and northwest of the TC? I see there is some nice real estate in my price range in these areas. How tough is the winters there? Crime? Friendly People? thanks

[folkguitarist555]

Please help me if anyone knows these outlying areas....for living, I am finding many homes there in my price range, and I am considering taking a trip out there to check them out, but would like to hear from some folks who may know these areas...thanks

[Tipsy McStagger]

Extremely cold. Not really a retirement destination.

Usually people go where it's warmer and not the other way around.

[folkguitarist555]

yea I figured it would be cold there....but there are nice homes for sale with acreage all thru out those areas....and moving to places like AZ, and NV, doesn't turn me on, as I am not a sun worshipper, and don't like all year round hellishly hot weather...and the west coast is not cheap.

[Radical_Car]

Not a fan of Monticello, don't see the appeal. Now this is strictly my opinion, but I'd rather live in St Cloud or a little further down to Rogers/Albertville/Maple Grove or something. Not to mention the traffic is ridiculous (thats suppose to be an advantage of being away from the core of the metro) and cost of living is ridiculous, you may as well just live in the metro or go out to St Cloud where its a lot cheaper. Atleast Monticello has grown quite a bit within the last 10-15 years and has a lot more to offer then it used to.

Can't say anything about Princeton or Zimmerman since I haven't spent much time in either one.

[folkguitarist555]

I don't think I want to be too close to Brooklyn Park, from what I read.....and I also don't want to be all that close to the TC more or less, I want to be closer to St Cloud I guess cause it has a VA medical center, I am trying to avoid crime areas and the outskirts of the metro areas of the TC dues to congestion , traffic and crime. So being more rural, like outside of St Cloud, but within driving distance, would be good. Maybe like Foley? Sartell? Cold Springs? Annandale? Princeton? Heck I don't know....

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by starrider434

I don't think I want to be too close to Brooklyn Park, from what I read.....and I also don't want to be all that close to the TC more or less, I want to be closer to St Cloud I guess cause it has a VA medical center, I am trying to avoid crime areas and the outskirts of the metro areas of the TC dues to congestion , traffic and crime. So being more rural, like outside of St Cloud, but within driving distance, would be good. Maybe like Foley? Sartell? Cold Springs? Annandale? Princeton? Heck I don't know....

The area you're looking at is mostly rural, small town, Michelle Bachman territory. Pretty lakes and rivers, blue collar types of folks, hunters/ fisherman, motorbikes/ ATVs, Pickup trucks, church going populace, many who commute to the cities but want some space and probably don't align politically/ lifestyle-wise with folks in the city or in the inner-ring suburbs.

Crime? Read the small towns' police reports. They're comical. Apart from bar fights at closing time and DUIs they're minimal.

[folkguitarist555]

That might fit me ok then, I would rather be out in country some.....I would take occasional trips to Minneapolis, but not all that often. There were a lot of nice homes up in Princeton, and Zimmerman I saw. and Foley....haven't checked Annadale yet for homes on realtor.com....but yea, I prefer being out in the country some, but not too remote....but semi...wonder how long those winters are up around St Cloud....and them rural areas....

[Radical_Car]

I would look in St Cloud then, its a lot cheaper then Monticello, and Monticello does have traffic and congestion, And avoid it if you want to avoid the "outskirts"

Definitely look in Foley, Sartell, Annandale, Clearwater, Cold Spring. I lived in Annandale for 16 years, its a fantastic town with great schools. Foley or Cold Spring or even Clearwater are closer though. Or just live in St Cloud or right outside of it. St Augusta is a good place to look too.

And nothing wrong with being "close" to Brooklyn Park. Brooklyn Park is Minnesota sketchy at worst, not to mention Maple Grove (where I work) borders Brooklyn Park and is considered one of the nicest suburbs (albeit expensive and pretentious) according to those annoying Forbes lists and what not.

And crime is not an issue, especially on the "outskirts" of the metro and little towns like Annandale.

[davephan]

Winters are long, cold and snowy. It far away from the Twin Cities, so the snow plowing is probably not very good. You would probably want to own a 4 x 4 to get around in the winter, unless you hunker down during larger snowstorms and stay hunkered down until after the snow plowing is completed. The property taxes are probably a lot lower than most of the Twin Cities.

Some areas of Brooklyn Park are a little sketchy. I've heard there are several apartment complexes there than seem to attract the type of people that some people would consider troublemakers.

A number of storms in the summer and winter tend to veer away from the Twin Cities area and end up going either north or south of the Meto. I don't know how reliable electric power is for that area, although the power plant is close to that area. When you get away from the Twin Cities, or even on the west side of the Twin Cities, and electric generator becomes a better idea, since there are more power outages in those locations.

There's a nuclear power plant in Monticello if that is a concern living close to a nuclear power plant.

Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia