Cottage Grove , MN 2022 (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Woodbury: apartment complexes, crime, motels)

[AKbirch]

Hi there,
I am considering a job in Cottage Grove. I am wondering; is it a pretty safe place, is there decent shopping and restaurants, what is the overall feeling of the place? The posts I found are all pretty old. Do people have suggestions for towns they think are good options within a 30 minute or so commute? Thanks in advance for taking the time to share your thoughts

[paiste13]

Cottage Grove is pretty self-contained. It's ”out of the way” from most of the metro area, but there are the typical suburban stores and restaurants there. It started out as a working-class suburb but since land comes at a premium in the cities, CG has started to grow more in the past 5 years. It's close to Woodbury, which has similar houses but a better reputation (whatever that means).

There is no easy way to get there, but if you're just looking for a ranch house near Target, CG will be fine.

[mn55110]

Cottage Grove has been growing and had a lot of new construction homes being built in the past two-or-three years, with most of it being in the northern and eastern portions of the city, nearest its border with Woodbury. Most of these new single-family homes are quite large and range in price from $500,000-to-$925,000. Brand new townhouses can be found for $385,000.

Much of the new housing developments are in proximity to: Cottage Grove Elementary, Oltman Middle School, Cottage Grove Middle School, and the newly constructed Ravine Parkway.

Developments include: Parkview Pointe, Calarosa, Northwick Park, Eastbrooke, Woodward Ponds, Glacial Valley Estates, High Pointe, Hawthorne, etc. Summer Landing West is the southeast corner of Cottage Grove near the Mississippi River, Gray Cloud Island and Mississippi Dunes.

Most of the commercial, retail, grocery stores, medical offices are concentrated along the US Hwy 61/US Hwy 10 expressway corridor, concentrated along either the 80th Street exit off the freeway or the Jamaica Avenue exit. The Park and Ride parking lot for those taking Metro Transit's express bus service to/from Downtown St. Paul or Downtown Minneapolis is right along US hwy 61 at the 80th Street Exit. In the newer part of Cottage Grove, the corner of 70th Street and Hinton Avenue is starting to develop a very small commercial corridor.

Whatever you cannot find right in Cottage Grove can be found close by in Woodbury or along South Robert Street in the suburb of West St. Paul.

One issue with Cottage Grove is that the Mississippi River acts as a barrier to the adjacent suburbs of Inver Grove Heights and Rosemount. I can stand on the riverbank, hit a golf ball across the river, have it land in Rosemount or Inver Grove Heights, but can't drive there without having to drive north to the I-494 Wakota Bridge river crossing between Newport and South St.Paul then backtrack the same distance south on Concord Boulevard. You could also drive south on US Hwy 61 and cross the Mississippi River at the Hastings Bridge then backtrack on MN Hwy 55 to Inver Grove Heights or Rosemount. The St. Croix River also acts as a similar barrier dividing Minnesota from Wisconsin with the only river crossings are the I-94 bridge in Hudson, WI or crossing on US Hwy 10 between Prescott, Wisconsin and Hastings, MN. Constructing river bridges connecting both 70th Street and 80th Street on either side of the river would be supper helpful because 70th and 80th each run on both the the Cottage Grove side and the Inver Grove Heights side of the Mississippi. Running Jamaica Avenue across the river would be great too.


Many of the industrial developments have been built along the Hwy 61/Hwy 10 corridor the railroad tracks running parallel to the highway and river. The older 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's style homes, such as: the ranch homes, ramblers, and split level homes will also be found along the highway, and close to Park High School, also referred to as "Park of Cottage Grove" along 80th Street. These are your more blue collar neighborhoods whereas the further away from hwy 61 you get and closer to the border with Woodbury or Afton the neighborhoods increasingly become wealthier and much newer.

Most students in Cottage Grove attend Park High School along 80th Street, while some neighborhoods attend East Ridge High School in adjacent Woodbury. Please check with the South Washington County School District #833 for current school attendance boundries. The entire district is growing rapidly with all the new housing developments.

[paiste13]

What did you decide?

[mn55110]

I'd be curious to find out if the original poster did eventually accept the position in Cottage Grove or not.

They had inquired about places to live with close commuting distances to Cottage Grove.

Many of those working at the largest employers in Cottage Grove: South Washington County School District #833, Anderson Windows (Renewal by Anderson) manufacturing facility, 3M-Cottage Grove, etc., live right in Cottage Grove, Woodbury, or Inver Grove Heights.

You will also notice a lot of Wisconsin license plates, with a number of employees commuting from Western Wisconsin (River Falls, Prescott, Hudson, Ellsworth, etc). A fair amount live along Hwy 61 in Hastings or Red Wing

A good number of people live in South Minneapolis or St. Paul and work in Cottage Grove either using I-494 to cross the Mississippi River using the Wakota Bridge or using US Hwy 61/US Hwy 10 from the two main cities.

The Original Poster also asked about crime in which my only areas of concern would be near some of the really old low end apartment complexes, homeless motels, and trailer parks in nearby: St. Paul Park, Newport, South St. Paul, and maybe the older areas of Inver Grove Heights.

[Muffinpuncher]

It’s unattractive- largely industrial area. Many better choices in the area.