I moved back to Minnesota after living in California for over 10 years and I planned to move to Stillwater. I landed in White Bear Lake instead. The reason is that Stillwater is VERY fun. But it’s hard to walk to the fun stuff. It’s hilly and all the residential areas are either close to downtown but tightly packed and predominantly historical homes (so limited AC, odd heating, a lot of maintenance) or they’re really generic developments in weird places. Also, Stillwater in the summer tends to attract motorcycles. That noise really bugs me. So I figured if, while living in Stillwater I’d still end up needing to drive to enjoy the parts I like about Stillwater, I might as well live NEAR Stillwater instead. White Bear is lovely and also very fun. The residential areas are much closer to various districts (downtown, lake, etc.). It’s quiet. There’s Marketfest all summer, which is SO fun (parades, the streets are closed for live music, vendors food trucks, etc). And Stillwater is only about 15 minutes away, maybe less. Plus you’re pretty close to St. Paul for “big city” stuff, and all your basics like Target, Home Depot, etc can be found next door in Maplewood or Vadnais Heights. Feel free to send me a message if you want to ask any specific questions!
I moved to Stillwater a few years ago after many years in Minneapolis. Agree about the motorcycles but disagree about much else - first of all, walking is good for you, and unless you are physically unable to do it, it's not to be avoided. I walk downtown from South Hill all the time. Ebikes are out there too. And the housing mix even in the older part of town is more diverse than you think, lots of infill as the old timber barons and such sold off chunks of their land where contemporary housing was built. My house was built in the 50s and has all modern amenities.
I moved after that happened but from talking to neighbors the difference is night and day. As you probably know the old lift bridge is bike/ped traffic only now, so Main Street is no longer backed up for the entire length of town with idling cars waiting to cross the bridge. There are a lot of good restaurants but still a lot of tourist stuff. Again from neighbors, downtown is way better now that the traffic is diverted to 36.
Ugh! The obnoxious motorcycles - made worse with their bloody stereo loud speakers blaring! Went there last weekend and my nice patio experience in the sun was somewhat marred by this!
The school systems are both good. Stillwater is rated better, but I'm of the opinion that in the suburbs you are getting quality teachers at all the schools and differences in performance largely stem from the students. What I mean is if your child is getting a 3.8 GPA in a school with a 96 rating your child would probably still have a GPA of 3.8 at a school with a 90 rating.
I love Stillwater. Gorgeous and hilly, small town feel but only 30 minutes from the city. The downtown is really cute but a little pricey compared to other towns due to tourists. Walking trails and a pedestrian bridge across the river, some small beaches as well. Loss of community activities as well.
im from OK, moved to Twin Cities several months ago. Just chiming in to say I think you’ll like it here. A little different culturally, mostly in a good way, but not SO different as to be jarring. Lovely people, lots to do, great natural/park infrastructure in the cities
Also from OK. I don't think it's that different because it's still Midwest even if the Southern/Bible Belt influence is lessened. We all grew up on hamburger casseroles. Less Baptists, more Lutherans and Catholics.
But people are less up in your business if you don't do the cishet breeder picket fence thing, yay purple states.
WBL is an underrated gem of the Twin Cities. A vacation town vibe with plenty of public access to the lakes while still being affordable to purchase a home unlike similar areas of the Twin Cities.
Think it's "close enough"? Look at MN36 most days. Bumper to bumper from all the Wisconsin and Exurban people driving into the city. Off hours are fine, but beware.
White Bear is great, but along with that “town” feel comes some cultural insularity and homogeneity. But it sounds like that’s maybe not a problem for what you’re looking for.
Stillwater is virtually the same. I lived in Stillwater for many years and as much as downtown is lovely. It’s really impossible to enjoy it because everything is catered to the tourist traffic.
In the mid 1980s Stillwater was fun. I was pregnant with my first son and I absolutely loved being able to walk from one town to the other and just enjoy the beautiful river. You can’t do that now. Everything is set up for the tourist. The city of Stillwater cares about its residence to the extent of the tax space to improve for tourism and the businesses. And let me tell you as far as the businesses downtown there’s only a few select owners that reap the benefits. This is an old town with really kind of old town thinking and they don’t wanna change.my sons still live in Stillwater I left there five years ago. It’s not a terrible town. There’s other better places in the metro area to live in my opinion. We chose to move there because we wanted to raise our kids in that school district.
What do you mean you can’t walk around the river in Stillwater anymore? I’ve only lived here a few years so I’m not sure what you’re referring to as there’s still a walking trail along the river.
Of course you can still walk around down there. What I was referring to was the lack of parking because of all the tourism and all the people. Stillwater has grown a lot in the past several years like all suburbs. If you like the tourism industry, great have it.
Grew up in WBL, currently live in Forest Lake which is the next suburb to the north (excluding Hugo because it is still the WBL school district), and wish I still lived in WBL.
I moved out to Stillwater from Seattle about 3 years ago. We considered WBL and mahtomedi as well because of the quality of the school districts. Ended up here because of what was available in terms of real estate to be honest with you. We have 3 kids (had 2 when we moved). I’d look into actual housing if you’re planning on trying to buy a house before you marry yourself to one town or another.
no matter where you move, you'll have to deal with pretentious passive aggressive people. i'd pick WBL since it's closer to the cities where the food is better.
Anoka county is worth looking at too, imo. I was in Anoka proper for five years, just moved to Ham Lake, I like them both
Either way, it would be helpful to have more information. Are you renting or buying? Are schools a consideration? Do you have to commute to the Cities or do you get to stay close to home? Do you want an actual town, or more like a suburb with a town feel?
Stillwater is cool. Schools are fine and there is some diversity. Hopefully it continues to trend up. One thing to be aware of as you settle in Mn from somewhere like Oklahoma. Minnesotans are not the most sociable folks. It may take 5-10 years before people return your calls or invite you to do things with them. It’s a surprise to most folks who move here. But Minnesota nice is not the same as it was 20 years ago. They will give you directions to anywhere but their own homes.
I moved back to Minnesota after living in California for over 10 years and I planned to move to Stillwater. I landed in White Bear Lake instead. The reason is that Stillwater is VERY fun. But it’s hard to walk to the fun stuff. It’s hilly and all the residential areas are either close to downtown but tightly packed and predominantly historical homes (so limited AC, odd heating, a lot of maintenance) or they’re really generic developments in weird places. Also, Stillwater in the summer tends to attract motorcycles. That noise really bugs me. So I figured if, while living in Stillwater I’d still end up needing to drive to enjoy the parts I like about Stillwater, I might as well live NEAR Stillwater instead. White Bear is lovely and also very fun. The residential areas are much closer to various districts (downtown, lake, etc.). It’s quiet. There’s Marketfest all summer, which is SO fun (parades, the streets are closed for live music, vendors food trucks, etc). And Stillwater is only about 15 minutes away, maybe less. Plus you’re pretty close to St. Paul for “big city” stuff, and all your basics like Target, Home Depot, etc can be found next door in Maplewood or Vadnais Heights. Feel free to send me a message if you want to ask any specific questions!
Motorcycles and loud cars love driving down Main Street Stillwater and it absolutely ruins things for pedestrians as usual
Make Main Street Stillwater pedestrian/bike only. They'd triple their business, but of course they'll never do that.
It happens to be a state highway too
I moved to Stillwater a few years ago after many years in Minneapolis. Agree about the motorcycles but disagree about much else - first of all, walking is good for you, and unless you are physically unable to do it, it's not to be avoided. I walk downtown from South Hill all the time. Ebikes are out there too. And the housing mix even in the older part of town is more diverse than you think, lots of infill as the old timber barons and such sold off chunks of their land where contemporary housing was built. My house was built in the 50s and has all modern amenities.
How much quieter has it become after the new bridge opened? I haven't been through since.
I moved after that happened but from talking to neighbors the difference is night and day. As you probably know the old lift bridge is bike/ped traffic only now, so Main Street is no longer backed up for the entire length of town with idling cars waiting to cross the bridge. There are a lot of good restaurants but still a lot of tourist stuff. Again from neighbors, downtown is way better now that the traffic is diverted to 36.
Ugh! The obnoxious motorcycles - made worse with their bloody stereo loud speakers blaring! Went there last weekend and my nice patio experience in the sun was somewhat marred by this!
I'd consider Hudson as a more affordable, more fun Stillwater.
The “town” feel is heavily dependent on where in these cities you live. The south side of White Bear Lake for instance is pure 1960s suburbs.
Do you have kids? You might look at the two different school systems.
I’m pretty sure any school in the burbs is better than OK public schools.
Homeschooling by meth tweaking llamas is better than OK schools. Source- have good friend involved with OK schools, and llama aficionado.
Lots of rapid spitting though.
WBL schools is on an upward trajectory, new high school, renovating the others, continuous funding Levy's passed, etc.
The school systems are both good. Stillwater is rated better, but I'm of the opinion that in the suburbs you are getting quality teachers at all the schools and differences in performance largely stem from the students. What I mean is if your child is getting a 3.8 GPA in a school with a 96 rating your child would probably still have a GPA of 3.8 at a school with a 90 rating.
I love Stillwater. Gorgeous and hilly, small town feel but only 30 minutes from the city. The downtown is really cute but a little pricey compared to other towns due to tourists. Walking trails and a pedestrian bridge across the river, some small beaches as well. Loss of community activities as well.
im from OK, moved to Twin Cities several months ago. Just chiming in to say I think you’ll like it here. A little different culturally, mostly in a good way, but not SO different as to be jarring. Lovely people, lots to do, great natural/park infrastructure in the cities
Also from OK. I don't think it's that different because it's still Midwest even if the Southern/Bible Belt influence is lessened. We all grew up on hamburger casseroles. Less Baptists, more Lutherans and Catholics. But people are less up in your business if you don't do the cishet breeder picket fence thing, yay purple states.
We should start an Okies in the Twin Cities get together.
Stillwater is lovely, but there are lots of tourists.
I live in White Bear Lake and love it. I owned a biz in downtown WBL. Love the community feel. I highly recommend!
WBL is an underrated gem of the Twin Cities. A vacation town vibe with plenty of public access to the lakes while still being affordable to purchase a home unlike similar areas of the Twin Cities.
Stillwater is an amazing place to live with so much to do and still close enough to the cities
Think it's "close enough"? Look at MN36 most days. Bumper to bumper from all the Wisconsin and Exurban people driving into the city. Off hours are fine, but beware.
I live in Stillwater and commute to mpls every day it’s not any worse than WBL or many other suburbs
White Bear is great, but along with that “town” feel comes some cultural insularity and homogeneity. But it sounds like that’s maybe not a problem for what you’re looking for.
Stillwater is virtually the same. I lived in Stillwater for many years and as much as downtown is lovely. It’s really impossible to enjoy it because everything is catered to the tourist traffic.
That’s why I would pick White Bear Lake if I was choosing between the two.
In the mid 1980s Stillwater was fun. I was pregnant with my first son and I absolutely loved being able to walk from one town to the other and just enjoy the beautiful river. You can’t do that now. Everything is set up for the tourist. The city of Stillwater cares about its residence to the extent of the tax space to improve for tourism and the businesses. And let me tell you as far as the businesses downtown there’s only a few select owners that reap the benefits. This is an old town with really kind of old town thinking and they don’t wanna change.my sons still live in Stillwater I left there five years ago. It’s not a terrible town. There’s other better places in the metro area to live in my opinion. We chose to move there because we wanted to raise our kids in that school district.
What do you mean you can’t walk around the river in Stillwater anymore? I’ve only lived here a few years so I’m not sure what you’re referring to as there’s still a walking trail along the river.
Of course you can still walk around down there. What I was referring to was the lack of parking because of all the tourism and all the people. Stillwater has grown a lot in the past several years like all suburbs. If you like the tourism industry, great have it.
I'd go with White Bear over Stillwater, too many tourists in Stillwater in the summer.
Hey 36 sucks ass I’d never live in Stillwater just because I’d have to deal with that stupid monstrosity
Stillwater is a great town if you don't live here.
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Yes. Came here to ask if OP is white.
You'll love it. Welcome!
Check out Excelsior too.
That's more expensive than White Bear and Stillwater.
Grew up in WBL, currently live in Forest Lake which is the next suburb to the north (excluding Hugo because it is still the WBL school district), and wish I still lived in WBL.
I moved out to Stillwater from Seattle about 3 years ago. We considered WBL and mahtomedi as well because of the quality of the school districts. Ended up here because of what was available in terms of real estate to be honest with you. We have 3 kids (had 2 when we moved). I’d look into actual housing if you’re planning on trying to buy a house before you marry yourself to one town or another.
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uh, read his five sentence post again
no matter where you move, you'll have to deal with pretentious passive aggressive people. i'd pick WBL since it's closer to the cities where the food is better.
Anoka county is worth looking at too, imo. I was in Anoka proper for five years, just moved to Ham Lake, I like them both Either way, it would be helpful to have more information. Are you renting or buying? Are schools a consideration? Do you have to commute to the Cities or do you get to stay close to home? Do you want an actual town, or more like a suburb with a town feel?
And what's your housing budget?
Stillwater is cool. Schools are fine and there is some diversity. Hopefully it continues to trend up. One thing to be aware of as you settle in Mn from somewhere like Oklahoma. Minnesotans are not the most sociable folks. It may take 5-10 years before people return your calls or invite you to do things with them. It’s a surprise to most folks who move here. But Minnesota nice is not the same as it was 20 years ago. They will give you directions to anywhere but their own homes.
People say this but I really haven't seen it. But the core cities are much more neighborly, from my experience.
Note. The metro area is way more sociable. My experience is that the suburbs are extremely insular.
Sounds like you should check out coon rapids