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Relocating to Rochester, MN

I currently live and work in Landstuhl, Germany and will be relocating to the Rochester, MN area in the early summer. I would appreciate any comments, thoughts or suggestions about living and working in this area. I am single,no kids and have a dog and 2 cats. I would like to find a nice upper mobile area to rent a small house and I am planning on going to work at the Mayo Clinic. I have already heard from them and I just need to relocate. My questions would be: nice affordable(non chain) restaurants, good quality shopping (Saks or Niemans) and what is the general cost of living in this area. Does a cup of coffee at 7-11 cost a buck or three. Basically this kind of stuff. Thanks in advance for the help. Please no posts on this place sucks or any of that nonsense.:)

MH- I spent 2 years working at the Mayo Clinic also- July '99 to Sept '01. I'll include some thoughts here but if you have any further questions, please email me. I am also a single, no kids-just to give you an idea of where I am coming from. Housing- more difficult than I thought to find. The housing market there is very tight and more expensive than you would think for a small, essentially rural town. The town is very safe though and there really isn't an area that is "bad" to live in. I would recommend that you live close to the Clinic as parking is horrendous (unless you are a physician). Many live in the smaller, older houses near the Clinic and walk to work. Restaurants- good luck finding non-chains. Actually, I'm not sure what kind of food you like but for Thai/Vietnamese I would recommend a place called Sawatdee Thailand (they have changed their name multiple times in the past year)-- just ask where the old "Combo Cuisine" is. Also, Redwood Room is good for pasta, pizza, and beers. The upscale restaurants are Chardonnay and Broad Street Cafe. Other than that, there are just a lot of chains- typical fast food, etc. Shopping- if you are looking for places like Niemans and Sak's, you are out of luck. Most of my shopping was done in the Twin Cities where better stores are available or through catalogues. When I left, there were rumors that a Nordstrom's was coming, but I have no further details on that. Except for housing, cost of living is fairly low. No, you won't pay 3 bucks for a cup of coffee unless you go to a Starbuck's. My 2 cents- if you are used to living in a big city and enjoy that life style, Rochester will be an adjustment. I have lived in large cities all of my life so it was a challenge for me to live in Rochester. It is a very family oriented town with little to do for single people. I found myself going to the Twin Cities (1.5 hour drive) a lot for good food, shopping, catching up with friends (I went to graduate school in Minneapolis), etc. However, if you love outdoorsy stuff, there is lots to do around Rochester- hiking, biking, canoeing, fishing,camping. And, I also met some great friends at Mayo. Best of luck to you, please email me directly if you have any other questions!

How come people can come from Europe and steal away our good paying jobs and yet on the Europe forum we're told each day that Americans aren't welcome to relocate to Europe and get a job? There should be some fairness here!

Message to XX - I think that maybe perhaps MH is an American coming back to his own country. That is the way I read it. Stop jumping to conculsions until you know the facts.

Oh, yeah, xxxx like you are a brain surgeon or something and can work at Mayo Clinic. Whatever job this is, I don't think it's going to go to the average joe schmo like you off the street.

While I'm not a brain surgeon or have any desire to work at the Mayo Clinic - or anyplace in MN for that matter - I do have a PhD in economics from an Ivy League University and work in a very high paying job. I was just pointing out that it should be a two way street. If we aren't welcome to work in Europe, then why give up our good jobs to someone from Germany? I apologize if the original poster is an American. But this fact was not presented in the posting.

Hello MH, I worked as a physician at Mayo for many years in the 80's and 90's and have been back to Rochester regularly since moving away. Jane's opinions are in agreement with mine. Rochester is not just a 'rural town'. It is a heavily white collar city with a rather high median income for a smaller midwestern US town. IBM has a vary large operations center in town, and Mayo employs some 20,000 people and over 2000 physicians. That's a large percentage of professional people in a city of around 75,000. Thus, housing costs are higher than would be expected (but by no means outrageous). I would also note that Rochester is a very conservative, family oriented town. There's no big 'singles scene'. There is NO upscale shopping. There is almost no upscale dining (Broadstreet is pretty dependable). Fortunately Minneapolis is a 50 minute drive and offers everything you might need in these regards, including a large Saks, Neiman's, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Ralph Lauren, etc. Minneapolis is a very nice city which doesn't get a lot of national tourism press. Absolutely beautiful in summer and fall, and a very progressive city for the midwest with an active cultural scene. Mayo used to keep a listing of houses and condominiums for rent. Contact the secretary in the department you'll be working in and ask about this. There are hundreds of people each year who come into town looking for housing for a few months or years. The best newer housing developments are quite a drive from the Clinic, and winter weather makes the drive annoying. The nicer housing close in can be a bit expensive. There are many condominiums and nice apartments less than 100 meters from the pedestrian subway system. If you're not familiar with this, it's quite a curiosity. You can walk around most of downtown Rochester without going outdoors. There is an extensive subway system for pedestrians with restaurants, dry cleaners, shopping, etc, as well as an overhead skyway system. The first couple years I was in town I didn't have to go outside at all to get from my condo to my office, a total of about 9 city blocks. Very nice when the temperature is hovering at -35 CELSIUS for a few days(!). Prices (from Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce survey 2001): Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area Averages First Quarter, 2001 Market Basket Milk: 1/2 gallon, whole milk $1.97 Bread: 24oz. loaf $0.97 Eggs: One dozen, grade A, large $1.00 Hamburger: Price per pound $1.08 Housing Apartment: Monthly Rent, based on two bedrooms, one and a half baths or two baths, unfurnished; approximately 950 sq. ft., excluding all utilities except water and sewer $860 House Purchase: Based on 2,400 sq. ft. of living area of an existing home $255,000 Utilities Electricity: Average monthly consumption (allowing for differences in consumption and costs between winter and summer rates) based on a house with the above specification $92.93 Natural Gas: One rate year-round, per month on average $96.93 Transportation Metropolitan Council Transit Operations (MCTO) Commuter Fare: Typical one-way commuting fare, up to 10 miles Gasoline: 1 gallon unleaded regular, including all taxes, at a self-service pump $1.50 Leisure Movies: First-run, indoor, evening rates $7.08 for additional reading: www.rochestermn.com Good luck, MH. BTW, Mayo is THE best medical system in the US to work within (the Rochester part of the sytem anyway). It is an extremely well run system with beautiful facilities and a wealth of resources. I've worked in hospital systems in many states in the US on both coasts and in the southern US. Mayo is in a league of its own.