Live in Rochester, work in Mankato, is it possible?

Hi @aaab

I am a commuter from Austin to Rochester, but my drive is about 50 miles one way vs the 90 miles from Rochester to Mankato. So I can't speak to that size of a commute. There are a lot of people that come from long distances to Rochester every day, so that isn't uncommon. However, many coming to Rochester have commuter busses as options. I commute with my husband, so between having good conversation with him and listening to audiobooks, the commute is pleasurable.

Things that may be helpful when making your decision:
*Most of the traffic on Highway 14 would be heading the other direction, especially early in your commute. I'm not sure what traffic is like going into Mankato.
*You would MOSTLY be driving on divided highways (2 lanes each direction), but half of the distance of your commute would be with stoplights and no "typical" exits.
*You would mostly be driving at 65 MPH, so it wouldn't take many more minutes than miles to drive.
*I am not sure what the parking situation is for those driving into and not living in Mankato. That would have to be a consideration if you were working in Rochester.
*Speaking from one commuter to another (especially one from Texas), winter driving should be considered. It can be very difficult some days.

I am tagging @lindseymarx as she works on the Mankato campus and can maybe share a bit more about that community.

Hope this is helpful.

Good luck in your decision, and welcome to Mayo!

@aaab welcome to Minnesota! I think quite a few people do commute. I used to commute 2 days a week and it was okay, but it did get old (I did it for 4 years). The drive itself isn't terrible (70ish minutes), but during the winter, the highway did get slick since it's wide open fields. During my commute, I used the time to call people and catch up or listen to a good radio show/podcast. Mankato does have quite a few lakes around the area if you enjoy time on the water (you mention nature so possibly?). If you like sporting events, there is a college in town (Minnesota State University, Mankato) so they have college hockey, football, baseball, etc. Rochester doesn't have recreational lakes or university sporting events, but, agree, restaurants and gyms are limited in Mankato. Rochester has the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center, which is wonderful for Mayo employees and lots of new restaurants. I'm not sure I was much help, but it can be done, you would just have to have the mindset of being on the road often. 🙂

Hi @aaab

I am a commuter from Austin to Rochester, but my drive is about 50 miles one way vs the 90 miles from Rochester to Mankato. So I can't speak to that size of a commute. There are a lot of people that come from long distances to Rochester every day, so that isn't uncommon. However, many coming to Rochester have commuter busses as options. I commute with my husband, so between having good conversation with him and listening to audiobooks, the commute is pleasurable.

Things that may be helpful when making your decision:
*Most of the traffic on Highway 14 would be heading the other direction, especially early in your commute. I'm not sure what traffic is like going into Mankato.
*You would MOSTLY be driving on divided highways (2 lanes each direction), but half of the distance of your commute would be with stoplights and no "typical" exits.
*You would mostly be driving at 65 MPH, so it wouldn't take many more minutes than miles to drive.
*I am not sure what the parking situation is for those driving into and not living in Mankato. That would have to be a consideration if you were working in Rochester.
*Speaking from one commuter to another (especially one from Texas), winter driving should be considered. It can be very difficult some days.

I am tagging @lindseymarx as she works on the Mankato campus and can maybe share a bit more about that community.

Hope this is helpful.

Good luck in your decision, and welcome to Mayo!

@aaab The first thing I will say about the Mankato area is it has quite a few large city amenities but a great community/small town feel. I grew up in the country (literally in the middle of no where) and have lived in an outer ring suburb of St. Paul, Mankato area is the "just right" for me. So if you feel like Houston was just right for you Mankato may feel to small or limited.

*It sounds like you would be working at the Hospital campus, which is the site with the most difficult parking situation but it is nowhere near as difficult as trying to find parking in Rochester. If you are a Physician or an advanced practice provider there is designated parking near the building. If you are an allied health staff the furthest you would have to park is 2 blocks away.
*The nature here is wonderful, we have several walking/ running/ biking/ hiking trails, mountain biking clubs, Minneopa falls/ State Park.
*The traffic flow in Mankato is pretty good, definitely no stop an go traffic jams you ever have to worry about.
*There are 2 large movie theaters and a smaller cheap theater in town, there are lots of places to eat and the healthy eating scene is growing in Mankato.
*We do have a small fitness facility that employees (family members are not able to use) can utilize at the Hospital in Mankato. It is a shared space with Cardiac Rehab, and employees can use the space when patient classes are not is session.

*There a quite a few choices for gym membership too- there are several smaller locally owned gyms/facilities, a YMCA , as well as a few of the national franchises you would find in a larger city.

*Rochester does have more to offer than Mankato but Mankato is certainly a great place to live.

You will definitely have to weight the pros and cons of a 3 hour commute, 4 days a week. Is there something you would rather fill those 12 hours of driving with each week? If you ever want some suggestions on what to do check out in Mankato, let me know!