Never in a million years did Christina Snaza imagine she would move to Wisconsin.
A native Minnesotan whose phone still sports the 218 area code of the state’s northern half, Snaza and her husband were drawn across the St. Croix River three years ago from their home in Oakdale when they learned how affordable and convenient it would be to move to Somerset, Wis.
“We still call ourselves Minnesotans,” said Snaza, who now has a Wisconsin-born toddler.
Whether by happenstance or by design, thousands have made the same move into western Wisconsin since the four-lane St. Croix Crossing Bridge opened in 2017 and slashed commute times to the Twin Cities and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The rural hamlet of Roberts has grown 20% since the bridge opened, with some of its 2,100 residents moving into a subdivision jokingly referred to as “Little Woodbury.” Vikings flags snap in the breeze outside homes in the Somerset neighborhood of River Hills. And at Sweet Beet Bakery in New Richmond, owner Ashley Adkison says she has house hunters stopping in every Saturday to pick up tips on the local schools as well as some of her fresh-baked “Croixnuts” pastries. “They ask ‘Is everything open all week?’ ” she said, the city residents trying to prep for life in a small town.
The residential boom has made St. Croix County the fastest-growing county in Wisconsin. The bridge opening was like a “green light switch went on,” said Rob Kreibich, the president and CEO of the New Richmond Chamber of Commerce and a recently elected Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.
Less crime, lower taxes and a small-town feel all play a part in drawing folks out of the Twin Cities, he said. Some new arrivals are looking for a place to start a family, but plenty of retirees or near-retirees have come as well, some citing lower sales tax or the absence of state tax on Social Security income as a factor. For others, a move to New Richmond has meant being closer to their up-north cabin.
Realtor Gina Moe-Knutson said some town councils have courted the growth while others were reluctant to let go of their rural identity. The first locale across the bridge, St. Joseph Township, has seen modest growth of 8% since the bridge opening, while it’s 19% in New Richmond. The city invested in infrastructure 25 years ago, said former director of planning and development Robert Barbian, building out water and sewer connections and plotting roads across farm fields as adjacent township land was annexed into the city for developments that became Waters Edge, Fox Run, Whispering Pines, and Gloverdale. The result is the city’s footprint has grown from 6,183 acres in 2015 to 7,674 acres today, said New Richmond City Administrator Noah Wiedenfeld.
“We looked ahead quite a few leaps,” Barbian said.