Hammond

Located 40 minutes outside of Saint Paul, residents of Hammond get to spread out on generous lots away from the buzz of city life. People here appreciate the rural lifestyle and the sense of small-town community accompanying it, but in recent years, suburban subdivisions have started cropping up left and right. “Hammond is an up-and-coming area because it’s further out from the Twin Cities, but there’s a nice balance of affordability and land,” says Dave Hackworthy, a Realtor with Creative Homes who has sold numerous homes in the Saint Croix Valley. “Plus, it’s right along the Interstate 94 corridor, so you can access the cities even though it’s more rural.”

Hammond’s streets form a spread-out grid around large plots of farmland, with houses tucked behind mature oak trees with broad canopies. Turning off the quiet rural roads, you’ll find a couple of new developments where homes sit closer together, though there’s still room to spread out on generous lawns for a summer barbecue. These new builds typically have two stories and subtle flairs like exposed stone bricks or wooden beams and are priced at a median of $480,000 for four to five bedrooms. Older homes along the denser streets of central Hammond cost around $225,000, with a classic turn-of-the-century charm that makes up for the renovations they may require. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in existing homes, there are also plenty of development lots up for purchase to construct a custom home, with sizes ranging from half-acre to 16-acre parcels.

Many children in Hammond attend St. Croix Central School District public schools. Their education starts at St. Croix Central Elementary, which earns a B rating from Niche, and continues at St. Croix Central Middle, which scores an A-minus. St. Croix Central High gets a B-plus grade and has a student-teacher ratio of 16:1 according to Niche. Their course offerings in agricultural sciences include a youth apprenticeship and classes on wildlife conservation.

Right beside the high school is Lion’s Park, where you can cheer on the baseball games on the field or shoot some hoops at the basketball court. If you require a more scenic view, you can admire the stone- and wood-paneled Dutch windmill at Baldwin’s Windmill Park. In the summertime, you can watch the lattice blades spin and listen to the soothing trickle of Baldwin Creek while you picnic at one of the nearby tables. It’s also not far from Dutch Heritage Park, which has a colorful playground and a field with soccer nets for high-energy kids to roam and play.

Walk down Davis Street in central Hammond for your choice between multiple local bar and grills. Cheap Andy’s Saloon is known for its greasy eats like Wisconsin cheese curds and for its TV-covered walls, so you won’t miss the Packers game no matter where you sit. You can also head down the block to Schuggy’s American Grill and Taphouse, which also serves up fried foods and craft pours to the tune of live music on most weekend nights. For those who’d rather stock up and eat at home, head into Baldwin to stop by Nilssen’s Foods. The regional supermarket may serve a small town, but it has a large selection.

Despite Hammond’s rural feel, you’ll still be able to get in on plenty of action within your neighborhood. Thrill seekers might take flight at Skydive Twin Cities, where you can get a bird’s-eye view of the patchwork quilt of Wisconsin farmland. Golfers will also have their pick between Pheasant Hills Golf Course and Hammond Golf Club, the latter of which offers both memberships and daily rates for booking a tee time on its lush greens. In October, families will want to head to Black Cat Punkin’ Patch for seasonal photo ops while picking the perfect pumpkin to carve up on Halloween. If the city life beckons, Interstate 94 runs through the neighborhood and gives residents 40-minute access to the Twin Cities.