Daily life in Hermantown, Minnesota
Part of the Hermantown neighborhood guide. Back to the full guide.
Errands are Hermantown's strongest practical argument. The Miller Hill corridor sits immediately over the Duluth line and holds the metro's supermarket options, big-box hardware, pharmacy counters, warehouse club, auto service, and a large share of its clinics and specialist offices, all within about five minutes of most Hermantown addresses. Additional gas, convenience, and trades services line US 53 inside the city. Nothing routine requires a trip down the hill.
Medical care is unusually convenient. Both Essentia Health and St. Luke's operate clinic locations on the hill in addition to their downtown hospitals, which for an above-the-hill household means most appointments are a five to ten minute drive rather than a trip into the city center.
The gaps are civic and social rather than commercial. Hermantown has no library branch of its own, so residents use the Duluth Public Library system or the Hermantown school library. There is no post office counter, cafe, or shop that functions as a village center. And because the city's commercial life is a highway strip rather than a block, you will not run into your neighbors while doing errands the way you would in Lakeside or Proctor. The wellness center, the arena, and the school campus do that work here instead.
Groceries: Super One Foods, Miller Hill (2.5 mi), Cub Foods, Duluth Heights (3.5 mi), Costco Wholesale, Miller Trunk Highway (3 mi).
Pharmacy, hardware & gas: Everything is on Miller Hill and it is five minutes away. Full-service grocery, pharmacy counters, big-box hardware, auto service, and gas are all concentrated in the Miller Hill corridor just over the Duluth line, with additional gas and convenience on US 53 inside Hermantown. This is the best-served suburb in the metro for routine errands.
Where you shop and eat out
The commercial spine, running north from the Miller Hill retail corridor through Hermantown, carrying auto dealers, restaurants, trades businesses, and highway retail.
The city's civic and residential east-west spine, connecting city hall, the school campus, Fichtner and Stebner parks, and most of the newer subdivisions.
The metro's main shopping district, including the Miller Hill Mall and the big-box strip, immediately over the Duluth line and five minutes from most Hermantown addresses.
Through the year
The city's community celebration with a parade, vendors, and family events.
Not a Hermantown event, but the week the whole city travels. The Hawks have won three state titles, in 2007, 2016, and 2017.
Daily life next door
Directly east over the Duluth line, older above-the-hill housing at a lower price with the same Miller Hill access.
ProctorTen minutes south, a smaller school district and much lower prices in an older railroad town.
KenwoodSoutheast toward UMD, established 1950s and 1960s housing on the Duluth side with ISD 709 schools.
PiedmontDown the hill toward Lincoln Park, older stock with hillside views and the Piedmont trail network.
Canosia Township and Pike LakeTen minutes north, lake lots and rural parcels with ISD 700 or ISD 704 school assignment depending on address.