Duluth Superior ??? Help

[knke0402]

I just moved to Duluth from 4 yrs of College at St Cloud State University and before that, 18 years in the Twin Cities. This is what I can say...

Good-
.... Beautiful - The sun rising over the lake (when its not overcast) is absolutly gorgeous. The views from Skyline, Mesaba, and other parts are excellent. Nature - I saw 12 deer, a brown bear, and a skunk in one week, in the middle of a city of 86,000 people. The ships are cool to see coming and going. The lakewalk is amazing too, especially in summer/fall where its so packed.
....Nightlife- There is actually a decent bar scene with thngs to do. Fitgers is cool, adn so is Canal Park. Im a college aged kid so I like that kind of socializing.
...Nice people...

The Bad
...the infrastructure is horrible. buildings are in the same condition as they were years ago. Having been from the TC metro, I am used to constant updates, upgrades, new construction adn change. Here, nothing seems to change. Just look at tthe signage of businesses, you could take a snap shot of today and compare iwth photos from the 1960s and nothign at all would be changed. I dont know why there isnt more of a push to upgrade/raze old buildings that are falling apart. You see many buildings from the 1910s that havent been touched since the 1910s.
...Jobs - there are no jobs here. none. nothing that can sustain a family or a livable lifestyle.

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by knke0402

...Jobs - there are no jobs here. none. nothing that can sustain a family or a livable lifestyle.

I agree with everything you said. There are many buildings I would love to see razed, but there are many small, but vocal groups that like to save things for sake of saving old things. If it isn't being used, or if has fallen into disrepair, TEAR IT DOWN AND BUILD SOMETHING NICE!

However, there can be plenty of jobs depending on what specialty you're in. I don't think it would be right for you to tell a doctor, nurse or home care provider that Duluth has no work for them, because there are plenty of those here. Also, if you're in any form of trade (plumbing, construction, welder, etc), you should have no trouble either. In fact, you might be even get lucky if you're a programmer or graphic designer. We have a very large web development company in town (50 Below, among others) that offers great wages and benefits. I'm a web programmer for a local company and we're in the process of hiring both a programmer and graphic designer. The jobs are there if you look for them, but you can't find them if you assume they aren't there.

Duluth isn't a town you easily blanket with one attitude or one truth. It just doesn't work that way.

[edit]Oh, BTW. I suggest you tell the thousands of families who live here comfortably and happily that their job just doesn't cut it. Tell that to their Porsche or Audi also. ;-)[/edit]

[knke0402]

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

I agree with everything you said. There are many buildings I would love to see razed, but there are many small, but vocal groups that like to save things for sake of saving old things. If it isn't being used, or if has fallen into disrepair, TEAR IT DOWN AND BUILD SOMETHING NICE!

However, there can be plenty of jobs depending on what specialty you're in. I don't think it would be right for you to tell a doctor, nurse or home care provider that Duluth has no work for them, because there are plenty of those here. Also, if you're in any form of trade (plumbing, construction, welder, etc), you should have no trouble either. In fact, you might be even get lucky if you're a programmer or graphic designer. We have a very large web development company in town (50 Below, among others) that offers great wages and benefits. I'm a web programmer for a local company and we're in the process of hiring both a programmer and graphic designer. The jobs are there if you look for them, but you can't find them if you assume they aren't there.

Duluth isn't a town you easily blanket with one attitude or one truth. It just doesn't work that way.

[edit]Oh, BTW. I suggest you tell the thousands of families who live here comfortably and happily that their job just doesn't cut it. Tell that to their Porsche or Audi also. ;-)[/edit]

I agree.

When I said no jobs I guess I was just thinking in terms of myself. There are plenty of jobs I guess, but someone like me is struggling.

Do you see Web Development as being a central hub for Duluth in terms of jobs, education, support, research, etc? Either now or in the future? That would be a good path for Duluth to follow - to remain competativley Nationally, (or even State-Wide(Rochester??)) a region should have a strong economic base with industry that feed off of each other. This day and age it is technology, and a good way for a region to better itself. IE - Silicon Valley in California. Or the Golden triangle. I never knew of the Web Development or anything like that in Duluth, interesting.

[aluminumpork]

No, I don't see that ever becoming a hub for Duluth. But it would be misleading to say that we don't have any tech companies in Duluth. We certainly do, some of them very successful. It seems that one of the keys to success here in terms of running a technology company has been developing software/hardware or services for the medical industry. With SMDC, St.Lukes and the myriad of other medical organizations here, Duluth is a great place to develop new medical technology. It allows you to work closely with the very people who will be your customers.

[newcastle]

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

No, I don't see that ever becoming a hub for Duluth. But it would be misleading to say that we don't have any tech companies in Duluth. We certainly do, some of them very successful. It seems that one of the keys to success here in terms of running a technology company has been developing software/hardware or services for the medical industry. With SMDC, St.Lukes and the myriad of other medical organizations here, Duluth is a great place to develop new medical technology. It allows you to work closely with the very people who will be your customers.

I agree. Developing technology around the medical industry is a natural fit for Duluth. In fact, there was an article in Business North this week about just that. GeaCom is what it is called and it is designed to eliminate language barriers at hospitals. BusinessNorth Exclusives Here is the article for anyone to read. I like the fact that they want to keep it local and it has ties to Medtronic and 3M. College of St. Scholastica also has a medical records company that started in CSS called Athens Project. Points North Consulting uses a program called the Residential Care Tracker for the healthcare industry mainly focusing on Adult Foster Care and the paperwork associated with the county and state. Scanhealth and Sisu Medical also have good reputations in Duluth. Kinda building a small healthcare cluster.

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by newcastle

GeaCom is what it is called and it is designed to eliminate language barriers at hospitals.

Yeah, that's what I was kind of referencing in my head. It's a great recent example of something fairly big tech/medical wise happening here. Not to mention other non-medical related companies having great success. A key to success here will be to leverage the hospitals and the unique resources we have.

Tech companies here are less noticeable, as they keep costs down by hiring only employees they need, keeping their offices modest and not spending a lot on publicity. But a lot of people would be surprised but how many little, but successful tech companies are downtown, hiding away in their office buildings. RockBochs for example is doing exceedingly well in the VoIP market with their StrongBochs product (http://www.strongbochs.com). They're also in the process of courting a few very large corporations into their FaxxBochs service. They will even be looking to hire a few new programmers and other misc employees in the coming months.

The company I work for (Wi-Fi Guys) is currently based out of Two Harbors but will most likely be moving to Duluth this spring. We're also currently hiring and are on the brink of launching a brand new service for hotel/wireless hot spot management companies.

The only problem is, that relative to our size, these companies are indeed a rarity, which makes the Duluth tech scene VERY competitive.

[Duluth07]

Sorry in advance if you've read my posts before and it sounds like I'm repeating myself. But I can not stress enough that unless you understand the geography of this part of the state, and have been to Duluth before, it's hard to understand what you're up against when you are planning a move here.

Duluth is at the end of the line. Literally. There is nothing past here that has anything going for it. We are 150 miles away from any city that has anything good happening and unfortunately that is too far away for us to benefit from. There are very, very, very few 20-40 year olds here who are single and without children, making the social/dating scene for young professionals almost impossible. When you bring in people who are single and (naturally) want to be in a place where they might meet someone, they come here, nothing happens, and after two years they can't wait to leave. I've seen it happen many times. This is a place to come to after you've met your life partner, definitely not a place to come searching for one.

And as everyone has been noticing, for some reason Duluth is now attracting many of those who can no longer afford Minneapolis rents and cost of living; increasing our street crimes, increasing family members that come along with these new arrivals, and not bringing the diversity that most of us were hoping Duluth would progress with. When I see diversity I see people from all backgrounds, races, sexual orientations, experiences contributing to make a good city even better. What has happened is an arrival of very desperate people who have been cut off of government assistance, and are trying to somehow claim they are 'disabled' (depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder) and somehow they seem to end up winning these cases, which means they once again do not have to work, can live in government housing and can now get a check for doing nothing but exploiting a disability they don't even have.

Jobs here are tough to come by, but that's no surprise. In other cities it's the same story, except you've got ten times the amount of people to compete with. What I do like in Duluth is a revival of downtown (its about time!). I want to see more things like the Bridgeman Russell apartment building which has done a terrific job of making brand new apartments out of an 100 year old building; unfortunately the rents are not reflective of what an average downtown worker earns. Which is why 70% of these units are sitting empty: we DO need a lot more downtown housing for those who are not down and out, or homeless, but that housing needs to be realistic - the apartments do not need granite countertops, or whirlpool baths, or heated floors. They need to be apartments that are affordable (almost cheap so to encourage young singles to live downtown) - once you get a core group of working adults living downtown, then you can start with the frills and the expensive places. But the places right now will continue to sit empty. Nobody in their right mind will pay $700 a month for a 380 square foot studio on Lake Avenue and First Street.

[skipast75]

IF I had the chance to leave houston, for Duluth, I'd run to the nearest store, by some warm clothes, a new pair of swimming trunks, and move. Duluth isn't for everyone. The business climate is harsh. The welfare abusers have found it, so it is a battle now between hardworking people, and "gimmee" people. But the overall scene is great. Especially if you already have a good job. Jobs are the number one concern in Duluth, do if you have one, you are already doing great. Yes housing is expensive, but the cost of living is good. Food at the store is spendy, but restaurants are cheap. I live in Big Sky Montana, a paradise for outdoorsmen. And I still think about Duluth a lot. So much that I want to help it grow positively. If you are a middle thinking person, please move there and cast your influence over the often times "braindead liberal mentality". A lot of people never left duluth to see how proper functioning cities work. The same people who seem to run the city. So Yes, move there for the freedom it offers, but also to be a positive resident. You'll love it more then hate it. I promise....

[Maltose]

Originally Posted by skipast75

Yes housing is expensive...
Food at the store is spendy...
...the cost of living is good.

The first two lines are kind of contradictory with the third, don't you think?

[skipast75]

Originally Posted by Maltose

The first two lines are kind of contradictory with the third, don't you think?

I said housing is expensive, and the grocery store is spendy, but seems everything else is cheap. Only city I know of where I can eat and be merry for under a 100 bucks on a friday night. Rent seems cheap there. Since I live in Big Sky where groceries are three fold from Duluth and rent is just plain painful to pay, I'd say duluth is cheap. But since an ear of corn cost me 1.00 dollar last summer at the store, I was dumbfounded. My mom in Phoenix pays a dollar for twelve ears of corn. and in Bozeman its 6 for a buck. Crazy since corn comes from the midwest and the only thing that grows in Arizona is the population. Sorry for the confusion, Duluth is a dirt cheap place to live, but buying a home is out of the question since the local pay scale is terrible. Unless you bring your own money.