Duluth: Pros and Cons (Plymouth, Thief River Falls: credit, neighborhood, buy)

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by roneb

Crime is a favorite complaint, but the crime index in Duluth is roughly half of Portland's.

Duluth has like 1/6th (?) the population of Portland, so if it was a per capita thing Duluth might rank higher. Then again, most crime in Portland probably goes unreported.

Pros:

-The city lays in a beautiful part of the state.
-Right on Lake Superior, which could be awesome if they developed a tasteful water front.
-A lot of character in the older buildings.


Cons;
-An economy that relies to heavily on tourism.
-Too many drug dealers moving in.
-Not much of any real job potential for UofM-Duluth graduates.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

I can't imagine (unless the business is built around something that requires a certain climate) a business not picking Duluth because of it's climate if Duluth can offer them great reasons to locate here. Anyone have any opinions on that?

Only if it is financially profitable for a company to do so. The trick would be for Duluth to offer something that will distract a company form choosing the Twin Cities, a low cost of operations-lower taxes-desirable neighborhoods for upper management.

[aluminumpork]

[K-Luv] You don't find the waterfront tasteful? I'd say Duluth has done an excellent job with the boardwalk, canal park and most of Park Point.

[roneb]

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

[K-Luv] You don't find the waterfront tasteful? I'd say Duluth has done an excellent job with the boardwalk, canal park and most of Park Point.

Agreed. Still room for more development to make thing more attractive to business in that area beyond tourism, but it's still a very pleasant place to spend time.

Also, on the crime data, city-data gives figures per 100,000, so the comparison between Portland and Duluth is possible.

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

[K-Luv] You don't find the waterfront tasteful? I'd say Duluth has done an excellent job with the boardwalk, canal park and most of Park Point.

Agree. We visited Duluth out of curiousity one and found the downtown area very nice.
And if we had had more time, we would have traveled up Hwy 61 to Canada, because the scenery (forest/hills to the left, and Lake Superior to the right) was breathtaking.

[pirate_lafitte]

Duluth can be GREAT. If there were people will to put up with very cold winters, well then, Duluth would experience growth.

[sclaus]

I grew up in Duluth. Graduated from high school in the 1970s. Now live outside of Minneapolis in the country a ways. But my daughter goes to UMD so I get back up there. Here's my list:

Pros:
The outdoors
Good medical facilities
UMD is a great facility
Tourist areas have been nicely developed
The decision on the schools has been needed for 30 years. It'll be great when it's done.

Cons:
Old housing stock, that's been drawing bad guys. Some have become party houses for college students.
Terrible city streets
Unions have a stranglehold on the local government.
Taxes will have to go way up due to unfunded city liability (due to union stranglehold)
Aging population because the (good) young people don't stay because of job market


I miss Duluth. But there's a big difference living there and visiting. I'd sooner be a tourist. My high school friends that I stay in touch with have all moved outside the city limits. Pretty cool to be able to live on 10 acres in the woods and be 20 minutes from downtown. Oh, yeah, about the cold, Duluth isn't that bad. Whoever mentioned Edmonton hit it right on. It gets really cold there. Or how about the idiots living in Yellowknife? They have permafrost and buildings are on stilts, the ice is out of their lake for only a few months a year, and they've got 30,000 or so living there.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by sclaus

I grew up in Duluth. Graduated from high school in the 1970s. Now live outside of Minneapolis in the country a ways. But my daughter goes to UMD so I get back up there. Here's my list:

Pros:
The outdoors
Good medical facilities
UMD is a great facility
Tourist areas have been nicely developed
The decision on the schools has been needed for 30 years. It'll be great when it's done.

Cons:
Old housing stock, that's been drawing bad guys. Some have become party houses for college students.
Terrible city streets
Unions have a stranglehold on the local government.
Taxes will have to go way up due to unfunded city liability (due to union stranglehold)
Aging population because the (good) young people don't stay because of job market


I miss Duluth. But there's a big difference living there and visiting. I'd sooner be a tourist. My high school friends that I stay in touch with have all moved outside the city limits. Pretty cool to be able to live on 10 acres in the woods and be 20 minutes from downtown. Oh, yeah, about the cold, Duluth isn't that bad. Whoever mentioned Edmonton hit it right on. It gets really cold there. Or how about the idiots living in Yellowknife? They have permafrost and buildings are on stilts, the ice is out of their lake for only a few months a year, and they've got 30,000 or so living there.

What I meant to say was that Duluth is cold for American standards and if most Americans had a choice, they would move south and west. As for Edmonton, there are jobs and because most of Canada is very cold during the winter anyway, the weather isn't the biggest issue.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

[K-Luv] You don't find the waterfront tasteful? I'd say Duluth has done an excellent job with the boardwalk, canal park and most of Park Point.

Unless I missed something....I was thinking more like a wharf, pier, etc. that you usually see along the seacoasts. Complete with restaurants and the like. Lake Superior would be excellent for this.

Of course, this would bring in even more tourists, but it could also be what is needed for economic development.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Unless I missed something....I was thinking more like a wharf, pier, etc. that you usually see along the seacoasts. Complete with restaurants and the like. Lake Superior would be excellent for this.

Of course, this would bring in even more tourists, but it could also be what is needed for economic development.

But is it enough. Man cannot survive from tourism alone. A diverse economy wiil do wonders for a place. A specialty industry(Milwaukee and its beer and motorcycles, Atlanta and its Coca-Cola, etc.) is good. It gives a place notoriety and character. But really, some more prominent industries should be added along with it.