What's the reaction to the Outside Magazine "Best Town Ever" title?

[Eddyline]

I agree with both of you about needing snow. I live in an area with a very balanced 4 seasons and I love it that way. My comment was sarcasm directed at San Diego which "claims" the best climate in the USA.
I have a hard time imagining someone that moved to SD for the climate, then moving to Duluth!

[zach_33]

I need to make it up there for a visit - I have never been up that way. Sounds like my kind of place (born and raised in Maine - loved it). I'm thinking of taking a SW flight up to Minneapolis then renting a car to drive up through Duluth, maybe head on up to Grand Marais for a night, then back down for a short stay in Duluth. Seems like it would be a great long weekend trip.

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by zach_33

I need to make it up there for a visit - I have never been up that way. Sounds like my kind of place (born and raised in Maine - loved it). I'm thinking of taking a SW flight up to Minneapolis then renting a car to drive up through Duluth, maybe head on up to Grand Marais for a night, then back down for a short stay in Duluth. Seems like it would be a great long weekend trip.

Man, that's a lot of driving in one weekend. I'd recommend spending more time on the hiking trails or on the water or skiing ... i.e. outdoors, otherwise you'll only see it through the glass windows of your rental car.

[Milwaukee City]

Impressed!

Just got back from my first trip ever Up North, the 6-6.5 drive from Milwaukee is a kicker but easy with no traffic. I feel bad for our states Superior, Superior a dumpy bland flat boring city from what I gathered. I imagine there is a lot of snickering or looking down their noses at people from Superior. I really liked Duluth but don't get to high on your horse it had more run down houses than I expected. I like industrial cities being from Milwaukee in all, I can appreciate the feel and look of a industrial town. Canal Park was great, no parking but still found some. Parking rates are dirt cheap, hotels all booked except for the $260 a night double occupancy at the Hampton Inn nothing like paying almost $600 for two nights in Duluth. I can find cheaper hotels in Chicago!

You have a nice little town up there in Duluth with what looks like a lot of potential, Superior on the other hand better get it's act together.

[Beenaroundabit]

I love Duluth and plan to call it 'home' until the day I die. The vast majority of people I've met here are honest, hard-working, and solid folks. To me, it's the best place I've lived in about 10 states.

That said, I think Duluth has a long way to go before it can become more than a tourist destination. The city government and administration have what I liken to an 1950's mentality, where favoritism and back-door politicking seem to be far more prevalent than in any other municipality I've lived in. And it's not a simple matter of it needing to be "cleaned up." The people engaged in this behavior don't even know that it's wrong, so there's a void of ethical knowledge that needs to be filled. The ongoing saga at Spirit Mountain has really made me pay more attention to this issue. Things like this are simply not done (on this scale, this blatantly) in Minneapolis or St. Paul. And yes, I've lived there, too.

We'll still attract lots of people during the summer, for Grandma's, John Beargrease, the North Shore, etc. But economic opportunities aside, we're not going to be seen as a place for people to actually make their homes until some of this stuff is rectified. And in my opinion, those economic opportunities - i.e. actual businesses relocating to or starting up in the Duluth area - won't happen on a major scale until then, either.

I think the folks at Outside Magazine simply looked at the amount of outdoor recreational opportunities and made the snap decision that this would be the 'best' place to live. Well, as anyone knows, a community is a lot more than the availability of trails and park-like areas.

[Deserterer]

Why would anyone give a crap what Outside Magazine, which has sunk to abysmal depths of shallowness since its former glory days decades ago, thinks about anything? The magazine is trash.

The fact is, the "mentality" that Beenaround laments is because most people in Duluth don't want to be "discovered". They don't want their city trashed by "improvements" and "development" that will destroy the very things they love. Duluth attracts the kind of people who like Duluth for what it is and for what it isn't now, not for what some busybody looking for a quick buck who can't leave a good thing alone wants it to become. If people would stop trashing their own cities, they wouldn't have to go looking for the next "best" place to trash.

[Beenaroundabit]

Originally Posted by Deserterer

Why would anyone give a crap what Outside Magazine, which has sunk to abysmal depths of shallowness since its former glory days decades ago, thinks about anything? The magazine is trash.

The fact is, the "mentality" that Beenaround laments is because most people in Duluth don't want to be "discovered". They don't want their city trashed by "improvements" and "development" that will destroy the very things they love. Duluth attracts the kind of people who like Duluth for what it is and for what it isn't now, not for what some busybody looking for a quick buck who can't leave a good thing alone wants it to become. If people would stop trashing their own cities, they wouldn't have to go looking for the next "best" place to trash.

I think we're talking about different things. The "mentality" I'm referring to is that of a newly-appointed city manager who fires a long-term Duluth city employee so that she can hire her barely-qualified husband in his place. I can't imagine Duluthians - or anyone else - intentionally being that unethical, simply to avoid being "discovered."

It's one thing to resist certain kinds of change that can be detrimental to a community - such as major development without limits, urban sprawl, industrial growth that has a potentially-negative impact on the environment (like the fracking in ND), etc.

But "change" along the lines of treating people fairly and ethically? I would think that kind of "change" is something to be welcomed by all - with the exception of the small number of folks who are benefiting from the lack of ethical standards, of course.

[rzzzz]

Duluth is a small city with a very small town mindset. You see that sort of cronyism in most towns in northern MN. In smaller towns it can be often explained away by the small population. Often times someone's brother is the best or only person for the job. However, there's no excuse for it in Duluth.