Duluth-which is it?! Thumbs up or down?

[SteelCityRising]

I currently live in Pennsylvania, about two hours from New York City or Philadelphia, and if I should ever consider relocating anywhere Duluth is on my "short-list" of places I'd choose, along with Minneapolis/St. Paul, Madison, Boston, and Pittsburgh.

From all the research I have done Duluth is incredibly well-cultured for such a diminutive city. For a city with roughly 85,000 residents in 2006 Duluth has a very impressive educational attainment rate, which is why it is always ranked so highly on lists of literate cities. Nearly 92% of the adults over age 25 in the city have a high school diploma, and nearly 32% of the adults over age 25 in the city possess at least a Bachelor's Degree. The median household income of roughly $42,000 isn't anything to write home about, but when you consider the city's relatively-low cost-of-living that figure looks better. 16.0% of the city is below the poverty level, which is about average under these dreaded Bush years.

Duluth has the Great Lakes Aquarium, Duluth Art Institute, Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota at Duluth, Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, Minnesota Ballet, and Duluth/Superior Symphony Orchestra. The city also hosts annual events such as the Bayfront Blues Festival, Homegrown Music Festival, and surprisingly enough even a Gay Pride Festival, indicating this is a more socially-progressive city than to what you are likely accustomed in Mississippi. College sports are apparently big in Duluth/Superior.


(Image Courtesy of Wikipedia)
This is a photo of Duluth's skyline along Lake Superior with historic residential areas rising on the hillside behind downtown. The central business district has a very industrial gritty appearance to it, but that is offset by what are supposed to be some very nice residential neighborhoods.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/db/Duluth_lake_street_2006.JPG (broken link)
(Image Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Here is another image looking uphill from the lake. I suspect the homes near the crest of the hill must have some marvelous master bedroom balconies that overlook romantic sunrises over the lake.

I hope this helps a bit! I'm in Scranton, PA, which is a pretty long haul away from Duluth, so I'm sure locals can clarify any mistakes. Good luck!

[aluminumpork]

That downtown shot from the Lakewalk is missing the new Sheraton Hotel/Condos. Where the crane is in that picture, there's actually a (11?) story hotel/condo complex now. Also, while most of the houses near the crest of the hill downtown are nice, that is the Central Hillside neighborhood, which is regarded as one of the more dangerous ones unfortunately. If you go a bit higher (the hill doesn't stop there) and to the left a little, you get into the Skyline neighborhood (don't know an actual name for it) where there are some beautiful homes designed specifically for the view. Very safe also.

[nick is rulz]

Duluth is good for a visit but little else. The job market is absolutely stagnant.

[disneyrecords]

Yes, the job market is kind of stagnant in Duluth; however, if you move there with a job or have expertise in a niche field, you get a great place to live.
For example, lets say I'm a PhD in English. I'm not, obviously, my grammar is terrible. If I landed a fulltime teaching job at one of the colleges/universities in the area, Bingo! I'd have it made!

SWB, you will find Dah-Loot to be quite a bit like Scranton, Pa in many ways. A couple a two, tree to be exact!. hehehe. Sorry, I don't type eastern Pennsylvania vernacular often.

If my job was up for relocation, I would have no reservations of moving to Duluth.