Duluth-which is it?! Thumbs up or down? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: lease, crime)

[BlueNoodle]

For the last two months or so I have been lurking and absorbing and trying to read and learn as much as possible about the Duluth area.
My husband is in the Cirrus Access program, he will be a pilot for some bloke with a Cirrus for a year and at the end of the year will have the option to transfer to Duluth and demo/deliver/instruct other pilots/planes. I've no idea what the salary pkg is only that they have a relocation pkg and full family medical.

At this moment, I am absolutely out of my tree ready to move up there.
We live in Mississippi now, and this place is the absolute butt crack of the country, at least in my limited knowledge of regional butt cracks that is. I am a native to Kansas and then moved to Florida and then to here right before Hurricane Katrina. This state is so poor that it's embarrassing. Two years almost after the hurricane and there are STILL devestated areas around the state. We are an hour from New Orleans and not only is it not safe to wander the streets but it's hardly even safe to look out the window.
There are even parts of MS that are actually still segregated and I almost feel a little Gone with the Windish but without the giant hoop skirts.
This place is an abomination and you should have to have a passport just to get in or out. House prices tripled after the hurricane, we paid $139K for 1800sq ft, carport, one acre, brick ranch style in the country. Normally it would have gone for $60-$80K.
As far as crime in my immediate area, well there just isn't any, maybe a speeder. The town's pop is only around 3K.

So now you know where I'm coming from. I am trying to ascertain where I'm going to! I have two children, 5 & 2, work at home artist and of course DH is a pilot. I want community; culture - not Smithsonian culture but just a little gallery or two, activities; wildlife-not giant retiles and crawfish; people who have most of their teeth and when you ask them questions you get reasonable, intelligent responses, state resources and businesses where when you get time comittments, they actually keep them.
I realise that there is no such thing as a utopia out there, I'm just looking for some common sense and friendly with a side of modern conveinance. I'm not asking for big city excitment razzle dazzle, I like boring, uneventful, laid back, cows and picket fence chats with your neighbours and pot lucks!

I have been slowly compiling a list of all the places of where NOT to live and am left to wonder where there is a family CAN live. And it maybe just a matter of what a person gets used to and your perspective. I have lived through an awful hurricane in am improvished state that is still trying to rebuild and then through four back to back hurricanes in Florida and help was literally driving in as the storm was blowing out.

There seems to be such a strong love/hate thing with Duluth that I'm having a hard time finding an unbiased opinion about the area.

[dmg1mn]

I say, thumbs up.
I have lived in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area all my life.
I would love to live in Duluth.
Duluth has a number of Art Galleries, Museums, Plenty of concerts, Beautiful scenery, Lots of wildlife, a Great Zoo, a Good family place in my opinion.

[golfgal]

Duluth is a fine place to live. Like every place in the world it has it's ups and downs. Having lived in many places over the years I have learned that moving to a new place is all what YOU make of it. If you sit back and wait for the neighbors to just start inviting you over you aren't going to like living anywhere. If you get involved, join some groups/church/activities, etc. you are going to fell at home soon. It takes at least 6 months to really start feeling like you are home so give it time. You are going to find a night and day difference between where you live now and Duluth. You will also trade your hot, unbearable summers for cold winters but you will adapt. I would take much of what is said here with a grain of salt. There are a lot of generalizations about every place listed on all of these boards.

[Eurogal]

I agree with golfgal.
I moved from the border of South Texas to Duluth in May. So I have an understanding of what you say when speak of "butt crack" (though I think Texas is rich, but the border region is another talk).
All you wish in your message you'll get here in Duluth. I am a mother of a toddler and there is so much to offer to small kids. And it is affordable. People are usually nice and helpful, great neighbors, the city has culture, good entertainment for such a small size, the area is beautiful. I love the combination of actually living in a city and yet often living near forests and parks.
Now, for my part, as much as I was looking for winter (after a few years in scorching Texas), I am passing a period where I am feeling quite blue. I think the lack of light has a good part to do with it. We are having such a strong winter at once, with so much snow.
And the fact of being yet to make steady friendships and passing the phase of "polite conversation" with most of the people I meet and just feel relaxed. But that second point is quite personal as I am originally from Europe so I have more barriers to cross to get into the local spirit than an American.
I can only say: "Go for it!".

[BlueNoodle]

well i truely appreciate all your responses!
i have read so many good things about duluth and have a few people known to me that live in or have been to duluth and they have nothing but good things to say as well.
and obviously there are going to be down sides to each area and i myself am completely jaded about the area i live in now and i'm hopefull that duluth will be the place i finally call home and am comfy in. even though we purchased a house here, i never felt like it was home.
all the negative things i've been reading about duluth aren't going to make me not want to come but it is making a little apprehensive.

eurogal: my husband is currently in brownsville, tx right now so it's going to be quite a shock for him.

[newcastle]

Most of the negative things you read about Duluth are from people who have never lived anywhere else and love to complain. Duluth isn't perfect, but it is a great place to raise a family and Cirrus is a growing company.

Cirrus just signed a lease to move into the old NWA base to begin production of their new jet. They will most likely add another 100 plus jobs in the next year.

Duluth does have a suprising number of art and culture for a city of its size. There is the Minnesota Ballet, the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, Sacred Heart Music Center, Tweed Museum of Art, the Duluth Art Institute, The Washington Galleries, Great Lakes Aquarium, Marine Museum, and the Depot-which houses 9 different arts groups including a children's theater and the Duluth PLayhouse-one of Minnesota's oldest community theater groups.

As far as recreation, Duluth has 23 streams running through town an excellent parks system. Chester Bowl has a community ski club-my daughter joined it- and she gets ski's, poles, helmet, boots, and lessons for a season for $150 and with 6 hrs of volunteering it drops to $75 bucks. We have 20 inches of snow already. She is loving it.

There are more outdoor things to do here than many places in the country. You can even dogsled here if you want to!

My wife is also form Europe and she has made Duluth her home and, like Golfgal said, you have to make the place you move to. My wife had a hard time at first, but is now on several company boards and members of local orginizations and church groups and is making friends.

Don't let a few Duluth haters ruin your opinion of the city.

[kuan]

I'd move to Duluth but...

It lacks ethnic restaurants and good food in general.

Other than that it'd be my second choice. It's a fantastic jump off point to other Northern playgrounds like the Boundary Waters, The North Shore of Lake Superior, the Iron Range, and even the South shore, Ashland, and the UP.

Amazingly, the artist community is quite vibrant in Duluth. Who would have thunk it?

[newcastle]

Yes, Duluth certainly could support more ethnic restaurants. Currently there are a couple of good Mexican restaurants, a Thai Restaurant, two Indian Restaurants, a Japanese place, Vietnamese, and some scarey Chinese places along with some "Irish" pubs.

Duluth needs a good Seafood place too-not another "Red Lobster" chain type place. Superior has a nice Seafood place on Barker's Island. I am talking about a great Seafood place like Anthony's Homeport in Seattle.

[VictoriaBC]

I've lived in Duluth my whole life. One thing people have to get used to is the long winters.

Summers can be rather cool. The mean temp is 70-75, but it can get cool really fast. If you move there, don't get a place near the lake. This is the coolest place in the summer, but fine in the winter. Most people prefer to live "Over the hill" or extreme east (Rich district) or extreme west.

I actually lived in the Central Hillside. I moved seven years ago because of work opportunities. I miss home a lot but I don't miss the sudden changes in weather in the summer.

Lots of wildlife. Walking-hiking trails. Cross country skiing, etc

It's been said over and over, even though Duluth is a big city it has a small-town feel. Folks are friendly, but not too friendly. Most people have dental work done. LOL

Duluth is a combination of Duluth proper and several smaller towns have been incorporated into it, so these "neighborhoods" have small town feelings. The city is stretched along the lake and seems small at first because from the lake to the shopping district over the hill, is only about five or so miles. Lots of churches, too, if that's an interest to you.

What kind of art are you involved in? I can point you in the right direction since I was involved in the arts when I worked at the Depot. I worked for one of the museums, but the Art Institute is housed there. There are also several small galleries, some run by the Art Institute, some private. The Art Institute is housed in the Depot, right across from the main public library just one block from the main downtown street.

Good points, when there's a down-pour, it only lasts a few minutes. It may continue raining, but the downpour will slow down.

Blizzards are USUALLY only one day. By the next day, most people are shoveled out and going again.

Duluth is built on a hillside so you will have to learn to drive in snow. The main streets are plowed regularly, and they use salt/sand combo, so the roads don't usually freeze over after the salt melts.

Yes, the arts community is vibrant there. I used to work at the Depot and they have lots to do if you're interested in arts.

Lots of festivals, two off the top of my head are the International Folk Festival the first Saturday in August, and the Blues Festival.

Lots of shopping. You would be right next to Superior, Wisconsin so you can have access to anything that goes on there, too. One larger mall and several smaller ones all in the same area over the hill along with Target, Kmart and Walmart. You don't have to drive all over, they're all within a mile of each other on the Central Entrance.

There is an old Whale-back boat that gives tours, in Superior. On Halloween they have a haunted tour. It's awsome.

Lots of education. Minnesota prides itself on their good quality of education. I taught in the schools for five years. I also had four colleges within five to ten miles from my house. There is St. Scholastica, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Lake Superior College, University of Wisconsin. There are several other schools, too. A fire-fighting school, a business university which is downtown etc.

Some of the areas just outside of town, less than a half hour away have farms or just "out in the country" but still close enough to town to get what you need when you want. There are towns surrounding the city and some parts of the city that are away from downtown that fit that category.

Bus service is fantastic. They take you to most parts of town, so if your car breaks down, you will have transportation.

Since I lived there so many years, I can answer most questions. You can email me at Phylbert2@Hotmail.com

[chakita123]

I live in Duluth right now and also my boyfriend used to work for Cirrus as a Welder. The company as a whole in Duluth pays awful AWFUL wages. I have several friends with husbands that work there and are looking elsewhere because of the low pay. I would first make sure that your husband is going to be ensured a good salary before you make the move otherwise I wouldn't do it. Duluth is a beautiful area I will say that as I have lived here for almost 22years, but the economy and opportunity for well paying jobs is slim to none which is why I have no choice but to move to the twin cities area.