Looking into the area - a few questions. (Minneapolis: rent, house)

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by StanleyVegas

I know metal-studded tires are illegal in MN. My understanding is that removable chains are not actually illegal across the board - and are allowed in certain conditions (untreated roads in rural areas perhaps).

Even if they were legal you hardly ever need them. Just get snow tires (if you have a sports car like a Mustang -- I did) and you can drive in just about any condition....CAREFULLY!

[StanleyVegas]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

Even if they were legal you hardly ever need them. Just get snow tires (if you have a sports car like a Mustang -- I did) and you can drive in just about any condition....CAREFULLY!

Yeah I have winter tires for my RWD mini truck. My wife's FWD sedan is fine with all-seasons.

[ILI.EB]

Studded tires actually perform worse than non-studded winter tires in snow, dry and wet roads - but perform much better in icy conditions.

If studded tires are illegal, how do you handle icy conditions? Is sheet ice on the roads not a big concern there? Where I live now, even in the flat parts of the city, sheet ice is a huge problem and no amount of "careful" driving will save you sometimes because stopping even from 15mph is nothing short of impossible.

[StanleyVegas]

Originally Posted by ILI.EB

Studded tires actually perform worse than non-studded winter tires in snow, dry and wet roads - but perform much better in icy conditions.

If studded tires are illegal, how do you handle icy conditions? Is sheet ice on the roads not a big concern there? Where I live now, even in the flat parts of the city, sheet ice is a huge problem and no amount of "careful" driving will save you sometimes because stopping even from 15mph is nothing short of impossible.

They plow streets quickly and treat them to prevent ice. In certain conditions when it's really icy (thankfully not as often as you'd think) there's not much to do except go as slow as you can and stay off the brakes. But icy conditions are the worst.

I'm from the west, where they don't treat the roads, so in areas where it's cold enough the skating rink effect is worse than it is here - at least the few years i've been here (granted last winter was uncommonly warm with hardly any snow).

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Cost of living in those places are quite a bit less then you would find in the metro, they are sizable towns and have all the shopping, restaurants, etc. you would want and they are still an hour from Minneapolis (Duluth 1 1/2 hours) so you can drive in for a baseball game or whatever too.

I'm very scared of how fast you drive if you're making it to Duluth in 1.5 hours...as someone who grew up there (and therefore visits on a semi-regular basis), cruising above the speed limit by 5-7 mph still puts me closer to 2 hours or 2:15 minutes (depends partially on for how long I get out to stretch and such in a place like Hinckley).


As for some of the OP's questions:

Price of a movie ticket can vary, but I've often gone for Southdale as it's one of the closer large movie theaters for where I live in Minneapolis (Rosedale is actually a closer option, but their times always seem to never work out), and I shell out about $9.50 for a movie ticket. It's really nearly extortion (although actually the drink and snack are the real rip-off) and why I go to so few. My favorite place is the St. Anthony Main theater only a few blocks away from my apartment. It only has a few screens, but tickets are dirt cheap, there are student discounts, and it's in a beautiful location on the river across from downtown.

Milk is about $3, though I think it varies by the location you're at. I don't drink a terrible amount of it anymore, so I buy the half-gallon, which is always more expensive for the amount you're getting than the gallon.

Gas varies, but we're sitting in the $3.60s/gallon right now.

Cities like St. Louis Park have a lot of young people who like being close to the city, but perhaps want a bit more land. You could definitely look into living there, or even in parts of southwest Minneapolis (though St. Louis Park might put you even close to the downtown area than parts of SW Minneapolis).

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by xandrex

I'm very scared of how fast you drive if you're making it to Duluth in 1.5 hours...as someone who grew up there (and therefore visits on a semi-regular basis), cruising above the speed limit by 5-7 mph still puts me closer to 2 hours or 2:15 minutes (depends partially on for how long I get out to stretch and such in a place like Hinckley).


As for some of the OP's questions:

Price of a movie ticket can vary, but I've often gone for Southdale as it's one of the closer large movie theaters for where I live in Minneapolis (Rosedale is actually a closer option, but their times always seem to never work out), and I shell out about $9.50 for a movie ticket. It's really nearly extortion (although actually the drink and snack are the real rip-off) and why I go to so few. My favorite place is the St. Anthony Main theater only a few blocks away from my apartment. It only has a few screens, but tickets are dirt cheap, there are student discounts, and it's in a beautiful location on the river across from downtown.

Milk is about $3, though I think it varies by the location you're at. I don't drink a terrible amount of it anymore, so I buy the half-gallon, which is always more expensive for the amount you're getting than the gallon.

Gas varies, but we're sitting in the $3.60s/gallon right now.

Cities like St. Louis Park have a lot of young people who like being close to the city, but perhaps want a bit more land. You could definitely look into living there, or even in parts of southwest Minneapolis (though St. Louis Park might put you even close to the downtown area than parts of SW Minneapolis).

It's been a while since I've gone to Duluth-I was thinking it was closer...

[rzzz]

How much money do you make? If you are rich enough, live in one of the Lake Minnetonka communities. Suburban, but not cookie cutter. The lake is great. There are restaurants and bars out there. Very unique to Minnesota, and very unique even IN Minnesota. If you aren't rich and don't care about schools, the suburbs are all kind of the same, with the exception of Stillwater.

Not really sure of where you could be with mountains where you are bored and are considering a move to the twin cities to spice things up. IMO there is little in Minneapolis that you can't get in any other metro area in the USA.

[ILI.EB]

Well I am currently in Boise and I greatly miss the lifestyle of a larger city. I'm sure the area has more than 5 restaurants that aren't a national chain (slight exaggeration...) and high-end shopping (which Boise completely lacks), a theme park (nearest is Seattle 8 hours away - Lagoon in Utah doesn't count), etc. If these 3 situations were fixed, I would actually stay in Boise. It is absolutely wonderful, but it's family-oriented planning leaves much to be desired for a couple such as ourselves with no plans to have children.

[rzzz]

Minnesota is very family oriented. While it has much more to do than Boise, I'm not sure it's the right place to relocate if the family-oriented nature of Boise is a big factor in why you wish to escape.

What about a place like Portland? It is about the same price as Minneapolis and has about 10x as many restaurants and places to go out. Not many of which are chains. Or if the rain is too much and you don't like humidity, what about Denver?

[ILI.EB]

Denver seems like a nice option, I Just haven't looked into it too much. I definitely don't mind a family-oriented area, it's just that Boise is so small and that is really the only type here unless you live in the downtown area, but I really can't afford a $1m condo or $800k house that is 100+ years old.

Portland would be incredible, but I love the cold weather and lots of snow (I guess Denver would again be a good option) I don't mind some humidity, I've lived in places where 60% was the norm and I didn't notice it. In my other post, I was mainly trying to get a feel about how it was compared to Florida, but I think you answered that for me. I was very uncomfortable there, but I am sure I could become accustomed to it.

I was just expecting the Twin Cities region to be a mix of portland / seattle with the small town Boise feel which I think would be a nice mellow mix and a good way to enjoy a nice night out while still being able to go home to peace and quiet - am I off track? Would it be just like a much larger Boise?

Sorry for all the questions, you're comments are really helping me and inspiring new thoughts on the move.

Thanks!