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I am trying to find my perfect place. To start, I grew up on the Oregon coast and spent 24 years there. I have lived in Portland for 2 years and spent a lot of time in Eugene and Medford. I love how green western Oregon is but I hate that there are no real seasons there. I really want to be somewhere where it snows enough in the winter to enjoy it. I have also spent time in Alaska, which I enjoyed but would not consider moving to because of the distance to the lower 48.6 We moved to Boise Idaho for my fiance to finish school and have been here ever since. Boise is very different from the Oregon coast and I'm looking for something that is somewhere in the middle of the two. For instance, in Oregon it rains a lot and there are tons of overcast days but in Boise there is no rain and the sun has been shining for months straight. (Never thought I'd complain about sun but oh well) Here is my criteria, please help me if you have an idea of what is a good fit. I picked this forum because I have been seriously considering the upper midwest and want to know if this seems to make sense based on my wants.
1. True Seasons, I want fall colors, spring flowers, summer sun and winter snow. Not just a dusting of snow but a lot of it. The coldest temperature I have ever felt was 6 degrees and it was cold but not unbearable with the right clothes. I would like a fair amount of sun but also want rain and cloudy days too. There is too little sun in Oregon for me and too much in Boise. Go figure.
2. I need it to be green. I hate the brown hills in Boise don't want to have to irrigate everything all the time. I also don't like flat. I don't need the mountains of Oregon, but rolling hills and lots of trees are a requirement. I also don't want extreme humidity. A little is fine but I have ruled out the south based on humidity alone. Lots of rivers and lakes would be nice too.
3. I want a small town with anywhere from 5-25k people. I like to be an hour or two away from a bigger area for the amenities but I want to live in a small town. I don't care about specific towns, just a general area with good choices.
4. I want a more conservative state as I am a bit on the conservative side myself but would still like some culture.
5. Friendly people. I have met friendly people everywhere so I doubt this will be a problem.
Marshall, MN. You would get everything you want there and more, except the rolling hills. There are plenty outside of the area though but there are trees and fields that have their own kind of beauty. If you really need hills, towns like New Ulm and St. Peter, MN would be places to consider. The area around LaCrosse, WI/Lecresent, MN is beautiful, even Winona, MN. The nice thing about all of these places is that they are college towns, and while they are small, they give you the culture you want through activities at the college. They also tend to be towns where people are highly educated and seek the same things you are craving.
As "golfgal" mentioned, the Mississippi River Valley (La Crosse/Le Cresent, Winona) sounds like it would fit what you like. The hills are beautiful, and the entire area is very scenic. La Crosse has about 50,000 people, so bigger than what you are looking for and Winona has about 25,000. If you need to go to a big city, Winona is a little under an hour from Rochester and a little over two hours from downtown Saint Paul. As for the seasons, if you are in the River Valley, you will see green summers, very colorful falls, and you will have good winters. Keep in mind that the Mississippi River Valley is on average the warmest part of the state in the winter, while over by Marshall is the warmest part of the state in the summer. If you consider Marshall, there will be no hills. It is mostly flat farmland, which leads to blowing snow in the winter. Marshall in the biggest city in SW Minnesota, with a population of about 14,000. The nearest big city would be Sioux Falls, which is about 2 hours away. If you want to go to Minneapolis, that would be about a 3 hour drive.
Another note: You said you hated humidity. Keep in mind that parts Minnesota tends to be humid (Dew Points can be 70+ degrees, and sometimes 80+ degrees in the summer)
As "golfgal" mentioned, the Mississippi River Valley (La Crosse/Le Cresent, Winona) sounds like it would fit what you like. The hills are beautiful, and the entire area is very scenic. La Crosse has about 50,000 people, so bigger than what you are looking for and Winona has about 25,000. If you need to go to a big city, Winona is a little under an hour from Rochester and a little over two hours from downtown Saint Paul. As for the seasons, if you are in the River Valley, you will see green summers, very colorful falls, and you will have good winters. Keep in mind that the Mississippi River Valley is on average the warmest part of the state in the winter, while over by Marshall is the warmest part of the state in the summer. If you consider Marshall, there will be no hills. It is mostly flat farmland, which leads to blowing snow in the winter. Marshall in the biggest city in SW Minnesota, with a population of about 14,000. The nearest big city would be Sioux Falls, which is about 2 hours away. If you want to go to Minneapolis, that would be about a 3 hour drive.
Another note: You said you hated humidity. Keep in mind that parts Minnesota tends to be humid (Dew Points can be 70+ degrees, and sometimes 80+ degrees in the summer)
Marshall is an hour and a half from Sioux Falls, just under 2 hours from Mankato and just over 2 hours from St. Cloud. To the western edge of the Twin Cities (494), it's not quite 2 1/2 hours from Marshall. It's a great place to live and again, outside of Marshall, there are rolling hills near the state park and south to the Buffalo Ridge area and north to the Granite Falls area.
The SW corner of Minnesota is beautiful. I was down there not too long ago and went through St. Charles. It's small for what you want, under 4,000, but something in that region would be nice. It's close to Rochester. I'm pretty sure Winona is a good fit.
Wow, thank you all for your help. I will definitely need to map out a visit there soon. I am curious about the humidity. In boise there isn't enough humidity for me. My skin always feels dry and I get nose bleeds but I know I wouldn't like how humid it is in the south. Is the upper Midwest just as bad or is it more tolerable? The Oregon coast is pretty humid in the winter. It be ause it's never very hot it is by no means unbearable. I'd like to get a better idea of Midwest humidity. I also hate extreme heat and would prefer summers to be below 90 most days. How hot does it get on average there? Thanks again for your help.
Wow, thank you all for your help. I will definitely need to map out a visit there soon. I am curious about the humidity. In boise there isn't enough humidity for me. My skin always feels dry and I get nose bleeds but I know I wouldn't like how humid it is in the south. Is the upper Midwest just as bad or is it more tolerable? The Oregon coast is pretty humid in the winter. It be ause it's never very hot it is by no means unbearable. I'd like to get a better idea of Midwest humidity. I also hate extreme heat and would prefer summers to be below 90 most days. How hot does it get on average there? Thanks again for your help.
Most of the summer we hover around 90, give or take. Most days in the summer are humid to very humid and can push the heat index close to 100 for several weeks off and on over the summer. There will be breaks for a day or two with that heat but for the most part it's hot from June-August, September will be up and down-it was 90 yesterday, today it's suppose to be 75. It starts to cool off and stay cooler toward the end of Sept. but it isn't unusual to see 80-90 in October, but usually by the end of Oct it's in the 50-60's for daytime highs.
Wow, thank you all for your help. I will definitely need to map out a visit there soon. I am curious about the humidity. In boise there isn't enough humidity for me. My skin always feels dry and I get nose bleeds but I know I wouldn't like how humid it is in the south. Is the upper Midwest just as bad or is it more tolerable? The Oregon coast is pretty humid in the winter. It be ause it's never very hot it is by no means unbearable. I'd like to get a better idea of Midwest humidity. I also hate extreme heat and would prefer summers to be below 90 most days. How hot does it get on average there? Thanks again for your help.
Your concern about humidity tells me that you would have suffered greatly anywhere north of the lowest latutde for St. Paul, MN. I live in a second ring suburb of Minneapolis, on its west side, and the summer has had tropical dew points since mid-July and we just had our 30th day of 90 degrees or above yesterday, Sept 4. The dew points for most of the summer have been enabling heat indeces around 110 degrees by 2pm. The more north of the Twin Cities that one travels, the more humid because of getting closer to the Great Lakes. In general, MN is true to the slogan "Land of 10,000 Lakes" but we actually have more. If you like fishing and colorful trees, late September would be a good time to visit. I lived in Troutdale Oregon for a while; my father was the grounds keeper next to the Sandy River and enjoyed the Salmon fishing but said he missed fishing early in the day in MN when opening fishing begins. The weather would be nicely tolerable for you from 4 am to around 3 pm during May and June. But MN definitely has rapidly changeable weather some days. With regard to weather in MN, the name of the game is Flexibility. If you want it to rain, plan a picnic. Minnesota, beginning north of the Twin Cities, looks soooo much like Oregon, except no mountains. Our storms deliver delightful rumbling thunder, unlike Oregon where the rain is misty nearly every morning, and it becomes heavy many days, but the rain comes from ocean clouds moving inland and rising as they move over mountains where the air is very cool and causes the ocean clouds to release the vapor. It's called "orographic lifting" ~ whereas the rain, wind, and thunder in MN is because of warm and cold masses of air moving into each other. But not all rain storms have thunder, like when the clouds come up from the south and MN atmosphere is much cooler and so the clouds dump. So, visit northern MN but don't settle in the Twin Cities because you would have hated this summer! Good Luck! I've been looking at retiring to Sioux City, close to MN SW corner, a smaller town.
The SW corner of Minnesota is beautiful. I was down there not too long ago and went through St. Charles. It's small for what you want, under 4,000, but something in that region would be nice. It's close to Rochester. I'm pretty sure Winona is a good fit.
@comparing cities- Thank you for your info. I love the look of Oregon but could do without the mountains. I am looking for smaller towns north of the twin cities since I really don't like cities but was hoping that the Minneapolis forum would have more people who would respond and know their stuff about their state. It looks like I was right. Does is get as hot in the summer when you start going farther north. Is the humidity the same? How much of an issue are tornadoes?
I'm also curious about the winters. I have read forums where some people say that the winters are too miserable to even go outside because it hurts to even breather and read some forums where people say the winters are enjoyable and there are winter sports to do. So which is it. Is it sometimes unbearable to go outside because that's the case everywhere whether it's extreme heat, too much rain ect... or is it unbearable to go outside for months at a time? I personally love to relax and watch a movie with hot chocolate by the fire but probably wouldn't want to do nothing else all winter.
Also, I have horses and want to know if anyone knows how horses do in that kind of weather and if it is often too cold to go riding. Thanks so much.
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Minnesota Humidity
