Moving to Minneapolis 101 (Eden Prairie, Edina, Woodbury: apartments, rent, mobile home)

[wauzoo]

I see so many post .. "I'm moving from x to Minneapolis and want to know about Z". Z being "is it cold in those parts?" or "What's the cost of living" or "What's the price of beer and cigs?" or "I'm not white, I'm some other race" or "I want to further my education".

Answers: (just a few months experience here)

It's cold here. It's a good kind of cold. Less insects and such. Only last a few months to half a year.

Cost of living - we moved here from Wisconsin with 500 bucks and made it work. Got a free bed and couch from Craigslist. We used some motivation and made it work, me and my wife. Had to live in a mobile home for awhile with 4 other people.

Beer .. Cigs, think the cig prices are going to go up. Beer prices are about average. I'm having a hard time doing a one stop shop .. Buy beer, cigs, groceries and some underwear all at one place.

Other races. Hey, I'm getting along with all of them, everyone seems for the most part cool around here. I am racist, hate those Feringies on Star Trek.

I been to many big cities. Liking the Minneapolis. Lots of schools, work, transportation, cultures and the air/water isn't that bad. I have to complain about something here - good luck on the "one stop shop" (somebody correct me on that one if you can).

Been here 2 months now, showed up with an oldsmobile and 500 bucks .. liking it

Hey, if you're experienced in here, seen thousands of these post - feel free to do X and Z.

http://www.wauzoo.com/minn/index.htm .. Not a plug - no advertisements. I make negative numbers from that website. http://www.wauzoo.com/homelessfordummies/ .. in case you end up homeless.

[Grant_Hobgood]

...what a positive post.

[blondestac]

Grew up an hour from the Twin Cities, but have lived in two other states TX/FL and moved to Minneapolis two years ago.

Weather-Nov-March is pretty well cold, January is the coldest it was -11 a week ago, other then that it's anywhere from 0-60 degrees. April-June is iffy, rainy, snow, melting, sun shine. June/July/August are pretty much 50-100 degrees. September/October is when fall approaches. The leaves are beautiful.

Health/Lifestyle- Most people are pretty active in the city, once you get in the suburbs people start getting a bit larger. Many people run or bike outdoors all year round. People are crazy and bike all year too. Hockey/Biking/Skiing/Running/Fishing/Football/Baseball are MN favorites.


The fun stuff: You can't buy beer/alcohol on Sundays. Liquor stores are open till 10PM in Minneapolis, 8PM in St.Paul. You can buy 3/2 beer. Yuck! People love to create a pubcrawl for any occasion. There are a lot of venues/dive bars/etc. The thing that blows everyone wants to go to Uptown to party it seems and there is only one place with a dance floor. Downtown is alright for clubs but you pay a cover at every bar. People don't really dance much unless they have had 5+ drinks and most people are pretty conservative when drinking.


Diversity: It's pretty diverse here but not alot of mingling goes on between cultures, but I guess that is anywhere. Minnesota has alot of Hmoung and Somalian folk because we rescued them from their homeland. You will see a lot Taxi drivers be care around them they can be crazy. We have a lot of blind people here too, it's because of the facilities that we offer. People are pretty respectful but sometimes too shy to say hi to someone of unfamiliar culture.

Looks/Culture- After living in Florida and Texas, I can def say that Minnesotans can look very bland. People go to the bar in the pj's and chicks don't really wear much makeup. Guys grow beards alot. The cities has a very hipster/natural vibe. Very liberal in the city. 89.6 The Current is what's on people's radio and the farmer's market is very popular. When you get out to the suburbs like Woodbury, Edina, Eden Prairie, Wayzata it's more conservative, dyed hair, facials, polos, tanning, golf, ettc. Two very different sides, and further out you get the more country folks, Carharts, Sports jerseys and all around simplicity. The country folks are the nice people.

One thing people always say is "Minnesota: Minnesota Nice" Since I grew up here I can say that we are nice to your face, but won't go out of our way to make sure your ok, only in the Winter. Relocating here can be hard because alot of folks have grown up here, went to college here and haven't ventured very far. They have their groups I guess you could say. Since I've moved to the cities it's been hard to find good friends unless they moved here. People here are very passive agressive....it gets frustrating sometimes.


Good transportation system light rail, bus, train, rent a bikes, but they all stop at 1AM and start up at like 5AM, so if you go out you have to find a taxi. They can be expensive. Bars close at 2AM by the way. It doesn't take long to get anywhere 30 minutes at most. Rush is usually from 7:30AM-9AM, and 4:30-6:00 usually. Some bad places are 494, 94 and 35W.

Minnesota if pretty affordable but the cities are more expensive. Uptown, Downtown are probably the most expensive. The further you go out the bigger the apartments/houses and the cheaper they are.

Food: People like their food bland here, so if you need spice you might want to bring a spice rack with.


Finding a job is a lot better here than most places.

The public schools are pretty good, top in the nation almost.

Music Scene is pretty big. It's diverse as well but not always. Everyone seems to be artistic, in a band or somehow knows someone in a band. Too many musicians/artists not enough fans. Indie Rock/Folk music is big. Minneapolis has a big Hip-hop scene because of Rhymesayers entertainment not hip-hop like in the South. We have a good sized electronic scene, other than that every other genre is lacking. Venues can be picky and limited.

[blondestac]

by the way I know I have typos, so I apologize, getting ready for a night out.