Tell me about your life in MSP...family, community, schools, weather ...all! (Minneapolis: cliquey, to rent)

[Astron1000]

Originally Posted by Sluni

... Imagining that in the winter, one is stuck home b/c of temperatures.....Thanks!

Not really. The Twin Cities most certainly do not shut down in the winter. Except for the January doldrums it's peak theater season and there are concerts and shows galore. Afton Alps, Welch Village and Buck Hill are busy with skiers and there are plenty of places to ice skate or play hockey. Ice fishing is also a big deal here. Yes, winters are legendary but you really do get used to it. Two inches of snow? "That's nuthin', I gotta pop down to the grocery store - I need a garlic clove for this recipe." That's kind of the mind set that happens a few weeks into winter. It's there. I deal with it.

The Twin Cities actually get less snow than Cleveland, Salt Lake City, Buffalo, Albany, etc. Minneapolis is something like 57th on the list of cities over 50,000 with the most snowfall. It's just that the snow tends to stick around all winter because it rarely gets above freezing in December and January.

[AhRainess]

No, don't come to Minnesota unless you're really a bear who can hibernate at least 8 months of cold weather a year. I've been living here for 15 years, and each year, I think I will die from the depression, cold, white, indoors-only life, but I don't! Yes, we have a great economy and our unemployment rate is low compared to the rest, but you only get maybe 3 months of quality life here. Then it's back to D mode again.

I do like lots of things about the Twin Cities, but I can't stand this weather anymore, and this crappy job market won't let me get out of here. It's also true that it's hard to make friends here. The last friends I made were in high scool, and even I'm not close to them because I didn't grow up with them.

[AhRainess]

Originally Posted by Sluni

Last night, we agreed with my husband to spend a few days in MSP over Memorial day, to see it for real. Join a "recon" with some nice rec activities that your city/area has to offer. My ideal would be to look on vrbo or similar to see if we can rent a condo or a house in one of the neighborhoods (or hotel at worst) so we are in the middle of a neighborhood and see its real life. WOuld rent bikes so we can bike around, too. We would probably look at something like arrive in MSP on Tue night and leave Monday morning/midday. We would like to be in a neighborhood so we can walk to the rec center, have kids play at the playground or at the field by the local school, get a swim pass to local pool, grab a coffeee in local coffee shop etc.

From what you all said above we should Linden Hills, Uptown, Edina and St Louis Park as places to look to stay for the couple days. Any other areas come to mind? I have no idea how muc rental options there will be so want to have neighborhoods on my list to check !

Golfgal, thanks for the suggestion of Stillwater, it really looks beautiful and we will make sure to do a day trip there. And, I am so relieved there are downhill ski areas even if modest and I must say that Lutsen looks absolutely beautiful.

What activities would you suggest for the 4-5 days? Our kids are 9/7/4, very adventurous so they are good with outdoors recreation as well as museums and culture.

Thank you.

No, don't come here in May, or June to early September. Come here in late October and stay here until April to get a feel of how your life will really be like for the majority of the year. Don't be fooled by our best months, they're very short.

[StilltheSame]

Originally Posted by summer_land

No, don't come here in May, or June to early September. Come here in late October and stay here until April to get a feel of how your life will really be like for the majority of the year. Don't be fooled by our best months, they're very short.

I will say we moved in June and it was a gorgeous summer. That summer even had very few mosquitoes. I am glad it was summer, because had it been October, I don't know if we would have stayed.

[Sluni]

That sounds depressing about having to hibernate in winter :-(. Well, Memorial Weekend is when we have vacation and that is when we are coming. I am not wasting my vaca days to visit a town in the middle of winter! But I get what you are saying - one needs to bear in mind that those georgeous few days visit in May is not how it will be most of the time ;-(. As I mentioned I am Czech. We do get snow in early November and last year when I went to visit at the end of March it was snowing. It sucks and yeah, in February people are more annoyed than usual - more likely to yell at you for getting in their way on the street ha ha. But as Astron 1000 said, you live with it, learn to drive in snow and we love skiing!. I guess here in the US it is harder with the snow in general b/c you are so dependent on your car with more limited public transport options. That is why I have been asking for advise on walkable neighborhoods - hope we can still walk to some sledding hills and have fun and get a coffee on the way back :-) Or send teenagers to their friends. But I must say I was walking to the office yesterday from metro and had my warmest coat and was cold - it was 20F which for you guys must be a nice normal temp? My body is definitely used to warm conditions by now I guess.

I am so worried about the making friends comments. I know it is harder to make friends when you are older, busy with work and kids. And I noticed that most of my friends here happen to be foreigners , I guess we click better ? I could not exist without friends :-( It takes effort I know but I worry that so many people have the same comments.

[AhRainess]

Originally Posted by Sluni

That sounds depressing about having to hibernate in winter :-(. Well, Memorial Weekend is when we have vacation and that is when we are coming. I am not wasting my vaca days to visit a town in the middle of winter! But I get what you are saying - one needs to bear in mind that those georgeous few days visit in May is not how it will be most of the time ;-(. As I mentioned I am Czech. We do get snow in early November and last year when I went to visit at the end of March it was snowing. It sucks and yeah, in February people are more annoyed than usual - more likely to yell at you for getting in their way on the street ha ha. But as Astron 1000 said, you live with it, learn to drive in snow and we love skiing!. I guess here in the US it is harder with the snow in general b/c you are so dependent on your car with more limited public transport options. That is why I have been asking for advise on walkable neighborhoods - hope we can still walk to some sledding hills and have fun and get a coffee on the way back :-) Or send teenagers to their friends. But I must say I was walking to the office yesterday from metro and had my warmest coat and was cold - it was 20F which for you guys must be a nice normal temp? My body is definitely used to warm conditions by now I guess.

I am so worried about the making friends comments. I know it is harder to make friends when you are older, busy with work and kids. And I noticed that most of my friends here happen to be foreigners , I guess we click better ? I could not exist without friends :-( It takes effort I know but I worry that so many people have the same comments.

If you like skiing then I guess you'll like MN. I've never done a winter sport in all the years I've lived here. I just started sliding down the hill with my 4 year old this winter and that's about it! Not kidding either. I was born in a tropical country and raised in a sunny state, so I'm more extreme than others living here. With that said, however, if I could put the Twin Cities, its suburbs and natural lakes into a warmer state (with an ocean ), I would.

Regarding friends, I'm more introverted, so that doesn't help either, but if you're extroverted and super charming, and never had issues in the past making friends, then I think you'll be ok. Hmm, on second thought, I didn't have issues making friends when I used to live in Cali... Who knows...

[Beenhere4ever]

Originally Posted by StilltheSame

In my experience, people are very friendly - they will stop and chat, are very thoughtful and helpful. I think the friendship issue is that you may not get invited to many people's homes, you may if at work go to happy hour, or have a block party annually, but a close den of friends with whom you spend a great deal of time may be hard to come by - in part because people have their lives (regardless of location) and in part because so many people here have family and friends close by, that their committments to them consume a large amount of their discrestionary time. That doesnt mean you wont go to dinner, a show or drinks, but you may not meet and maintain intense, deep friendships.

My children absolutely love living here - they have so much more freedom than they would in a larger city. Neither of them plan on staying in the state after high school though - they both plan to go to college and grad school in larger cities or other countries.

Been here over 40 years. Neighbor parked right across from my driveway. Made it difficult to back out. My car got stopped halfway into the street. Just a few minutes stuck that way, a guy came running down the alley and a truck stopped. Both guys got in front of my car and gave it a push. Voila! Out of trouble. During the winter, a neighbor a few doors down backed into the alley and then his truck quit. Walked down to where I was outside doing something, told me his story. Drove my car down the alley and jump started him. Told him to drive truck back into parking spot because his battery was no good. So he went and got another one. We have NUMEROUS car parts businesses in easy walking distance.

So that's a couple vignettes within recent months. Could, perhaps, happen anywhere. But I do think it captures something of what I call "the Minnesota spirit". Life isn't the easiest here, but put a smile on your face and show you like people, and the ice will melt. I came from a mild weather origin and people wonder why I stayed. Why shouldn't I?

[Mdcastle]

There's some days in the winter where it's just too cold to be outside. And somedays where it's actually too warm (the ice rinks turn to slush), but except for this winter (where there hasn't been anything remotely this cold in 15 years) more days than not you can be outside if you dress appropriately. The ski hills and many of the ice rinks and cross-country ski trails are lighted to cater to the people that have to work during the day.

St. Louis Park and Linden Hills are both nice, safe areas, but I do suggest you look into where you want to work first. If you find a job in say Maplewood it's going to be brutal to drive there and nearly impossible to take a bus there.

A lot of people like having 4wd here, but it isn't really necessary since they're very experienced with plowing the streets. Any FWD car should work fine; if you have a RWD car you might want to think about exchanging it, or reserving it as a summer car.

[Beenhere4ever]

After 40 years, I'd just say "learn to dress". I've seen people out, warmly dressed, on the coldest days. Better than huddling and waiting for milder weather. At least that's what 40 years have made me believe. People who huddle get depressed.

[Tracy829]

Originally Posted by summer_land

No, don't come to Minnesota unless you're really a bear who can hibernate at least 8 months of cold weather a year. I've been living here for 15 years, and each year, I think I will die from the depression, cold, white, indoors-only life, but I don't! Yes, we have a great economy and our unemployment rate is low compared to the rest, but you only get maybe 3 months of quality life here. Then it's back to D mode again.

I do like lots of things about the Twin Cities, but I can't stand this weather anymore, and this crappy job market won't let me get out of here. It's also true that it's hard to make friends here. The last friends I made were in high scool, and even I'm not close to them because I didn't grow up with them.

I so much agree with you about the winters, I can't stand them anymore, once my youngest son graduates high school, we are outta here.