Transplants, What Surprised You About the Twin Cities?

[Drewcifer]

Originally Posted by wushuliu

Food

I just moved back after 8 years in Los Angeles and I have to say how AMAZING it was that my gf and I found 7 favorite places to eat in just 4 weeks including:

French bakery
Ethiopian
Chinese/Vietnamese
Burgers
Southern Creole
Ice Cream

MSP was great for food before I left but it seems like there's a whole other level now of quality and variety. And ALL of these places we found are better than most of the places we've eaten in L.A. I'm not talking $$$$ places mind you. I'm talking affordable for us regular folks. I've tried telling Angelenos and others that Minneapolis has really great food but they just don't believe it. Ironically I think LA has way better burger places while MSP has way better ethnic food. Seriously.

4 weeks to find 7 places in the Twin Cities.

It took me 7 years in LA to find 4!!!!

If you haven't tried the croissants at Trung Nam Bakery in St Paul, you really ought to. They are one of the few places (maybe the only) that makes them from scratch. Go in the morning though, or they will be gone.

[tlarnla]

Originally Posted by rzzz

Drivers are bad, but in a different way than most areas.

Funny, I thought Minnesota drivers were good when I lived in MN 20 years ago. That's what other people said in MN, that MN had great drivers. I attributed it to experience at handling motor vehicles on snow and ice.

But my family has complained several times that MN roads are filled with terrible drivers nowadays.

[MidwestRedux]

In the Northeast, most of the people that drove domestic cars were cops. I saw lots of cops out and about.

Now I see a ton of domestic cars, but almost no cops. I've only been here for a week or so, but I don't think I've seen a single Maple Grove Police Officer.

I saw this thread before I moved, and was really worried about the drivers driving me crazy. Believe it or not, I liked and appreciated the way people drove in New England. The primary rule of the road was to stay out of people's way and they would do the same for you.

I had spent very little time in the twin cities, but lots of time in Milwaukee and Chicago. The drivers in Chicago are fast, aggressive and chaotic. I found that much better than the drivers in Milwaukee, which are generally slow, oblivious and still chaotic at the same time. In both places it seems like the cars are playing hopscotch on the highway with no endgame.

While people here do tend to snooze in the left lane, the fact that everyone is generally pretty mellow kind of makes up for it. Most people move at a reasonable pace and just kind of stay where they are. It seems like path of least resistance to just do the same thing. It may not be the fastest or most efficient flow of traffic I've seen, but at least its not nerve racking.

[Old Prospector]

I've noticed a few other things that have bothered me on the road.

Minnesotans are allowed by law to talk on their phones while they drive without using Bluetooth or speaker phone. I see many people with their phones on their ear when they drive. These folks usually are going under the speed limit causing traffic to get backed up.

Minivans. So many minivans in the SW burbs. These drivers are usually way to passive and hog the passing lanes even though they drive so slow. I've also noticed in Eden Prairie that a lot of the lovely Somalian women drive minivans and most seem brand new to driving and don't quite "get it."

Four-way stop signs. People will just sit there even though they were first to stop and have the right away. Reminds me of the skit in Portlandia. "No You Go."

I love ya Minnesota, but most of you drivers are driving me nuts. I'm clearly not used to it.

[rzzz]

I basically feel the same way as MidwestRedux. Northeast drivers are aggressive but they are on the ball. Everyone complains about Boston drivers but honestly that was the one place I lived where I felt like the drivers mostly knew what they were doing. California is a mix between gridlock and people driving extremely fast. Minnesota drivers are not aggressive, tend to drive slowly and are generally oblivious. Driving in the Twin Cities is not harrowing like driving in Los Angeles or New Jersey but can be pretty irritating nonetheless. In my experience the worst places to drive in the US are the DC area, LA, San Jose, and surprisingly, Seattle.

[Mplsite]

If you think driving is bad here try biking in it: 80% are decent, 10% are hostile (probably suburbanites foaming at the mouth whenever they encounter anything different) and the other 10% are very over courteous.

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by Mplsite

If you think driving is bad here try biking in it: 80% are decent, 10% are hostile (probably suburbanites foaming at the mouth whenever they encounter anything different) and the other 10% are very over courteous.

That's true anywhere in the US. Americans are stupid drivers when it comes to dealing with cyclists. MPLS is the best city of the many that I've been a cyclist in.