Minnesota greatest state in U.S.? (Minneapolis, Kennedy: environment, showing, house)

[Luke9686]

Downtown Minneapolis is awesome. I love the city. Winters can be tough. I grew up in Iowa, which has similar winters to Minnesota. Lived in California for awhile, now in the Seattle area.

If you can take the cold, it's a great place.

[jzak1972]

Hate it. Hate the passive aggressive people, hate the weather and traffic.

[moving123456]

Originally Posted by jzak1972

Hate it. Hate the passive aggressive people, hate the weather and traffic.

The very worst rush hour traffic in the Twin Cities doesn't even begin to compare to traffic in other cities. Ever drove through Chicago? That can take 3 hours on a good day. Atlanta has 7 lanes going each direction through the city and still has worse traffic.

[Sarah Maske]

I have travelled extensively around the country. You absolutely CAN NOT beat the cost of living here. This is one of the cleanest, most beautiful and affordable cities in the country. Green Bay is probably a close second. When you compare Minnesota with its schools, employment rate, housing prices and so on, you can't get it any better. Period.

[Luke9686]

Clean, affordable and light traffic. You normally can't get that in a big city. With lots of stuff to do also. Try bay area traffic. That'll make you insane.

[kasperkosmo]

Having been almost everywere in the middle and east of the country, I must say that the Twin Cities maybe the best metro area I've been to. When you compare cost, crime, jobs, activities, and traffic, the twin cities beats everwhere else. The only cities that I think compare to live in are Nashville, San Antonio, and Raleigh. As for the state, Minnesota may not be the best. Yes the lakes are beautiful, but I'll take North Carolina with for weather, good cities, mountains, lakes, and the ocean. But remember, we all have a pull from where we are from. Pittsburgh will always be my favorite city and West Virginia will always be my favorite state.

[hstfan82]

I came from Tulsa, OK a couple years ago with my wife who is orignally from here and I am hoping I get a teaching job in Texas (Dallas or Austin)soon. I would choose Minneapolis over Tulsa but I find it to be overrated by its residents who can't stop talking about how great it is. This is uncommon in universally accepted "cool" places like San Francisco, which shows you how secure people are in Minnesota about how great their state is.

Housing is overpriced. It's hard to find a 3 bedroom house for under 225K that is not in a shady area. I know the reply is "you get what you pay for" so I'll tell you why it's not worth paying for.

The second obvious reason is that the winters are terrible. You're car looks like crap for 4-5 months out of the year because it's too cold to wash the car! You cannot stand to be outside for more than a couple of minutes most days in the winter. If you like being inside, Minnesota is the place to be.

The education system is good because of the demographics of the state. The areas of Minneapolis/St Paul that have high minority populations score at best slightly better than similar cities in other parts of the country. You can debate the reasons as to why certain groups don't score as well on standardized exams, but the fact remains that this is consistently the case everywhere, including Minnesota. The kids are extremely disrespectful to teachers. I know b/c I've been subbing for two years and I watch how they treat their regular teachers.

The highways in Minneapolis suck. They are far too narrow given the size of the city. 62 might be the worst major city highway in the country, especially around the 35 interchange. It's also 2 lanes on each side going right through the heart of the city. The light rail service is very limited. Also, when the weather isn't crappy out it becomes a never-ending road construction season everywhere.

The culture offerings are also overrated. I can't tell you how many concerts I've wanted to see (artists like Morrissey, Radiohead) go through supposedly bad places like Texas but don't come through Minneapolis. Walker Art Museum is nice, but there are other cities with good (and often more) museums. Hell, Fort Worth has top rated art museums. Minneapolis doesn't have an Angelika film center like Texas, LA, Chicago, and NY do. The indie film theatres in Minneapolis suck. Uptown is full of chain places with a couple of cool stores here and there. Nothing to brag about in my opinion and not unique to Minneapolis.

Minneapolis is a pretty city by Midwestern standards, but only someone from Iowa or North Dakota would move to Minneapolis because of its beauty. It looks rather plain in many parts. Once again, above average, but not so great that it justifies the high cost of living.

[moving123456]

Originally Posted by hstfan82

You cannot stand to be outside for more than a couple of minutes most days in the winter. If you like being inside, Minnesota is the place to be.

Speak for yourself. I enjoy being outside for long hours on many winter days. I can snowmobile or snowboard from morning until well after dark.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by hstfan82

The highways in Minneapolis suck. They are far too narrow given the size of the city. 62 might be the worst major city highway in the country, especially around the 35 interchange. It's also 2 lanes on each side going right through the heart of the city. The light rail service is very limited. Also, when the weather isn't crappy out it becomes a never-ending road construction season everywhere.

You can thank the harsh snowy winters (and the resulting multiple freeze/thaw cycles) for all of the above except the light rail bit. Road maintenance is a lot tougher in extreme climates where the road surface is being split apart by ice every year and then baked by 90_F degree heat in the summer months, and all of the streets need to be plowed when it snows. Wider roads = increased repair expence and more street space to clear multiple times every year.

[luauelvis]

Always great to hear from Minnesota folks. Honest and to the point. People keep bringing up the cost of living, but I am not sure if most of you know how expensive everything is outside of the midwest. I live in Seattle right now and if I put my 3bedroom 1 1/2 bath 1000sf house on the market it would sell for around 280,000. I do not live in a great neighborhood. What does 350,000 but you in the burbs of Minneapolis? I suspect much more. Also gas just hit 4.00 at the local Am/Pm gas station.....BLAHHHHHH