Top 5 Pros & Cons of Minneapolis area (St. Paul, Eden Prairie: middle-class, apartments)

[Lindenin]

This is fun to read. Lots of differing opinions. love it. Keep them coming.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by getoutofmn

TOP:
1. A wide variety of things to do and places to go
2. Airport does a good job considering the size of the city
3. Many good restaurants, both large and small, ethnic and chain
4. Lots of shopping available
5. Lots of sports and sporting events available, from professional all the way down to youth

BOTTOM:
1. Way too much crime, even in the suburbs
2. Not enough police per community size when compared to other parts of the country
3. The weather is awful and the climate swings are drastic
4. It is way too crowded, including cities and towns, roads and freeways etc
5. Taxes are incredibly high

Way too much crime? The last time I checked, Minneapolis is much safer than Atlanta. I have relatives in Minneapolis who came to Atlanta a few times. I should know. You will know the meaning of high crime crime and violence when you go to Atlanta.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Way too much crime? The last time I checked, Minneapolis is much safer than Atlanta. I have relatives in Minneapolis who came to Atlanta a few times. I should know. You will know the meaning of high crime crime and violence when you go to Atlanta.

The Twin Cities does have issues with certain types of crimes, even compared to the Atlanta metro, but in general I think the Twin Cities is a safer place than Atlanta. Not that the Atlanta metro is bad if you use common sense.

[rcsteiner]

These are the impressions of a Twin Cities native (lived there for almost 42 years) who has now lived in the Atlanta metro for almost three:

Best things about the Twin Cities:

(1) Good schools (in general)
(2) Low suburban crime rates (relatively speaking).
(3) A generally intelligent road layout, including smart stoplights. Atlanta needs those emergency vehicle detection thingies badly but doesn't have them (such vehicles have to run lights and dodge traffic down here).
(4) Bike-friendly roadways and paths (Atlanta has almost none).
(5) Wintertime. Sometimes I really miss it.

Worst things about the Twin Cities:

(1) Houses are (or were) 20% overpriced compared to Atlanta.
(2) Metered freeway entrance ramps.
(3) Fewer Minnesota women have soft southern accents. :-) :-)
(4) Very poor IT job market (guess why I'm in Atlanta?). Maybe it's better now, but it sucked in 2002-2004.
(5) Wintertime. :-) Sometimes I really don't miss it.

And to add a twist:

Best things about the Atlanta metro:

(1) There are still four seasons, but three of them feel like "autumn" to me. :-)
(2) More trees than you can eat. It's a forest down here!
(3) More diversity in the suburbs. A lot of self-segregation, but I'm thrilled to see more folks not only of different races but from more different areas of the country. I grew up in Minnetonka in the 70's -- I need the exposure.
(4) Housing is far more affordable.
(5) The economy seems more vibrant down here, although the recent housing slowdown is having a noticable impact even here.

Worst things about the Atlanta metro:

(1) Summer lasts for-fricking-ever. :-)
(2) Crime. Our neighborhood is relatively safe, but we still have an alarm system.
(3) Palmetto bugs. Imagine 4" dark brown cockroaches that fly, and which sometimes eat children and small dogs.
(4) Many drivers down here are aggressive idiots. Really.
(5) No hockey except the Thrashers. No college hockey at all. :-(

[kuan]

I gotta add, love the seasons in Minnesota.

Summer, almost winter, winter, and still winter.

[SpinyNorman]

Top 5:
1. Incredible access to arts and culture
2. The fact that, although I don't LIKE the extreme extremes in the weather, they make us so much tougher than everyone else in the country!
3. The people: I think the whole "MN nice" thing is a cop-out -- there are nice, mean, and passive-aggressive people everywhere, but people here are relatively down to earth.
4. Diversity: I've heard complaints about our diversity in the past, but we have among the highest population of Hmong and Somali immigrants in the US, plus a lot of variety in race, creed, color, religion, orientation, etc., etc.
5. Good variety of bars, coffee shops, restaurants
6. (oops!) The Mississippi -- I hate not living within walking distance of the river!
7. (my bad!) Liberal politics, for the most part (I mean both the fact that the two cities are for the most part liberal and that the liberal politicians are for the most part a positive)


Bottom 5:
1. Condos, condos EVERYWHERE! (Have I really not seen this mentioned by anyone yet?! Maybe I missed it.)
2. Overpriced housing (may be combined with #1)
3. The outer extremes in the weather (come on, 10 to 85 degrees = variety; -20 to 100 = questioning my sanity for living here at times)
4. The Mall of America (why must this and Jesse Ventura be our main claims to fame?)
5. Having to pay for sports stadiums for the ultra-wealthy with my hard-to-come-by money

I've considered moving around the country more while I'm still (relatively) young and unencumbered, but I've traveled quite a bit and haven't found anywhere else I'd rather live than Minneapolis-St. Paul. If I do find somewhere interesting, I'll go try it out, but I have do doubt I'd end up back here.

[K-Luv]

SpineyNorman-

I didn't mention the condo boom because that is happening all across the country. What I find interesting, at least in Minneapolis, is that they are still continuing to build new condos even though the market has completely slowed down.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Palmetto Bugs? Eww. I'll take my visit in January.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

Palmetto Bugs? Eww. I'll take my visit in January.

I don't mind 'em. The kitties love them. My wife becomes "excited" when they enter the house. :-)

[SpinyNorman]

True about the condos going up everywhere else too (my friends in Portland will attest), and true indeed that the extra-stupid part is that they don't have enough people to buy them. Same thing with the loft/warehouse a while back (I don't work in downtown Mpls. anymore, so I can only assume they slowed down building those things -- although I know they haven't stopped). They'd get a couple tenants in a building and wait to renovate the rest until they had more buyers. Which there aren't. The whole thing irritates me, although not enough to move anywhere else

I also don't like the "affordable artist housing" in Midway -- $850 for a 1-bd. I'm in an arts trade (but less creative and more earning potential -- I hope -- than your average art major), and therefore, uh, thrifty... and last I checked that's on the high end of rental pricing (aside from the downtown lofts). Not what most of us struggling people would ever consider affordable.

I'd love to see someone take over an old building, renovate in a thrifty but interesting way, and rent to artists for ACTUALLY affordable/reduced rates (under $500 for a reasonable, but not basketball court-sized apartment??) But that would be called charity