Thinking of moving to Minneapolis when I graduate (St. Paul, Plymouth: 2010, insurance)

[ajf131]

Hi there. I am currently an accounting student at St. Louis University who has resided in the St. Louis area my whole life. Having relatives in Cleveland, I have been exposed to Upper Midwestern winter as opposed to the part of the Midwest I grew up in and would like to I guess get so much snow I can't move. I've never been to Minneapolis per se but I have skirted the western half of Southern Minnesota along Interstate 90. I guess I wanted to know more about what Minneapolis has to offer me in terms of me being a future CPA/actuary, as well as I guess the attractions of the city, good places to live...which is the better side of the Mississippi to be on? Minneapolis or St. Paul? What is the overall topography of the city? Is it all flat, or are there some rolling hills and forests as well? Thanks.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by ajf131

Hi there. I am currently an accounting student at St. Louis University who has resided in the St. Louis area my whole life. Having relatives in Cleveland, I have been exposed to Upper Midwestern winter as opposed to the part of the Midwest I grew up in and would like to I guess get so much snow I can't move. I've never been to Minneapolis per se but I have skirted the western half of Southern Minnesota along Interstate 90. I guess I wanted to know more about what Minneapolis has to offer me in terms of me being a future CPA/actuary, as well as I guess the attractions of the city, good places to live...which is the better side of the Mississippi to be on? Minneapolis or St. Paul? What is the overall topography of the city? Is it all flat, or are there some rolling hills and forests as well? Thanks.

The I90 east west run is all farm land and the Twin Cities area looks and feels a lot different. If you come up 35 North it changes around Burnsville. Minnesota has a lot of job diversity. Meaning, you have high tech, insurance, medical devices, fortune 100 companies like Target and Best Buy, 3M, Honeywell, Medtronic, United Health Care etc. So in summary, positively will be actuarial type positions in the state. I'd expect a plethora of them. Needless to say there are thousands of CPA jobs.

Traffic is TERRIBLE! Especially when one snow flake drops and we forget how to drive. So stay close to where you work or go against traffic.

Glaciers mowed down the mountains and melted for our 10,000 lakes (actually they lied as I think it is closer to 13,000 lakes). Generally the best you can get is rolling hills which is the case around the Minnetonka area. Green?????? We are the poster child of green! If you go farther north for vacation (Brainard area) it is green and beautiful. No stunning would be a better word!

So west of the cities is my personal favorite (Plymouth, Minnetonka) but east is also nice Egan, Woodberry etc. Frankly, you cannot go wrong (IMHO) unless you sellect MPLS or St. Paul. I'm not a fan of these areas because of all of the typical big city problems unless you like those trade-offs.
Steve

[golfgal]

I have spent a lot of time in the St. Louis area and live in the metro area. I think the big difference you will find is that the traffic here is much less congested (yes, it really is). The topography of the cities is very similar. The downtown areas are more active but not too much so. I think the architecture of the buildings in downtown St. Louis is superior to Minneapolis or St. Paul but that really doesn't make a difference.

I think you will find that people here are better educated. As for CPA/actuary jobs, they are around, getting one will be difficult but not impossible. Have you considered Wisconsin? Several major insurance companies are headquarted in WI and the job market might be better for an actuary. We do have a couple companies here though.

[knke0402]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I have spent a lot of time in the St. Louis area and live in the metro area. I think the big difference you will find is that the traffic here is much less congested (yes, it really is). The topography of the cities is very similar. The downtown areas are more active but not too much so. I think the architecture of the buildings in downtown St. Louis is superior to Minneapolis or St. Paul but that really doesn't make a difference.

I think you will find that people here are better educated. As for CPA/actuary jobs, they are around, getting one will be difficult but not impossible. Have you considered Wisconsin? Several major insurance companies are headquarted in WI and the job market might be better for an actuary. We do have a couple companies here though.

MY buddy just graduated from NDSU w/ CPA and Accounting. He got a job the next day for Excel Energy in Becker.

Jobs are easy to find here. WEll, not now, and probably not until Summer 2010, but theyre not as bad as the rest of the nation