LA to Minneapolis (St. Paul, Bloomington: middle-class, transplants, rentals)

[MegHall]

My boyfriend and I are considering relocating from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. He is a graphic designer and I am a music teacher. Can anyone give me a comparison (cost of living, traffic, job market) between the two cities? We both come from small towns and have found LA to be a little overwhelming.

Thanks!

[uptown_urbanist]

We lived in LA for three years, in Hollywood and in the Pasadena area. I'm orginally from Minneapolis, though, so my comparisons are coming from the point-of-view of someone who grew up in MN, and not from someone whose first experience with MN came as an adult, in case that matters.

Cost of living: Minneapolis is SO much cheaper! There's not a huge difference with things like food, but housing in the Twin Cities is a huge bargain by comparison. I think Minneapolis offers a great "bang for the buck" in terms of what you get for your money. In Minneapolis middle-class people can actually own things, and there are also plenty of nice and affordable rentals to be found, too. There's the higher cost of heat, of course, which you should factor in when figuring out where to live. But no earthquake insurance.

Traffic: also SO much better in the Twin Cities. My family complains about it all the time, and while the Twin Cities needs to get its act together and keep building light rail before it gets worse, you will find commutes and traffic to be so, so, so much better in Minneapolis than it is in LA.

Job market: It's better in Minnesota than it is in LA. It can be difficult (more difficult in MN than anywhere else we've lived, I think) to get a job from out-of-state. A lot of people specify no out of town candidates (I think they're afraid of paying relocation) and it can be hard to get past that. Still, LA's economy is really bad right now. I don't know about your specific fields, unfortunately.

Size: I'll admit that I absolutely loved LA, and loved its massive size, the people, the business, and didn't mind the overwhelming thing. So for us one negative about Minneapolis is that it is a little quieter, and certainly smaller. That will be a good thing for you. It's a nice size in that it's big enough to offer a lot in terms of almost everything, but not so big that it's expensive or unmanageble.

Other differences: the ethnic thing comes to mind as an obvious difference. Minneapolis/the Twin Cities are far more diverse than many people realize, but the ethnic and racial demographics are quite different than LA. The Twin Cities have hispanic residents, of course, but it's nothing like in LA and generally not as integrated (yet). Minneapolis has a pretty large Somali population as well a large Hmong population. Overall, though, it's a pretty white place, and until relatively recently was mostly a white and black (as in African American) place. There's some Native American presence, too, which I never encountered in LA. I miss LA's diversity and more international flavor, although again, the Twin Cities has a lot more diversity (and immigrants) than people sometimes give it credit for.

Due to the smaller size, cheaper price, and better traffic, you'll have a lot more living options than in LA. There are urban city neighborhoods, quieter city neighborhoods, old suburbs, brand-new suburbs, downtown condos, restored warehouse lofts, etc. You'll have a lot of options, and should be able to easily find a place to live that fits your personal tastes.

Expect to get a lot of questions like "you're moving from LA? Why?" People will warn you all the time about the weather (and yes, it does get cold in the winter, but I'm willing to put up with it in return for the many other benefits). Sometimes it can be tough to move to Minnesota as someone who didn't grow up here - it has a higher than normal percentage of residents who were born in the state, and a lower than normal percentage of transplants from other places (probably due to fears about the weather) - but you'll find lots of fellow newcomers in the Twin Cities.

Minneapolis is a great city (as is St. Paul). I love LA, but ultimately due to family, cost of living, and overall quality of life issues we're planning on putting down some permanent roots in Minnesota. I don't know if we would have ever been able to buy something in LA; it's actually a possibility in Minneapolis, and after insurance, taxes, and mortgage payments still come out ahead.

Oh, and while MN doesn't have the ocean or the mountains it does have lakes, lots of lakes; Minneapolis has lakes right in the city (and you can possibly even afford to live near them!) as well as the Mississippi River. There are lots of outdoor options around (learn to embrace the winter, too - there's good cross-country skiing, and you can go skating on the lakes) and it's not too far from Lake Superior if you want more of an ocean feel. I'm not a biker, but if you like to bike Minneapolis is one of the best places around for that. There are bike racks everywhere, a lot of people commute to work on bike (I think second only to Portland), and there's major bike trails such as the Midtown Greenway (former industrial corridor-turned walking/bike trail).

[MplsTodd]

I think Uptown nailed it with his response. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[cdubs3201]

I actually have a friend who is a music teacher and he's been struggling to find a job in the twin cities, had to settle for something out by wilmar.

Good luck with finding a music teaching job.

[MegHall]

Thanks for the replies, we'll definitely be keeping these things in mind.

[Joe3rdwash]

You should move to Bloomington for affordability and less urban action. It also has the Mall of America !!!!

[whoopsie goldburg]

you will be comfortable with our color-coded street signs. to my knowledge, MPLS and LA are the only US cities who use them (please correct me if i'm wrong)