Moving from Texas to Minnesota (home, university, live)

[Oceania11]

Hello everyone,
I'm really excited and nervous about moving to the University of Minnesota this fall from a small community college in Dallas, TX. I'm completely up for the cold i think, any suggestions about moving would help (as in general info about the people, restaurants, shopping centers) would be nice.
And if someone here knows anyone looking for a roommate with a spare room i would gladly welcome that.
Thanks

[awsun1980]

Oceania,
Just wanted to say good luck with your move. I lived in TX from 2001-2006. I attended Brookhaven College for awhile. I've only lived back home here in MN 3 months, so can't be too much help, but I would try the U of M's website for roommate possibilities maybe. People here are ok, though I remember when I lived in TX, I got teased for being a 'yankee.' So you might get some southerner jokes. Restaurants are ok---no Chic-Fil-A's though!! I woudl try a Google search for more info as well.

[cdubs3201]

Originally Posted by Oceania11

I'm completely up for the cold i think

God I wish I could be there to see your reaction to January/February...

[tindo80]

I am from Texas originally (though I did not move directly from TX to MPLS). The humidity is just as bad, as youre probably finding out now, but the heat overall is slightly milder. The winter will be astronomically colder than the worst you are used to.

MPLS, in my opinion, is seriously lacking in comparison to Texas as far as food choice/diversity goes. I recommend Christos for greek, any of the small uptown places for tai, columbian, mexican, and pizza lucce for pizza.

You will also notice that fast food choices are even more limited by comparison. There are only 2 long john silvers, 2 sonics, a single popeyes (if you like deep fried food...though its bad for you), and no whataburger, no jack in the box, no chic fil a (I think there is one at the University).

Good luck.

[bort5000]

I'm also moving from TX - San Antonio, to the Twin Cities in a few weeks. Being from WI originally I can safely say that the upper midwest summers are much, much cooler (maybe a few weeks in the 90's) than San Antonio (5 months in the 90's). Winter is another story - obviously much much milder in San Antonio.

[UffdaMN]

I went to the U, and you should love it! I believe it is the only big ten campus in a large city which means you have a lot of choices for food, shopping, arts, etc. As for roommates, the U has a great housing services department & I would also recommend looking on craigslist.

[Oceania11]

WOW, no Jack in the Box, Whataburger, Chick-fil-A's and what not...matter of fact i hate Sonic. SO i'm basically being told i cant eat lol. It's all good, im still super excited about moving up there so maybe it hasn't dawned on me yet.

[tindo80]

Originally Posted by Oceania11

WOW, no Jack in the Box, Whataburger, Chick-fil-A's and what not...matter of fact i hate Sonic. SO i'm basically being told i cant eat lol. It's all good, im still super excited about moving up there so maybe it hasn't dawned on me yet.

Find a Culvers and give it a try. Itll make up for the whataburger, but other than that, yea its bad. Get used to cooking. And dont trust any seafood sold in the area. If they claim the salmon or any other ocean fish is 'fresh', just think about geography. I have yet to eat a saltwater fish or crustacean in the cities and not get sick, whereas I could eat all day seafood in the pacific northwest, or even corpus christi and galvaston seafood from the gulf.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Oceania11

WOW, no Jack in the Box, Whataburger, Chick-fil-A's and what not...matter of fact i hate Sonic. SO i'm basically being told i cant eat lol. It's all good, im still super excited about moving up there so maybe it hasn't dawned on me yet.

Atlanta has a zillion different chicken fast food places, and I can't for the life of me fathom why. Some of them are quite good, but some of them seem a bit repetitive to me. How many do you need? Most are better than KFC, tho.

What I miss from the Twin Cities, at least here in Atlanta, are things like Denny's/Embers/Perkins (IHOP is NOT a replacement), White Castle, Chicago-style pizza places like Old Chicago, and other types of pizza places like Green Mill and Carbone's. The pizza selection in our part of Atlanta is okay for New York style variants (Blue Moon, Fortunatos, Bella's, etc.), but there aren't any thick pizzas at all around here.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Atlanta has a zillion different chicken fast food places, and I can't for the life of me fathom why. Some of them are quite good, but some of them seem a bit repetitive to me. How many do you need? Most are better than KFC, tho.

What I miss from the Twin Cities, at least here in Atlanta, are things like Denny's/Embers/Perkins (IHOP is NOT a replacement), White Castle, Chicago-style pizza places like Old Chicago, and other types of pizza places like Green Mill and Carbone's. The pizza selection in our part of Atlanta is okay for New York style variants (Blue Moon, Fortunatos, Bella's, etc.), but there aren't any thick pizzas at all around here.

The south had to endure some very tough times after the civil war. I think that is a good part of why chicken is more of stable in the south. Much easier to raise chickens than beef or pork, so thats what they did.