Dallas Vs. Minneapolis

[audadvnc]

Dallas? It's damned hot down there. And the ground is so hard you have to use a pick axe to get into it.

[MN55]

Damn right. Anywhere south of Owatonna's too hot for me.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by unherdable

I know that this thread is old, but there have been some recent posts. I thought I would post my observations, as someone who is foreign born, and moved to MSP at age 21, lived for 12 years in MSP, and then moved to DFW, where I have been for 8 years....

All in all, I prefer Dallas slightly over Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, particularly out in the suburbs, is a much prettier place. Also, the seasons are much more "fun", and it really is an adventure, sometimes, living in Minneapolis. I enjoyed my 12 years there thoroughly. However, with all the travelling I was doing, I found Minnesota to be too boring, if you are looking for something beyond outdoor winter/water activities. The music / restaurant scene is not great in Minnesota, and sometimes you can struggle to find something to do. Also, the cars, etc, are pretty dumpy and sometimes the place really looks like it is a couple of decades behind Dallas, and other modern cosmopolitan cities. Also, the inner parts of the city, Minneapolis AND St Paul, are not exactly pretty. My first thought when I first landed at MSP when I was 20, was "man, this is an ugly city". Granted, landing at DFW and driving through Irving, is even uglier.....

In Dallas, the old suburbs much closer to downtown, are WAY cooler than anything Minneapolis has to offer. There is so much to do, and literally dozens of pubs, bars, restaurants and live music venues all within walking distance.

However, when it comes to living in the outer 'burbs much further from the city center, Minneapolis and St Paul have Dallas / Fort Worth soundly beat. The general ugly, flat, treeless and sterile landscape of North Texas is very difficult to get over. On the other hand, you don't have to go too far out of town in the MSP area to live in wonderful, beautiful, serene neighborhoods, with trees, and hilly topography and beautiful lakes.

I'm a city boy, so I choose Dallas over Minneapolis (but not over much else). But wouldn't mind a cabin on a rural Minnesotan lake as well.

That's odd, because I find Dallas the inner city to be pure crap compared to Minneapolis city or St. Paul city. Dallas is like the world's largest suburb, and the weather may or may not appeal to some compared to here, but I personally do not understand the rage at all about DFW, Houston or Atlanta. They aren't bad, but they are far from great too.

[southernsmoke]

Originally Posted by Kid Cann

I understand commutes that take workers from Suburb to Inner City or Inner City to Suburb... However, much of the over-commuting in this country comes from Suburb to Suburb commuting. This to me is just . Why would you live in Savage and work in Plymouth? Or why would you live in Blaine and work in Mendota Heights? The typical 'argument' is that 'people want to be by their families, and where they grew up and where their friends are"

Ok... So... You're telling me that you're going to spend 2 hrs a day in your car driving from Blaine to Mendota Heights? What does Blaine have that MH doesnt? Or isn't there anything closer to MH that would suite you? You're spending 40 hrs IN MH each week, not to mention the 10 hrs a week in your car, and you are saying you live in Blaine because "Your family is close?" the family that you only see on weekends any way? So you're telling me you'd rather COMMUTE 2 hrs a day every day so you don't have to have an hour commute on a weekend? I don't get it.

So what happens if you are living and working in Blaine, when a better career opportunity comes up in Mendota Heights? (Or better yet, you get laid off and find a job in Mendota Heights?) What is your oh-so-logical, head-smacking advice then? You have to keep in mind that perhaps career changes happen more frequently and that, in general, one's home is more of a long-term/stability type decision.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

^That's maybe 10% of all scenarios, though...

[southernsmoke]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

^That's maybe 10% of all scenarios, though...

Where did that stat come from?

[audadvnc]

The random statistic site, of course. Here's another one:

"It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear."

[northstar22]

Originally Posted by southernsmoke

Where did that stat come from?

87.4521% of all statistics are totally made up.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by southernsmoke

Where did that stat come from?

It's from my a$$, of course, but it's rare nonetheless. You like semantics?

[AVguy]

Let's examine some basic stats. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the average American will change jobs about once every 5 years. (This number could be higher or lower, but should be a good baseline number: http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2009/summer/art02.pdf; (broken link) NLS FAQs.) Considering that the typical mortgage has a 30-year term, the average worker will change jobs 6 times throughout the course of that worker's mortgage. Will the next job be across town? Will the next job require more travel? Will the next job require short-term contracting among different companies within the metro/state/Midwest region? In any event, such a scenario seems far from "rare."