Give us 10 reasons NOT to move to the Minneapolis/St.Paul metro (Bloomington: job market, wages)

[track2514]

Wow this is an interesting thread, some people are saying the schools are terrible and the taxes are too high. I think Minnesota is all relative based on your experiences. I am from Pittsburgh and having lived in various areas of the Northeast, one area in the South, and now Minnesota I can tell you that many of the things posted in this thread are based off of perception rather than reality. For instance:

Taxes are too high
Really? Let’s think about this one. Taxes are too high compared to what? While living in Pittsburgh the property taxes for my house valued at around $250,000 were $14,000 and the sales tax was 7%, which was actually 8% when I lived in Philadelphia. When I lived in Kentucky my property taxes for $150,000 house were $600, but sales tax was still 7% and clothes were taxed. So I guess compared to the state of Kentucky, Minnesota has high taxes, but compared to the vast majority of the Northeast and the West Coast I am not sure if I agree with this idea.

The schools are bad in Minnesota
Again, really? What are we comparing these schools to? One poster likes say that Iowa has had the best education system for years. I think they may actually be serious too, that is the scary part of this statement. According to the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. News and World Report, Iowa ranks below West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee overall and in many key categories. At worst most state by state education rankings list Minnesota in the top 20 states and at best in the top 5. In many of the rankings available, Iowa is usually below the top 20 and at best in the top 15. So overall the "experts" disagree that Iowa as a state has a superior education system to Minnesota. From my own experiences and as an educator I tend to agree with the experts and I feel that Minnesota is closer to the top 5 or 10 states for education.

Oh and back to the topic at hand here is my list of 10 reasons to not come here:

1) You are from Kentucky so you will think the taxes are high
2) You hate road construction
3) You don't like or want to embrace the cold
4) You like to maintain a natural tan year round
5) You hate living in a metro area with clean streets and sidewalks
6) You don't have a car (This is probably my only real complaint, public transportation here is behind many other large cities)
7) You hate indoor shopping malls and prefer the bazaars and street sales of warmer states
8) Your name is Rush Limbaugh
9) You hate cyclists
10) You are afraid of lutefisk

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree. It's all relative. I do agree that the schools won't stay as good as they are if we don't keep on top of things and work to maintain them; at the same time, public schools here are waaaay better than they are in many places. We lived in CA for five years, and while that state has some excellent public schools (some of the best in the country), they also have really bad ones, with a far greater disparity between good and bad schools and districts than you find in MN. Housing prices were through the roof for good districts, and there was far more concern about choosing a house based on school district than there is in MN. I live in Minneapolis, and while there are some bad schools in the district, there are also a lot of good ones, and there's far, far less stress here about whether or not to "brave" the public schools, go private, or move to a suburban district. Not all schools are good, but overall most Minnesotans (including lower and middle income families) have ready access to a good education, and that's something that you don't find everywhere.

[audadvnc]

Taxes too high - and schools aren't good enough? Sounds like some folks like to have their cake and eat it too...

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by audadvnc

Taxes too high - and schools aren't good enough? Sounds like some folks like to have their cake and eat it too...

Edinans, mainly.

[twin.spin]

1. Favre's retirement \ returning .....
2. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news ---
3. Favre's retirement \ returning .....
4. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news ---
5. Favre's retirement \ returning .....
6. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news ---
7. Favre's retirement \ returning .....
8. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news ---
9. Favre's retirement \ returning ...
10. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news --- Farve arrives as training camp almost over..Is this his last year?

[Kid Cann]

Originally Posted by twin.spin

1. Favre's retirement \ returning .....
2. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news ---
3. Favre's retirement \ returning .....
4. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news ---
5. Favre's retirement \ returning .....
6. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news ---
7. Favre's retirement \ returning .....
8. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news ---
9. Favre's retirement \ returning ...
10. Media's awaited anticpation \ breaking news --- Farve arrives as training camp almost over..Is this his last year?

ha, I can see where he's coming from.

I was a mid-level baseball player. Played at college a bit, a few amateur teams, and had a Really Really really hard time not playing this summer. First summer since I was 5 not playing competitive baseball. and I'm in my mid twenties... I couldnt imagine being an NFL QB. It's the highest touted position in Professional Sports in the World and there are only 32 of them. You could argue #1 starting pitchers in Baseball are on the same level as QBs, but nah not really.

[gearedtowardssalad]

Minnesota taxes are enough of a reason not to move here.

[MSMCGirl]

Wow...interesting comments. Here are a few from me (don't know if I can come up with 10!):

1) Passive/aggressive behavior (ESPECIALLY in drivers)
2) Road construction in the summer EVERYWHERE (especially when the "DETOURS" are also under construction)
3) People that don't know how to MERGE. (You don't slam on your breaks at the first sign that says "merge"! Go to the END of the dashed divider line...REPEAT...go to the END of the dashed divider line and then put your blinker on to merge in. It's called "the zipper" and it's VERY effective)
4) LONG winters...and I LOVE winter but when it's still below 50 on Easter, I'm kinda over it.
5) People that call themselves "cake eaters" because they live in Edina or Eden Prairie (see the other thread on "Edina Cake Eaters")
6) People that complain about high state taxes. Please move to a "low tax" state and see how fast your quality of life dwindles.


Hmmm....I couldn't even come up with 10?!

[uptown_urbanist]

MSMCGirl, I think your list is the best yet in the thread; I agree completely! The driving culture here does seem to be really passive/aggressive; I say that not as a driver myself, but as a pedestrian who has to figure out what the crazy cars are going to do (and as a passenger/observer). And I think I've complained about this elsewhere on here, but the whole stopping at stop signs thing seems to be more difficult here than in other states; two cars come to an intersection (or a car and a pedestrian), and instead of the car with the right of way going they both sit there waving each other to go through, no one moves, then both get frustrated and both start to go at the same time. That seems to happen here more often than the other places we've lived. At the same time, cars here are often less likely to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk; I think some of that might be due to laws or level of enforcement, though.

[MSMCGirl]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

MSMCGirl, I think your list is the best yet in the thread; I agree completely! The driving culture here does seem to be really passive/aggressive; I say that not as a driver myself, but as a pedestrian who has to figure out what the crazy cars are going to do (and as a passenger/observer). And I think I've complained about this elsewhere on here, but the whole stopping at stop signs thing seems to be more difficult here than in other states; two cars come to an intersection (or a car and a pedestrian), and instead of the car with the right of way going they both sit there waving each other to go through, no one moves, then both get frustrated and both start to go at the same time. That seems to happen here more often than the other places we've lived. At the same time, cars here are often less likely to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk; I think some of that might be due to laws or level of enforcement, though.

uptown_urbanist - I agree with the waving at each other at intersections too. But since I'm from L.A....I let them wave at me and then I take off!! I just figured that was a Minnesota nicety. BUT I also agree people don't always give right of way to pedestrians...even when there are pedestrian cross-walks! Yikes. Oh...and I forgot about the busses here....they will run you off the road so GET OUT OF THE WAY!!