Two Harbors (Duluth, Ely, Wilder: appointed, for sale, homes)

[jaa54554]

What can anyone tell me about Two Harbors?
What is the personality of that area?
Is it a good place to live? Retire? Expensive?
Close enough to Duluth to enjoy what it has to offer?
Safe?
Any information that will help us. My wife went there, and loved the area. But she was not there long enough to know any more than that.

Thank you for any information you can share with me.

[Delaneyland]

Originally Posted by jaa54554

What can anyone tell me about Two Harbors?
What is the personality of that area?
Is it a good place to live? Retire? Expensive?
Close enough to Duluth to enjoy what it has to offer?
Safe?
Any information that will help us. My wife went there, and loved the area. But she was not there long enough to know any more than that.

Thank you for any information you can share with me.

Personally I like Two Harbors, again, like all the towns up the North Shore, tourism and logging are about it. All the traffic going to or from the Shore and Thunder Bay get squeezed through town in the summer which (depending on your view of tourists) can get rather frustrating at times. It's only about 25 minutes from Duluth, theres a four lane divided highway between Duluth and Two Harbors. I've not lived there but have been there hundreds of times. Safe is relative to what you're used to I guess...I get my head slapped in this forum on occasion for my negative comments regarding the societal changes of Northern MN, but I grew up here and its tough to see such a nice place going to the dogs. I can tell you anywhere you go, you're gonna find idiots. There were just a half a dozen Ely residents arrested for getting the bright idea to terrorize campers in the BWCA, there were just two Two Harbors men arrested for the burglary of an occupied Duluth home. As far as expensive, well again, thats relative. Anyplace within ten miles of the shore IMHO is priced at about double what its worth, theres a ton of places for sale with little movement. As far as retiring there, only you could answer that. If you enjoy hiking, fishing, hunting, wheeling, snowmobiling, you'd think you'd have died and gone to heaven. If you want culture, you'd have nicks on your wrists after the first winter. Generally its a little cooler anyplace up the shore due to the lake, some years they get a little more snow depending on the prevailing winds and when (or if) the lake freezes over.

[wildtymez]

Not too big of a town. But WOW! it is very beautiful area. I would love to have a 2nd home there someday. The north shore up along Lake Superor is some of the most scenic areas in the whole country.

[yellowsnow]

Beautiful place. No employment to speak of and fierce winters. But a gorgeous area.

[MidniteBreeze]

I'm originally from Duluth and have been to "Couple-A-Harbors" many times, so hopefully I can help a little.

Its personality can probably be described as that of a quiant "seaside" town complete with agate shops, smoked fish stands, etc. As others have mentioned, it does get quite crowded with North Shore tourists in the summer.

It is close enough to Duluth that some people commute there for work (about 1/2 hour if you take the expressway, depending where you're going in Duluth, of course.) There's also the scenic 2-lane road along the lakeshore where they hold Grandma's marathon every June.

The north shore scenery is the best in the state, IMHO. Many people compare the scenery along Hwy 61 to the coast of Maine (in fact, the movie "The Good Son" which was set in Maine was actually filmed mostly in Minnesota.) There are numerous state parks dotting the shoreline up to the Canadian border, two of the more popular ones being Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse. The Superior Hiking Trail is world class and you're also in relatively close proximity to the Gunflint Trail and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Winters are long and cold and summers are short and cool (even cooler than the rest of Northern MN due to lake effect cooling.) Fall is beautiful, but again, short. Spring is usually wet and sloppy.

Waterfront homes are not cheap, but if you're OK with a modest home in town, there are still some reasonable deals to be found. Compared to most of the country, yes, Two Harbors is generally a safe, quiet town. You'll find most of your basic services there (i.e., grocery store, several fast food restaurants, a couple of "nice" restaurants) but you would probably need to go to Duluth for larger purchases.

As mentioned above, the economy is mostly tourism centered, so if you're looking for a job with livable wage, you might be disappointed. There are more opportunities in Duluth, but the economy there isn't the greatest either and many young people have to leave due to lack of decent paying jobs in the area.

As far as retirement, generally speaking the cost of living is reasonable (especially if you don't live on the water....higher taxes!) If you can deal with the cold (or decide to snowbird in the winter, like many of our retirees do), I can certainly think of worse places to live.

Good luck!

[snshyne005]

Several times every year we go through two harbors on our way to our cabin which is on the Stony River. This is the best part of the 4 and a half hour drive. Every time we go up there we take the scenic road on the way home--cuz we're patient and enjoying the time away from home--and we take the expressway on the way home--cuz we're dirty from being up at the cabin for 4 days without a shower. It's quaint, but close enough to Duluth that I imagine you would end up driving there maybe once per week or at least every other...or maybe that's just me. The thing I love about Two Harbors is the crisp air the second you step outside. It's wonderful after being in the suburbs and having the traffic. This is definitely a place that I'm going to live sometime in my life.

[spacey69]

Hello I need some advice from anyone, I am movin up there inJune with my 13 year old daughter and we need to find a good safe place to live and I need a job. I am a Phlebotomist, I also have 9 years experience in a machine shop, and I also Bartend. Any one where I can seek information??

[aluminumpork]

Well, I live in Duluth and work in Two Harbors (my father does as well) and so, make the 25 - 30 minute commute everyday. Two Harbors is a nice little town, although it does depend heavily on tourism to survive. They just built a brand new, fancy high school, which is widely considered one of the biggest "boondoggles" in the area (beautiful high school, but no money left over for extra classes and "the water in the drinking fountains"). The DM&IR railroad has active facilities there also. There's not too much to do in town, so you'll have to be creative I spose.

It seems to be pretty safe, I wouldn't worry about walking at night in the neighborhoods there. People I work with who live in Two Harbors go to Duluth on a daily basis for anything the local Pamida and Super One can't provide.

As far as businesses go, depending on your specialty, you'll most likely have a hard time finding a job there, and so you'll end up commuting every day to Duluth.

[newcastle]

There are always Phlebotimist jobs advertised in Duluth, and you have come to the right part of the state for bartender jobs! Genesis equipment in Superior may have openings or Northstar Aerospace for machine shop stuff (I may be way off the mark) but they are worth investigating.

[jake56]

We Moved Up To Two Harbors 7 Years Ago , From Stpaul We Love It. But You Must Like Winter ,we Like To Snow Shoe ,snowmobile You Will Also Have To Like Wildlife Deer, Bear Birs, And Wolves , We Are Semi Retired And We Love It