How awesome is Minnesota? (Minneapolis, Duluth: public schools, college, taxes)

[Alt Dach]

I was born and raised in NY and was sent to the U of MN by the the Navy on a ROTC
scholarship in 1957.In my subsequent 36 years in the USN I resided in 17 states and
5 foreign countries.
Are the Twin Cities the best place I ever was? No, that would be a toss-up between
Stockholm and Berlin.
Are the best place in the US? Easily, and even though they are not what they were 30 yrs ago,by a large margain.

[AllCity RayofMinneapolis]

It's about to get 700 million times more awesome because the Foshay Tower is renovated into luxury hotel with the Sky Bar being the new hot place!

[Collideascope]

Originally Posted by Alt Dach

Are the best place in the US?

What's "best"?

It really depends on your preferences.

If you like lake fishing, if you have kids and value good schools, if you enjoy the change of seasons, Minnesota is excellent.

If you like mountaineering, really low taxes and warm weather year 'round, not so much.

So first, you have to figure out what you like. But someone trying to sell Minnesota as a place to live certainly has a lot of good points to make in their pitch.

[kuan]

Originally Posted by AllCity RayofMinneapolis

It's about to get 700 million times more awesome because the Foshay Tower is renovated into luxury hotel with the Sky Bar being the new hot place!

Methinks you have some connection to the Sky Bar. That's all you ever talk about.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by AllCity RayofMinneapolis

It's about to get 700 million times more awesome because the Foshay Tower is renovated into luxury hotel with the Sky Bar being the new hot place!

The Foshay tower is a relative pygmy these days compared to many of its neighboring buildings -- what kind of a view can one really get from the top of the Foshay?

[TheTransientTranny]

Originally Posted by moving123456

You just need to get in to some winter activities. Snowmobiling and snowboarding make winter very bearable for me.

How does the snow in Minnesota compare to the snow in New York? I know 'snow is snow', but what I mean is what are the storms (and snowfall amounts) like in those two states? I love LOTS of snow, and I love big snowstorms with blizzard conditions. It's exciting!

Let me tell you about something. When I was a little boy, say 7-10 years old I would call my mom during snowstorms in Kentucky (back here, unfortunately), while she was at work, and update her on how much we had gotten to that point. I'd be outside with a yardstick and calling her and saying "Mom! We have eight inches now!" and she'd say "That's a lot of snow, isn't it?".

I remember always getting a depressing feeling when storms were winding down and when the snow started to melt away.

I have never been snowmobiling or cross-country skiing or seen storms with amounts greater than 24" or so. I don't know what it's like to build a snow fort or ice skate on a pond or lake. Are the lake effect snows better in New York than in Minnesota? I'm not sure that I would just like puny snowstorms all season long, oh and I love a white Christmas! You rarely see one of those in Kentucky.

[aluminumpork]

Lately we've been getting smaller snowfall amounts that we did 10 years ago, but I have a feeling this winter, there will be a rebound. Even so, we've had large blizzards the past few years, usually at odd times. If you're really looking for a ton of snow, I'd recommend NE Minnesota or the UP of Michigan. I live in Duluth, so I'm biased, but we are known for our snowfalls (and lake effect snow). I had plenty of snowfort building when I was younger (I'm talking tunnel systems here).

[Joseph_2010]

awesome replies

I dunno what's forcing our U.S.A. states weather patterns (these days) over say the past decade to such neutralizing varieties, but i suppose one could always join the "global warming" approach bandwagon, i just hope that it's a temporary galactic trend and not some authentic transition tied to such a drastic change of course.

I remember when i was growing up in Kentucky myself, that we used to get on average, pretty decent amounts of blinding snow storms tandemed with the occasional ICE STORMS that were truly nothing short of spectacular! As October rounded the calender the mercury would drop off consistently untill bottoming out sometime late in December or January. I still recall snow hardened streets & sidewalks throughout the entire month of February some years, but it looks like that the trend in Winters in Ky anymore is heavily favoring more HEAT and is sustaining itself that way.

That was then. Many years later i moved upland into Northern Michigan and it was there where i picked up my second Baptism.
I had never before seen snow plows in any county garages with such TALL plows and after my first season was introduced to what COLD & SNOW was really like Especially those (back then) FURIOUS Lake Effect Snows. It broke me in with the really Brutal stuff real fast and i been an enemia to some down under the Lakes rim ever since whenever i mention Up North in Winter. (Most ppl who never experienced these high seas X-treme weather elements are abundantly terrified at the mention of it) LOL

However it was a great experience for myself and although i can be as SUN happy as the next one, i still can treasure low hanging grey clouded snow days/weeks and bone numbing cold in the Winters. Problem is you now *MUST live higher on the map to get in on this action, and even now, they don't seem to be on the same levels as past years (i agree).

Originally Posted by aluminumpork

Lately we've been getting smaller snowfall amounts that we did 10 years ago, but I have a feeling this winter, there will be a rebound. Even so, we've had large blizzards the past few years, usually at odd times. If you're really looking for a ton of snow, I'd recommend NE Minnesota or the UP of Michigan. I live in Duluth, so I'm biased, but we are known for our snowfalls (and lake effect snow). I had plenty of snowfort building when I was younger (I'm talking tunnel systems here).

Say, aluminumpork, as a local Duluth native maybe you would share with us Duluth's average deepest extremes when it comes to temperatures in Winter. I know for years most everyplace i ever been, the TV weather folks always point to International Falls, MN as the consistent year in and year out proverbial COLDEST SPOT in America many times, and maybe you can shed some light if this is true and if DULUTH get's in on some of that CHILL publicity courtesy it's somewhat close geographical proximity.

Thanks and Cool Topic BTW

[danishguymn]

Originally Posted by kuan

Minnesota is a great state because the people understand that their survival is based upon goodwill and sharing. For example, Sunday there was a ski race. Temperatures had dropped to -16F at start time with a windchill of -40F. The long race, 58k, was cut short to 35k for the safety of participants. The starting field had dwindled to about a thousand racers becuase of the cold. Guess what? There were close to a thousand volunteers out at the race. That's about one for every race participant. Mora has a population of 3500! Can you imagine getting a third of your town's population to stand out there at -40F windchill and handing out blueberry soup and gatorade? Not to mention the local volunteer ski patrol, setup and tear down crew, traffic management, and the cool Swedish costumed ladies handing out medals?

I am so glad you wrote about that! The goodwill attitude in Minnesota (especially in the more rural parts, rather than the hustle-bustle Cities) is something that I love so much. And I love that we have such a strong sense of culture in our state that you don't find so much elsewhere, such as this event we borrowed from Sweden (which is SO fitting, being that much of MN is of Scandinavian descent, although China & Japan partake in Vasaloppet as well).

[jessicaplayful]

It seems that many of the people who have a negative reaction to Minnesota have lived there all of their lives. I understand it, I used to be one of them until I moved. Believe me, you don't know what you've got until it is gone. I moved to Colorado and I love the topography and weather but I have never seen such an ego centric driven culture. Cost of living is substantially higher, few effective unions keep working conditions and wages lower, the drivers are aggressive and the multitude of cyclist annoying. There seems to be a lack of community spirit which Minnesotans have in abundance. Boring can be interpreted into a slower pace of life and lower population density, two things that are becoming harder to find. Minnesotans are reserved, they respect each others privacy which can be interpreted as unfriendly, but if you need a helping hand you will be shocked by the amount of good people willing to help. So for all you disgruntled Minnesotans, go out and see the country and many of you will come to see the great things about the state which cannot be found in many other areas. I cannot wait to move back!