Moving to MN- How???

[snowpuppy]

Scott~ We're not in the postion to buy when we get there right away, but having a contact would be great if we decide to try that area again. Thanks!

Everyone else~ Thanks so much for the ideas and info re: schools, areas, and jobs. Some of the areas that were mentioned- are these in flatter areas of the state? We really loved the hills and rolling country along the north shore!

[newcastle]

The Arrowhead region of Minnesota (St. Louis, Lake, Cook and parts of Aitkin and Carlton Counties) is the area that has rolling hills, pine forests and is generally not as flat as Northwestern Minnesota.

[Life Long]

SnowPuppy, you may find this area a wonderful place, but the truth is; there are no jobs here to speak of. Our young people must move from the area to find meaningful work. The reasonable thing to do would be to look for work were there is work to be had. No one here has any magic tricks to teach you. If we did, we would teach them to our children.

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by Life Long

There are no jobs here to speak of. Our young people must move from the area to find meaningful work. The reasonable thing to do would be to look for work were there is work to be had. No one here has any magic tricks to teach you. If we did, we would teach them to our children.

Of course, this depends heavily on the industry/occupation. Even though it goes against the saying that Duluth is Minnesota's "black hole of technology", I have had no problem getting multiple technology positions, with the most recent being a full time programmer.

In regards to teaching positions, I would have to assume that you might have difficulty in Duluth finding a job because of the drastic budget cuts and consolidation plans that are happening. Even then though, their are multiple private/charter schools not a part of the public school district in the area that have growing enrollment. Harbor City International High School and Edison on the charter side for example, are very successful and both in Duluth.

You just gotta get out there, meet some people and make some connections. Get a lower paying job (if you can afford to), start meeting people and getting to know the area. For me (being in the technology sector), I realized that I shouldn't only be looking at the few tech companies we have, but rather, broaden my search. Every company, big or small needs IT positions of some sort.

You just have to get creative.

[Lereca]

Originally Posted by snowpuppy

My husband and I tried to relocate to MN last summer. We were looking all along the North Shore from Duluth to Two Harbors, and around Hibbing, and even around Ely. We used ManPower, the local newspapers and the MN job service website to try and locate jobs. We had resume's and applications out everywhere, but got no interest. While looking for work, we tried to find housing. This didn't work out either. We couldn't find housing because we have a 10 lb dachshund (who is housebroken, vaccinated, clean and well-behaved) and nobody wanted to rent to us with a pet, and because we had no jobs. We think we didn't get any job offers because we didn't have a local address. We floated around staying in motels when there were vacancies, and even slept in our truck in a pull-off by Lake Superior when there were no vacancies. Eventually, we ran out of money and had to return down south (a family member was dying) where we both are miserable.

We both really loved MN- the beauty of the outdoors, the lakes, the friendly people, the Lutefisk Toss we went to (LOL ) and would like to try again to get established back in MN. We used to live in AK, but distance and expense is an issue for us in going back there. We love snow and cold weather...and we lived in a bush AK village with minus 50 temps. There were no roads in or out- we had to fly in all our stuff. We had no vehicle there and got around by either walking, riding the four-wheeler, or the snowmachine. There were only 2 "grocery" stores. Living remote and in the snow/cold doesn't bother us at all- it's what we're looking for!

If we try this again, what do we need to do different? We have thought about getting an rv camper to pull behind our truck so we don't have the housing/pet issues/motel expense to deal with. I am a special education teacher, so will apply for my MN certification before we come. I will even take a teaching assistant job while waiting for certification if I need to. We don't want to live in a big city....the AK village we lived in had maybe 300 people. The northwoods is absolutely our kind of environment, but it appears to be very "touristy" and very popular with the locals as a vacation get-away. Can/do people buy remote property and a cabin in the northwoods for the purpose of living there year-round? Are property/cabins affordable for "ordinary" folks? We aren't rich. We know getting jobs in that area will be a stretch too. Any advice??? Thanks so much!

Cabins upnorth are not affordable to the average person and most are not 4 season. You should be able to find affordable rental housing,even with a dog in the Duluth area just fine and there is plenty of work. You were probably turned down because of not having a permanent address.