english natives living in usa (Minneapolis, St. Paul: sales, cliquey, home)

[loobilu]

Hello everyone, me and my family,(my husband and 14yr old son) live in northeast england and are wanting to move to usa, the choices of where to live are overwhelming, my husband works for an american company although his head office is in houston, thats not necessarily our choice of place to live. although my hubby loves the look of sugarland.. i am not a driver yet although am learning... but dont fancy driving in usa. i want a nice neighbourhood with friendly families, and a neighbourhood that has shops close enough for me to walk to, also i need to feel safe as my husband is going to be away from home a month at a time so i will have to cope on my own with my son which i reckon will be quite hard, i make friends easily, but must admit after reading some of these forums that in some areas you just dont see anyone to talk to.mainly in these gated area communities, or am i getting the wrong impression.. i am very confused and it would be great if there was any other english people and families that have also moved from england to usa that could tell me their stories and how they fared with everything. any input would help a lot thanks very much!! p.s i have looked at minneapolis , andover area, and plymouth, which i liked the sound of. north carolina, charlotte area. and sugarland.. any advice much appreciated....

[chilaili]

As a Brit who moved here over 10 years ago, there are a few things I can tell you:

1. You probably will need to learn to drive over here. So many things in and around cities are located quite a distance apart. It's not like the UK where everything is in one small area, like the city centre. Most of the bigger supermarkets are on the outskirts as are the malls, car dealerships and other vendors and it'll be practically impossible to get some of these without a car.
2. Most US cities do have excellent public transportation and it's quite cheap but usually the routes feed in and out of the city centre and accessing places from the suburbs can be a real pain.
3. Living close to the shops can mean a couple of things: i) you live in the city centre which can be expensive or ii) you live near a stripmall with a lot of traffic all night long.
4. Will you be able to work here too or is your son so young that you need to stay home? If you are a stay-at-home mum it'd be a good idea to find neighbourhoods to live in that have lots of families. That way, when you're out walking with the sprog , other mothers will see you and hopefully get chatting.

I don't know anything about Sugar Land or Raleigh, but I spent 10 years in Minneapolis before relocating and these were my impressions:

• It can be hard to make friends in Mpls as people there tend to quite close-knit, very family oriented and (I hate to say it) clique-y. Not everyone is like that, but it can take a bit of effort finding those who are genuinely welcoming and you do need to be persistent. Once you do tho, you'll have fun!
• Winter in Mpls can be brutal. You could get temps of -20º with the windchill, 6ft of snow & ice on the ground and it lasts for 6-8 months. That's the worst case scenario and I have experienced it. OR you could get a Winter with a bit of snow, a few freezing cold days and the rest pretty much what you're used to in Newcastle . The summers are very hot and humid but you get tremendous thunderstorms (and the occasional tornado).
• LOTS to see and do in Minneapolis/St Paul. Fantastic place for theatre, museums, summer festivals, boating, fishing, outdoorsy stuff, as well as SHOPPING. The Mall of America is there (plus an IKEA) and there is no sales tax on clothes in Minnesota
• Minnesotans (or midwesterners) aren't quite as blunt or forthright as other parts of the country. Most people will tell you that's good manners but sometimes it's frustrating not always knowing just what someone's really thinking.
• One last and very important thing: you can't buy alcohol here in a supermarket and definitely not on a Sunday in MN!

[Slig]

If you live here, do not live in the suburbs unless you plan on driving to get pretty much everywhere.

[golfgal]

As someone that lives in the suburbs that is not always true. You could EASILY get around our town without having to drive to get anything and with the bus system available it can take you where you need if you can't walk there. Not all suburbs are walkable, but there are many that are.

[newcastle]

Hi, my family is from Scotland and have lived in the Pacific Northwest and now Duluth. I would say that the transition to living in Minnesota from Seattle was hard. As an earlier post commented, most Minnesotans are family centered or cliquey and it can be hard to get to know people here.

We have made a concentrated effort by joining the boards of organisations, small groups in church, and young professional clubs and after awhile our efforts have paid off and we are making some friends. You may have to put yourself out more for others to see, and once they get over the accent and comments like, "Where are you from?" and "I could listen to you all day." You'll make out fine.

You will really like Minneapolis/St. Paul for the reasons that others have already said. I hope things work out well for you!

[MplsTodd]

Chiliali is generally correct in their comments, with exception of the following:

Winter can be brutal, but there's no way it lasts 6-8 months! In 1991, we did have the infamous Halloween blizzard, so I suppose that winter probably lasted 5.5 months, but typically the snow arrives late Nov-early Dec and will last until late March/early April.

Also, relative to rest of the US, our summers are not very hot nor very humid. If you want extreme heat AND humidity, try Houston, Memphis, Atlanta, Cincinnati, or St Louis.


In the Twin Cities area, I'd recommend SW Minneapolis/Edina/St Louis Park for walkable neighborhoods that are interesting. I've met several people from Europe and Australia living in Linden Hills. There's also Highland Park/Mac-Groveland area of St. Paul.

But there's also lots of nice suburban areas too--it just depends what you're interested in.

[kuan]

All suburbs are walkable. The problem is that there's not much in the suburbs. You can get semi decent Indian buffets in the suburbs, and it's just as semi decent in the city, but if you want good Chinese food or African and you want to walk you need to be downtown. XC skiing, OTOH, is beyond compare in the Western suburbs.

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by MplsTodd

Chiliali is generally correct in their comments, with exception of the following:

Winter can be brutal, but there's no way it lasts 6-8 months! In 1991, we did have the infamous Halloween blizzard, so I suppose that winter probably lasted 5.5 months, but typically the snow arrives late Nov-early Dec and will last until late March/early April.

Two things: November-April is 6 months and it has snowed in October and MAY!

[Haver]

I would hardly classify October and May as Winter, even here! Here is what you can expect, climate-wise:

January - severe cold, heavy snow, high winds & days you won't want to get out of bed. Days of utter clearness and clarity but even colder. Every couple years there is also a thaw where temps get in the mid-30's. Your daily commute will be dark both coming and going.
February - same. Not as cold but still frigid, more snow. Still dark.
March - severe cold is behind you, but still a lot of snow coming down and with more moisture to work with there will be heavy dumps. You'll be able to walk around outside comfortably in normal winter clothing. It will also be lighter out.
April - mix of winter/spring with a lot of variability. Most of the time quite enjoyable, especially after enduring winter. You'll see news stories of people walking around the lakes in shorts while the temps are in the 40's (F).
May through June - the absolute best. You will wonder why everyone doesn't live up here.
July through August - warm & often muggy, sometimes HOT. But also very often just plain pleasant and wonderful.
September - extemely pleasant, often a favorite month and with lots of fall color.
October - variable like April, but almost always without snow. Reasonably pleasant but cool.
November - gray & depressing, usually the first 2 inches of snow falls then. A lot of distractions with Thanksgiving and football and the start of Holiday shopping. You really start feeling the dark closing in on you as well.
December - switches between being a pleasant winter and being a harsh winter.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Haver

I would hardly classify October and May as Winter, even here! Here is what you can expect, climate-wise:

January - severe cold, heavy snow, high winds & days you won't want to get out of bed. Days of utter clearness and clarity but even colder. Every couple years there is also a thaw where temps get in the mid-30's. Your daily commute will be dark both coming and going.
February - same. Not as cold but still frigid, more snow. Still dark.
March - severe cold is behind you, but still a lot of snow coming down and with more moisture to work with there will be heavy dumps. You'll be able to walk around outside comfortably in normal winter clothing. It will also be lighter out.
April - mix of winter/spring with a lot of variability. Most of the time quite enjoyable, especially after enduring winter. You'll see news stories of people walking around the lakes in shorts while the temps are in the 40's (F).
May through June - the absolute best. You will wonder why everyone doesn't live up here.
July through August - warm & often muggy, sometimes HOT. But also very often just plain pleasant and wonderful.
September - extemely pleasant, often a favorite month and with lots of fall color.
October - variable like April, but almost always without snow. Reasonably pleasant but cool.
November - gray & depressing, usually the first 2 inches of snow falls then. A lot of distractions with Thanksgiving and football and the start of Holiday shopping. You really start feeling the dark closing in on you as well.
December - switches between being a pleasant winter and being a harsh winter.

A+ on the overview. Fall of 2008 has been awesome.

An idea of what people mean with a little exageration.

description - temp in F
Really hot over 83 - too hot to go outside
Hot - 73-83 perfect for swimming and boating
Warm 60 - 72 perfect for picnics and golf
Cool 50 to 60 sweatshirt, hoodie, or lumberjack flannel is good
Chilly 39-49 light jackets needed
Cold 16-39 medium jacket needed and most people wear hats as well
really cold -9 to +15 heavy jacket, hat to cover ears, and gloves needed
frigid -10 and below - too cold to go outside

Some days can be cold, chilly, cool, warm and hot so many people here have stashes of jackets, sweatshirts, gloves and hats, and raingear in the trunk of the car. Not uncommon to have temps change 25 degrees or more from morning low to afternoon high. Especially true in spring and fall.