Living in Minnesota (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester: for sale, rental, crime)

[TimtheGuy]

If you live to hunt and fish, it's a great place to live. If you don't, there's not much to do.

PLEASE!!!!!!!!

I think Yellow may be lacking in interests of any kind.

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by TimtheGuy

PLEASE!!!!!!!!

I think Yellow may be lacking in interests of any kind.

Ok, I lied, there's always yard work to do.

[TimtheGuy]

What is it that "other" places have to do that we are lacking in?

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by TimtheGuy

What is it that "other" places have to do that we are lacking in?

Hastings where you live is pretty. I live in a pretty area too. Mn just has too many extremes for me. Mostly on the cold side. Some people here tend to gloss over the stuff that's not too much fun. These folks thinking of moving here who have never lived in cold like this need to know what it's really like. Most have no idea. Winter was my favorite season until I moved here. I feel sorry for that poor Joe thinking it's no big deal to move from Corpus Christi to Duluth!

It's hard to make valid comparisons if you have never lived in other places. I have lived in MN since 95. It was a job relocation thing. I have lived in France, Indiana, Massachusetts, Texas, and Utah. I also have a guest house in Las Vegas that I use whenever I can. I travel a lot and I have stayed for months at a time in NC, Chicago, and Las Vegas. There are bad and good points to be made about all these places. If there is a 'perfect' place to live I haven't found it yet.

So what can't I do here?

I like running and biking. MN has lovely trails. But it's so cold I can't use them for half the year and during the summer I have to bathe in DEET to leave the house. During the few weeks that it's actually hot, the humidity can make it hard to run or bike any long distances. Even my dog has polar fleece and boots.

I like my free time. Yardwork here never ends. I can spend extra hours driving to work in a snowstorm in horrible icy conditions. I can be stuck at the airport waiting for flights. Weather here sucks up our free time. Delays and traffic are everywhere but it's worse here because of the weather. Even simple things like going to the store for milk can be a big deal. You don't have to carry a snowshovel and an emergency kit in your car in most areas of the country. Yes, we adapt! But how many times do you leave early for work or get home late? How much time do you spend shoveling that horrible icy mess the plow leaves at the end of your driveway?

A perfect day for me might be skiing in the morning and then biking with my dog or vegging out by the pool in the afternoon. No bugs, no humidity, snow in the mountains and hot in the valley. Yard work consists of a couple gallons of roundup every year and that's about it. Not perfect but it's an improvement. For me!

As I've said before, I might feel different if I lived to fish and hunt!

[Lindenin]

Yellowsnow -

Sorry your perception of MN has been so negative. I'm afraid that I cannot relate to many of your points, and I too have lived in several states (CA, TX, NY, NC, IL, CO). I love it here much more than I did any of those places for a whole myriad of reasons (and I'm not even a hunter! However, I've been known to fish occasionally, but not avidly). To each his own.

I hope you are able to enjoy your next location more than you have in Minnesota.

[TimtheGuy]

It sounds like the AZ, CA, NV desert areas would be more what you are looking for which is obviously a big change from MN. One thing you definitely will not find there is the HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE MASSES that we enjoy here.

It also sounds like you need to live somewhere that offers lawn care and snow removal through an association or at least hire it out.

Between the advancements in outerwear and global warming, I barely notice the cold here anymore and I wish it would snow more. I love to drive in the snow (seriously).

With the traffic and weather one DEFINITELY wants to have a manageable commute. I would move before I would fight a nasty commute everyday.

[Jaxx99]

Fact 1: It snows more in Minnesota than in New Mexico, Arizona, or Southern California
Fact 1a: Commute times are worse in LA, Phoenix, and Albequerque than they are in Minneapolis

Fact 2: Minnesotans tend to hunt and fish at roughly twice the rate of the nationwide population, according to the National Fish and Wildlife Service
Fact 2a: Still, only about 32% of Minnesotans fish and 13% of Minnesotans hunt, leaving a whole host of other reasons for the rest of us to live here

Yellowsnow - you have a terribly sour taste in your mouth about our state. Sorry to hear it. Life is too short. I hope you find your "happy place". Good luck!

[Diamond Dee]

The Rochester,Owatonna and Faribault areas of MN. are great places to live work and play.lakes are abundant,trees and hiking trails.the people are friendly but not overly.winters can be harsh but you plan for it .fall and spring times are the best in this state.Winona and Albert Lea were favorite trips for me as well as Austin .try it.

[Navelinski]

I've lived in lots of places across the interior of the country and I have to say I think the best things about Minnesota are how clean the environment and air is.

When I lived in Dallas, there were ozone alert days just about every day in the summer - on the radio they would announce "Don't Go Outside and Breathe" today! And towards the end of the summer, when the man-made lakes started to dry up, the water would taste like the bottom of an old barrell in someone's basement! In the summer, the water in those man-made lakes would be over 100 degrees and they would post signs "Parasite Warning - Don't Eat The Fish"! Indiana and Illinois were filthy dirty and very very flat. Iowa is OK, but kinda boring and the people in Alabama were kinda scarry (or did I just happen to meet the people who starred in the movie Deliverance!)

I'm here in Minnesota to stay!

The Twin Cities has so much going on - theatre, music, sports, outdoor recreation of all kinds, and in my opinion, some of the most intelligent people in the country.

Yellowsnow, you just need a loft or something without a yard (lol)!

[midwest456]

I've lived in lots of places across the interior of the country and I have to say I think the best things about Minnesota are how clean the environment and air is.

When I lived in Dallas, there were ozone alert days just about every day in the summer - on the radio they would announce "Don't Go Outside and Breathe" today! And towards the end of the summer, when the man-made lakes started to dry up, the water would taste like the bottom of an old barrell in someone's basement! In the summer, the water in those man-made lakes would be over 100 degrees and they would post signs "Parasite Warning - Don't Eat The Fish"! >

good post.
I've noticed that this stands out about Minnesota too.
It is scary to read about how low the reservoirs get in some cities down there like Austin while the population continues to grow. I think some of those will end up being unsustainable in a few more decades. And of course there are many issues besides the water supply/quality.

I hope the Twin Cities can hold on to some of those good things as it keeps growing.