Living in Minnesota

[LaceyEx]

Definitely no road problems per se as they are plowed very quickly and very rarely are there 'snow days' for the schools-maybe an occassional early dismissal. This is our 3rd winter here and the first year we bought a freezer, loaded it and prepared to hunker down. Needless to say the freezer's unplugged as we can get to the store easily.

Wages-I can't comment on as we're both retired.

Your homeowner's ins may be way less as we don't have hurricanes!

[LuAnn245]

thank you for your response, being southern I was wondering how we might fit in with you all, I was reading the thread about St. Cloud and wondered how it is... in the south prejudices arent as bad as everyone thinks in terms of it being the whites who are racist anymore, and we also have dealt with so many Katrina victims that we can honestly say we are pretty open minded to ethnic issues, also the illegal Mexicans are upon us here very big, not that it bothers me, because sometimes they are actually friendlier than some of the blacks in the south, who seem very militant and hauty to me anymore...Im not prejudiced, its just these are the facts, my daughter worked in the Shands Teaching Hospital here in town for awhile and was totally discriminated and mistreated at her job because she was WHITE, the hospital is predominantly employed by blacks...

these things have bothered me awhile, so being in a basically white population again will almost be nice... that may sound racist but oh well, things have come to that in many parts of the south, and Im tired of it... so I hope being southern wont bother anyone, we do have thick southern accents and get laughed at even by people from other parts when they visit here...

not sure what to expect, maybe this move isnt a good idea, but today its hot and sultry already, I have to leave for work in an hour, Im going to shut off the a/c when I go...and the marshland smell will be thick as can be by tonight....I hope we can be welcome up north, Im SOOO READY TO GO!!!!

be anxious to hear if you all think we should still try....thanks again so much, you all seem like the kind of ppl Id like to have as friends/neighbors, I grew up in Fla, but was born in Alabama, things just arent the same anymore in the deep south... thx...

[Snallygaster]

It sounds like a great state in which to to raise a family...
How is the quality of public education?

Is it true Minnesota is a 'blue state', as opposed to being a 'red state'?

[Minnehahapolitan]

Public education here is wonderful. There are a few seedy schools, but they are rather apparent to anyone who does their homework.
Parts of Minnesota are very blue (inner metropolitan area, Rice County, Iron Range, Indian Reservations) others are conservative (outer meteroplitan area, Rochester, Western Minn.) Overall it is about 55/45 blue. Traditionally Minnesota is a more liberal state, and it generally maintains that tradition of progressiveness. It isn't Massachusetts, but Minnesota is pretty liberal.

[Pandora27]

Things I love about Minnesota:

My family is here, but that isn't a good reason to stay around. Education is decent, RCTC was great (in Rochester), Jobs are nice, but rural communities get paid less.

Things I hate about Minnesota:

Once you are established in friendships, IT IS hard to make new ones, even if you are outgoing (like me). If you are mixed or of different culture or your familly is, people don't look you in the eye and make you feel isolated. It gets boring if you live in a small community. People cut you off in traffic, and MANY people think they're better than everyone else. People also like to drink a lot here... (which could be a plus if you're into that sort of thing).

[Navelinski]

You really hit the nail on the head. "Minnesota Nice" is only on the surface. I moved here about 12 years ago and have been trying to make new friends ever since. I am outgoing too but since I am older, most people my age already have their "cliques" well established. Newcomers are not readily accepted. I think there might also be some "passive agression" in Minnesota as well - that explains the traffic, road rage, drinking, and difficulity accepting newcomers and people who are a little different.

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by Pandora27

People cut you off in traffic, and MANY people think they're better than everyone else. People also like to drink a lot here... (which could be a plus if you're into that sort of thing).

I don't really think any of those things are specific to any state. Every where you live has the worst drivers and every where you live has people who drink a lot. These are definitely not Minnesota specific issues. If anything, the freeways seem less aggressive than other out state areas I've driven or ridden along in (California and Florida were particularly bad). Also, I can't think of any state where many people don't think they're better than others. These complaints are too generic to hold any water.

It's all specific, isolated experiences that people have that make them assume that everyone and everywhere in the state is like that. I've had many friends who were/are foreign exchange students from Russia and Germany and they've had no problems what so ever finding people to hang out with, and I'm not even outgoing until I know somebody.

Broad generalizations don't help anybody make decisions about a move.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Navelinski

You really hit the nail on the head. "Minnesota Nice" is only on the surface. I moved here about 12 years ago and have been trying to make new friends ever since. I am outgoing too but since I am older, most people my age already have their "cliques" well established. Newcomers are not readily accepted. I think there might also be some "passive agression" in Minnesota as well - that explains the traffic, road rage, drinking, and difficulity accepting newcomers and people who are a little different.

When I lived in the Twin Cities, I mainly hung around with folks I had known for 15-20 years (most of them since college), but we also brought in new folks from time to time (usually interesting neighbors or cow orkers or people we'd met at some scifi, gaming, or tech convention).

It isn't about acceptance at all -- the established groups in my experience simply tend to spend more time gathering at someone's home to play cards or whatever and less time being out and about, which makes interacting with newcomers a lot less frequent occurrence. And as more and more folks in the group get married, our get-togethers become less and less frequent. It used to be almost weekly, now it's more like once every few months.

The same group of people in college was in almost constant flux as new people moved into the group and others moved out, but that's almost inevitable in a college environment where there are hundreds of new faces around every corner.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by MidniteBreeze

I personally have a love-hate relationship with Minnesota. I grew up in Duluth and by the time I was 25 I couldn't wait to get out. I traveled around most of North America and lived in two different states (my longest stint was 5 years in Colorado Springs.) I really liked it out there, but it just wasn't "home"...and here I am, a mere 80 miles from where I grew up.

What I love about (Northern) Minnesota: the lakes, the woods, the wildlife, low crime, no traffic jams, people who are friendly but mind their own business.

What I hate: I actually don't mind snow and even cold...but it's just TOO LONG! By late February I'm ready to lose my mind.

It's not very culturally diverse up here. It's not overtly racist or anything like that, but it just gets a little boring at times. Hard to find good ethnic restaurants and that sort of thing (though thankfully there are a few!)

The economy isn't very good. I'm fortunate enough to have a decent job, but I could be making a lot more if I lived somewhere else.

What makes Minnesota, well, Minnesota: Friday night fish frys, "you betcha!" and the knowledge that 9 out of every 10 cars you see has a set of jumper cables in the trunk!

I'll might go to a fish fry if I ever make it to northern MN.