How Do You Like Living In Minnesota? (St. Cloud, Wells: transfer, neighborhood)

[CityKidWithAgDegree]

7 years old? he will survive the uprooting - still a sapling. They really get dug in when become teenagers! Eden Prairie is a nice suburb. It's where a lot of the jobs are that aren't in the downtowns. Did you know Minneapolis has the third most Fortune 500 company headquarters in the US (behind only New York and San Francisco). Taken from a per capita perspective, Minneapolis is number one in Fortune 500 headquarters. Minneapolis is also number 2 for live theatre productions behind only New York.

What you will miss.... we are rather isolated. You can't just go a few hours drive and pop over to another megapolis like say Philly or Boston. 7 hours north is Winnepeg, MB, 5 hours south is Des Moines, IA, to the west....... well we just wont go there, I dont think of Fargo, ND (50,000) as a megopolis. Milwaukee is 5.5 hours east, Chicago is 7.

Another thing you may miss.... the shore. MN has the "Norwegian Riviera" also known as the North Shore of Lake Superior and it is beautiful! Looks like rocky crags of Maine. but it is also 3 hours north. But man we do have the lakes

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by CityKidWithAgDegree

I dont think of Fargo, ND (50,000) as a megopolis.

You are mistaken....I dont know where you got your data.....but the pop of Fargo is estimated by the census to be 91,000 in 2004 and by the city estimated to be 98,000 just a hair above the 50,000. So indeed Fargo has grown a lot over the past 20 years and is one of the job meccas of the upper midwest in terms of job growth and low cost of living.

Dan

[Plymn]

Suburbs a problem? I live in Plymouth and it takes me 15-20 minutes to get to downtown by bus in the morning about the same when I go downtown at night or weekends to enjoy the city.

[michael1969]

Kidsw/a degree-nice e-mail....still on the whole fence thing. Isolation is not a bod thing necessarily, change is sometimes also a good thing. I agree that kids bounce back rather quickly, however it is still a tough decision.

[CityKidWithAgDegree]

Originally Posted by DaninEGF

You are mistaken....I dont know where you got your data.....but the pop of Fargo is estimated by the census to be 91,000 in 2004 and by the city estimated to be 98,000 just a hair above the 50,000. So indeed Fargo has grown a lot over the past 20 years and is one of the job meccas of the upper midwest in terms of job growth and low cost of living.

Dan

Off the top of my head - it was late at night, sorry - yeah last time through Fargo was '87

[CityKidWithAgDegree]

Originally Posted by Plymn

Suburbs a problem? I live in Plymouth and it takes me 15-20 minutes to get to downtown by bus in the morning about the same when I go downtown at night or weekends to enjoy the city.

Nah, I am in Inver Grove Heights, was just explaining Eden Prairie. But a SAINT PAUL suburb not a MINNAPOLIS one! <----- JOKE

If you are not from the twin cities, they are very competitive, so with many Twin Cities natives they identify with one city or the other and it seems a little foreign to newcomers as it is one metropolitan area. But this "sibling rivalry" has created a very dynamic metro area!

[Li'lBeaver]

Originally Posted by warmweather!

I recommend living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro. I do agree with wildfan that the outer-suburbs DO suck, but I love most inner and middle suburbs west of Minneapolis. I think the best towns to live in in the state are Maple Grove, Plymouth, St. Louis Park, Edina, and Eden Prairie. They are all rock! I do really like Minneapolis and St. Paul themselves, but the are very unsafe, the schools suck, and all the houses are old and most of them are decaying. If you aren't looking to live in a big metro, and you are just looking at medium sized towns away from the city, Winona is extremely nice, but I prefer the big cities. I love all of the lakes here, and if you come here, you MUST go boating! As far as weather goes, I absolutely LOVE the summer!! It is usually in the 80's and I love it when heat waves come (I like the lower 90's). Summer goes from late May or early June to September. After that, we get one month of cold, colorful fall. The next part is the part I absolutley HATE!!! We get 6 months of "winter". But it can hardly even be considered winter. It very oftenly goes into the negatives Fahrenheit, (I've seen it get down to -25 during the day!), everybody is constantly getting sick, it is so lifeless (all the birds are gone, all the animals are hibernating, there are no leaves, and everybody should be inside but they shovel their driveways and snowmobile). It's a frozen wasteland! I'm still a teenager, so I go outside sometimes and when I come back inside, I can barely move my hands and I can't move my fingers more than about 1.5 inches, so what I do is run them under almost boiling water, but I can't feel the heat because my hands are SO numb-but I know the water is hot because I see the steam. Anyway, everything gradually goes back to my hands after awhile. If you come here and have a lot of money, I recommend getting a winter house in Florida or Arizona, which some people actually do. Yes, there are misquitoes, but they actually haven't been that bad this summer. If you do come here I recommend the metro-visit the suburbs I mentioned earlier. I have never lived in any midwestern state except for Minnesota, but I think Chicago seems like it would be a cool place to live. Missouri probably would be nice if it had a big city that wasn’t crime infested. I know for a fact (in my opinion) that it would suck to live in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas-they are a bunch of hick states in the middle of nowhere. I really like living in the twin cities metro, but it would be WAY better if it was on a bay, it was bigger, AND IT DIDN’T HAVE WINTER!!!!

I am glad you enjoy the Twin Cities Metro Area for me I would prefer a much smaller town with friendly people who know how to socialize. I am sure the T.C. Area has lots of social life if you like the bar / club scenes, theatre, sports scene. I just feel uncomfortable with the larger towns like this. The problem is that in the smaller towns so many natives are very clannish and virtually will not let any outsider into their activities unless it just to get some money for membership dues or what ever.

I came from Iowa and in many towns if you patronize a resturuant or other place a couple of times the first thing you know they accept you as one of their own, if you fail to show up for a short period of time you may find the regulars calling to see if you are O.K. and if you need help or anything. This is quite different from the "Minnesota Nice" We have experienced up here in Northern MN. The Iowa version is what I would call "Nice Friendly People".

I find most Minnesotans don't like it if you stand up for your rights and speak to them about it. Nobody up here wants to risk getting somebody upset with them.

Yes We will be on our way out of state just as soon as we can find somebody that wants a nice comfortable home on a small lake with many larger lakes within 10 to 25 miles and a very good small town of 8-10 thousand pop. less than twenty miles away and a little town just 8 miles down the road.

[Lillietta]

[ This is quite different from the "Minnesota Nice" We have experienced up here in Northern MN. The Iowa version is what I would call "Nice Friendly People".

I find most Minnesotans don't like it if you stand up for your rights and speak to them about it. Nobody up here wants to risk getting somebody upset with them.

This is the one down side of living in this state. And it's no small thing. It's such a shame since the place is so beautiful.

[Li'lBeaver]

Originally Posted by jenne03

Well I have been on this board in the Chicago section...but that fell through and it looks like Minneapolis is now a consideration..I went on here to see what people thought of it...Because everyone i have talked too says they love it there.

I am surprised at a lot of the negativity...But one thing i have learned<lived in NJ, pittsburgh, and maryland> is that no one likes where they live and there is no perfect place. So anyone like me that reads these posts..don't get discouraged. Most winters in the states that get them..are dead and miserable. Even here in Maryland ...winter sucks. Also, there are so many who say the suburbs suck..Well if you don't like them..yea they will suck to you.

I live in MD, and it gets HOT here..OUr heat index was 127! No one came outside. It is just funny because people always complain how horrible a state that gets cold..Pittsburghers LOVED complaining about it..but like i said no one state is perfect. I have friends who moved from pitt to florida and hate the summers..because it is so hot, humid and buggy...that no one comes outside!!

It scares me when i might move some place and see so many complaints...I understand that winter is winter there in Minn...so beyond that..It isn't that horrible is it?

My grandparents used to live there up in Woman lake and i remember vactioning there and swimming, tubing and boating..It was great..

My questions are....I assume having a boat there makes it that much better...Now do you guys find something to do in the winter...like snowmobiling?

Are Minnesotans that reserved where it would be hard to make friends? That is what i am lacking here in Md.<which i hate btw, but that is my opinion> People all live on top of one another, yet no one talks to each other..The winters here are also dead because no one comes outside. In pitt, we made the long winters fun by having get togethers and hanging out w ith people in are neighborhood..that is what i am looking for...Can I not get that in MInn?

Sorry so long...I just get nervous when people are so negative about where they live...when it is possible i am going to end up there..

Making friends can be a real problem for an outsider I wouldn't call them reserved, but more clannish. The Twin Cities may be different than the outstate areas as they do tend to draw more people from different areas of the country due to the job market there is probably the best in the state.
Sorry to sound negative but I feel I must speak honestly. My wife and I have always been ones to pitch in and help people but many Minnesotans do not seem to return the friendship.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Li'lBeaver

I find most Minnesotans don't like it if you stand up for your rights and speak to them about it. Nobody up here wants to risk getting somebody upset with them.

If you have a cogent argument, that's one thing, but many people seem to think that standing up and bellowing like an ass about something going wrong is somehow "standing up for their rights", and I think that sort of thing is uncalled for.

Making waves is fine as long as you have an actual reason, but it shouldn't be the first course of action (IMO). You can certainly believe and behave differently, but don't expect understanding from me (and probably others) if you do.

Loud rarely equates to reasonable in my experience.

Yes, I'm a native Minnesotan. Don't like it? Too bad. My attitude seems to work VERY well for me, and your situation really isn't my problem...