from ny to north dakota (Fargo, Grand Forks: live in, relocate to, best)

[newyorkborn&raised]

Originally Posted by jojo61397

I don't have an opinion about NY, as I have never been there, and based on your post, I would rather go to hell than go some where, where the residents think it's OK to embarass or berate people based solely because they decided to live in ND.

Let me give you a piece of advice, take it or leave it... If you come on a board and state you are/were/ever have been in the military, you are representing about 10 million military members and their families. I don't appreciate how you represented yourself as a member of the armed forces, then proceeded to insult the residents of an entire state. And yes it is insulting and rude to tell someone not to move to anywhere in the United States, where you hear the phrase, "ya sure you betcha." Because as I said in an earlier post-- I have lived in the upper midwest for over 30 years, and I have not heard that phrase uttered once, other than a passing joke about a horrible movie. Furthermore, 99.9% of ND have welcomed us with open arms and hearts. I have nothing but nice things to say about the residents of this state. We are leaving in four short months, and I will thoroughly miss it (except for the -30 ambient temperature-- y'all can keep that stuff).

Former member of the Armed Forces. I served my country with honor, and don't throw that flag in my face. I work with wounded soldiers every day who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan. They are the true heroes, the ones that deploy put their lives on the line.

[Jammie]

Moderator cut: This will stop now. I will leave this open and if anyone has any input for the Original Poster, please give it. I will not tolerate trolling since it's against the TOS. And for my No. Dak neighbors~you're in good company because I remember a certain member trashing Oklahoma, another fine state, not too long ago. Please direct any responses to the original poster.

[jojo61397]

OP--

I relocated from Minneapolis/St. Paul area, which is about 3.5 million people. It takes adjusting, but I do like it in ND. There are pluses and minuses.

Pluses
+ Housing costs and taxes are much lower
+ Economy is much better than just about anywhere in US, there are good jobs available here
+ COL is very low
+ Little to no traffic
+ Pristine nature and well stocked lakes for camping and fishing
+ Moderate summer, can be down right hot in the western part of the state, other than that very good weather
+ Residents are very friendly and welcoming to implants

Minuses
- Harsh winters
- Very windy every season
- Medical services are hard to find unless you live in "metro" area
- Little in the way of shopping or dining, although many cities are growing
- Not very racially diverse, again that's changing

There is plenty to do:
- Art museums, Native American cultural exhibits, Louis And Clark Historical museums and forts, Bismarck/Minot/Fargo/Grand Forks all have community symphony orchestras
- Fishing, camping, snow mobiling, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, dirt biking, road biking (biking is a BIG sport out here, and there are some very good bike stores in most larger communities), all the bigger communities have running clubs and they host marathons, most communities have a fitness center that's relatively inexpensive (I pay $62 a month for family of four membership to the Y)
- State Fair is the end of July with major concerts, Fargo Dome in Fargo hosts really good concerts, Norsk Hostfest has some big names come through, at least in Minot every weekend there is an ag show, home improvement show, sports show, or some kind of show at the State Fair Center, Minor league hockey and Basketball, college sports are decent at NDSU and UND (especially hockey), each city has a hockey boosters (most kids start playing at around 4-5), I think Fargo has a minor league baseball team too, plus Minneapolis (depending on where you live) has the Wild, T-Wolves, Twins, St. Paul Saints, Vikings, and just about anything else you can think of.
- Minot has a five star rated eating establishment, Bismarck/Fargo/Grand Forks all have common eating establishments like Space Aliens, Applebees, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, there is also a winery in Minot and I believe one near Bismarck too, Minot has a comedy club as well, I don't go out to bars much-- most of those around here cater to airmen or college students, there are a TON of bed breakfasts mostly on historic farms
- All the cities are a stone's throw away from national parks-- Teddy Roosevelt NP is in the west, Ft. Stewart is between Minot and Bismarck, Lake Metigoshe hugs the Canadian border, Devil's Lake is inbetween Minot and Grand Forks, and there are countless others-- incl two wild bird refugees
- Hunting-- deer, pheasants (are ABUNDENT here), and I think there may even be Elk up in the northern part of the state-- not sure.
- From Minot driving: Winnepeg is 5-6 hours away, Twin Cities is 7 1/2 (if you speed), Denver is about 11 hours, Yellow Stone NP is about 8 1/2 hours, Omaha is about 12 hours, Souix Falls, SD is about 6 hours, Billings MT is about 8 hours, Regina (Canada) is around 4 hours. There's also a east west train that goes from Salem, OR to Chicago, IL-- to Minneapolis a regular class ticket is $90 with no discounts-- it's an overnight train-- if you are student or military it's around $75-80.
- All cities have an "International Airport"= meaning there are flights to Canada. Bismarck has flights to Denver and Minneapolis. Minot has flights to Minneapolis, Grand Forks has flights to Minneapolis and I think Denver, and Fargo the same. Honestly, it's cheaper to take the train down and fly from Minneapolis, although there are some discounted rates if you check NWA.com. A few weeks ago, I saw business class to Washington DC for $189 per person flying from Minot.

HTH

[BreaOC]

In addition, Bismarck and Fargo both have daily direct flights to Las Vegas, and Fargo now has flights to Salt Lake City, Phoenix/Mesa, and Chicago via Northwest, United, Allegiant, Delta and soon Frontier (although I don't see Frontier lasting too long).

[nibblernd]

This is my first time here, and being I am from ND I take offense. I am a restaurant owner in Minot ND and I was insulted by the bland food part of the post. Myself and my staff work very hard to make our meals presentable and certainly not bland. We peel potatoes daily....make our own gravy....cut our own meat and patty up our own burgers. We bake pies....caramel rolls from scratch.....buns etc. Bland it is not.

[BreaOC]

Originally Posted by nibblernd

This is my first time here, and being I am from ND I take offense. I am a restaurant owner in Minot ND and I was insulted by the bland food part of the post. Myself and my staff work very hard to make our meals presentable and certainly not bland. We peel potatoes daily....make our own gravy....cut our own meat and patty up our own burgers. We bake pies....caramel rolls from scratch.....buns etc. Bland it is not.

The food in ND is bland compared to the authentic foods found on the east and west coasts. A lot of the blandness comes from the German influence as well as all the chain restaurants Bismarck, Fargo, and GF are notorious for. Not that German food isn't good, I really do miss it, but compared to the authentic Latino, Italian, Indian, etc... food that many people are accustomed to on the coasts, it seems bland. Chain restaurants are known for "blanding" down their food as part of bringing costs down. Don't take it as a negative, it's just something many from other regions aren't accustomed to.

[jojo61397]

Nibbler-- Which restuarant if you don't mind me asking? I'm always looking for places to eat!

[jojo61397]

Originally Posted by BreaOC

The food in ND is bland compared to the authentic foods found on the east and west coasts. A lot of the blandness comes from the German influence as well as all the chain restaurants Bismarck, Fargo, and GF are notorious for. Not that German food isn't good, I really do miss it, but compared to the authentic Latino, Italian, Indian, etc... food that many people are accustomed to on the coasts, it seems bland. Chain restaurants are known for "blanding" down their food as part of bringing costs down. Don't take it as a negative, it's just something many from other regions aren't accustomed to.

And no offense either, but I know the owner of one of the Mexican Rest. in town, and he specifically said he had to tone it down, because people complained it's too hot. I like a little more spicy and authentic than Paradiso. I do wish for an authentic Mexican rest., I used to be stationed at Clovis, NM, and they have the BEST mom and pop Mexican places, $5.00 and you get a PLATE full of food. And of course there really isn't a great great Itailian place here (not talking Olive Garden).

[BreaOC]

Originally Posted by jojo61397

And no offense either, but I know the owner of one of the Mexican Rest. in town, and he specifically said he had to tone it down, because people complained it's too hot. I like a little more spicy and authentic than Paradiso. I do wish for an authentic Mexican rest., I used to be stationed at Clovis, NM, and they have the BEST mom and pop Mexican places, $5.00 and you get a PLATE full of food. And of course there really isn't a great great Itailian place here (not talking Olive Garden).

After growing up in Orange County, living in Bismarck and Minneapolis and now being back in OC, one of the best Mexican restaurants I have eaten at is Los Amigos in Bismarck next to Kirkwood Mall. Like jojo said the owner, from Guadalajara, (who was a great family friend of ours) had to tone down her recipes because it was just way too much for what the people there were accustomed to. Most of the authentic restaurants will make their food authentic if you ask. Bismarck has some decent independent Italian places The Walrus and Di Donnas are great! I went into Di Donnas a few times when it was around an hour to close and the owner and his wife would sit at the bar with me and my guests talking with us and it was so neat listening to the owner talk to the cook, his brother, in Italian. It was refreshing, after growing up in OC, to hear another language being spoken. The same for Los Amigos, the majority of servers and cooking staff are Latino and would speak to each other in Spanish. It felt like home and makes the environment so much more authentic. Paradiso is the FURTHEST thing from real Mexican food I have ever tried. My dad worked for a time there when we first moved to Bismarck (after being a machine shop manager in OC, there wasn't the job offerings there are now in the mid 90's) and would come home disgusted at how everything in the kitchen came from a can, bag or was frozen.

[FrederickW]

Originally Posted by newyorkborn&raised

Former member of the Armed Forces. I served my country with honor, and don't throw that flag in my face. I work with wounded soldiers every day who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan. They are the true heroes, the ones that deploy put their lives on the line.

If you are a patriot, why do you hate parts of your country? (Sorry if this comes across wrong, it is not my intention to offend anyone.)