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Yes! i left and moved back to this hell hole known as Georgia in 91.And honestly i cant wait till i can return to where my heart is...beautiful North dakota.
I heard an Englishman who biked around the entire world interviewed on NPR a few years back, he made the statement that folk in ND were the best he ran across . Hell of an endorsement I thought !
A couple of years ago I met two guys here in Bellingham, WA, who had ridden their bicycles all the way across the country from Pennsylvania. They said their favorite place they went to on the whole trip was Fargo, ND. They said there was so much going on there!
I thought that was great to hear. I have never spent much time in Fargo but if I move from here I have thought about moving there instead of back to Minneapolis. I especially like it that the Amtrak Empire Builder train stops in Fargo.
A couple of years ago I met two guys here in Bellingham, WA, who had ridden their bicycles all the way across the country from Pennsylvania. They said their favorite place they went to on the whole trip was Fargo, ND. They said there was so much going on there!
I thought that was great to hear. I have never spent much time in Fargo but if I move from here I have thought about moving there instead of back to Minneapolis. I especially like it that the Amtrak Empire Builder train stops in Fargo.
I guess it really depends on where people are from that determines their perspective. My husband and I, for instance, went to Fargo for a weekend and decided to come back home as we had pretty much done everything we could think of in Fargo for 2 days and cut the trip short by a day. Not saying we were bored or thought it was a terrible place (Unlike Minot, which is a terrible place ) There just wasn't a lot going on there for us. Of course, we didn't check out the nightlife, per se. We went to the Nickelback concert and it was awesome. We went to the mall, a couple restaurants, stayed at a nice hotel, checked out a couple museums and then we found it lacking. I really just do not see, in my opinion, ND to be a happening up to date place. I figure they are about a year behind the bigger cities in just about everything lol but a lot of people like the slow paced, not a lot going on type of feel. My brother mentioned it seemed like a nice place when he came to visit but said the slow pace of the town would drive him nuts. Plus the fact if you wanted to go somewhere like a metropolitan area...you'd have a long drive ahead of you. Of course, many people already know this, but I will not regret leaving ND if I ever get to leave and I probably will never it back because we have no family or native ND friends to visit. It will not be our list of places to return before our lives are over. And that is ok with me
I lived in Fargo for 2 years and I dont regret moving either.
Fargo was a nice place and it was very clean but the people were extremely unfriendly and arrogant. I have never been around so many snooty, pretentious people in my life.
I am not trying to be rude but North Dakotans they need to take a cultural and friendliness lesson from Minnesotans. Minnesotans are far friendlier and forwards-thinking then North Dakota maybe that is why Minnesota is growing so much faster and is so much more affluent then North Dakota because one is progressive and the other hasnt modified its way of life.
I can see why people arent moving from North Dakota in significant numbers after the personality, arrogance and unfriendliness up there.
The weather was nothing compared to the people waiting for people in Fargo to warm up to someone is a lost cause they are so insular its incredible. I had more conversations more people in 15 minutes the Twin Cities then 2 years in Fargo.
Not only that but when ever it was 70 degrees and sunny almost the whole population would be indoors not enjoying the weather.
Also when I ever I went out and it seemed like so very few people around. People there also seemed to be in a big phony rush all the time up there.
Also, Fargo has a big case of cultural absolutism where they want a situation where everyone has an near-indentical personality and those who dont are considered deviants.
Wow, you certainly met different people in Fargo than I.
I've always found the people in Fargo and Grand Forks, to be warm and friendly.
Wow, you certainly met different people in Fargo than I.
I've always found the people in Fargo and Grand Forks, to be warm and friendly.
I have to disagree. I've lived in both Fargo (10+ years) and Grand Forks (1 year) and I have to say the majority of the people are not very nice. Too many white villages. I could feel and saw racism was still happening. Although, nothing has ever happened to me personally but I could see it in the eyes from the looks of many people. Sad, but true.
I guess it really depends on where people are from that determines their perspective. My husband and I, for instance, went to Fargo for a weekend and decided to come back home as we had pretty much done everything we could think of in Fargo for 2 days and cut the trip short by a day. Not saying we were bored or thought it was a terrible place (Unlike Minot, which is a terrible place ) There just wasn't a lot going on there for us. Of course, we didn't check out the nightlife, per se. We went to the Nickelback concert and it was awesome. We went to the mall, a couple restaurants, stayed at a nice hotel, checked out a couple museums and then we found it lacking. I really just do not see, in my opinion, ND to be a happening up to date place. I figure they are about a year behind the bigger cities in just about everything lol but a lot of people like the slow paced, not a lot going on type of feel. My brother mentioned it seemed like a nice place when he came to visit but said the slow pace of the town would drive him nuts. Plus the fact if you wanted to go somewhere like a metropolitan area...you'd have a long drive ahead of you. Of course, many people already know this, but I will not regret leaving ND if I ever get to leave and I probably will never it back because we have no family or native ND friends to visit. It will not be our list of places to return before our lives are over. And that is ok with me
Very true. I love Fargo for that it only takes me 30 minutes to circle the whole entire city whenever I am visiting. I used to live there and had to go back there once or twice a year for visiting (not anymore, thank you very much). I start out by go north on 25th st then Main ave., then loop to get onto 10th st to go north. There I go and make a stop at NDSU to refresh my memories, then I would drive all the way to north side of Fargo. Nothing much out this direction because the north side is getting old. All the hypes are happening more in the south side. That's when I turn around and go south on University. There I cruise all the way down pass 32nd ave. south then all of a sudden I was out in the country. Not much to see in the country side except for a flat field of dirt, then I usually make a right turn at somewhere to go west. (I could make a left turn to go east but then I would end up in south Moorhead, then it would be more nothingness and it would be very boring too). Continue west then I would hit, I believe, 45th st then I would make a turn heading north again until I hit Main Ave. then 25th st, then back to relative home.
I sometimes like just to cruise west on 13th ave. south starting from 25th st. all the way to west fargo, then loop around that fair ground stretch then back on main. Man, this area of main in west fargo is a little shaddy.
I always do that when I am visiting just to see if anything new has poped up in and around Fargo, usually not very many new things in sight but if I saw something new I got really excited, for Fargo that is. If I don't drive around and look for new exciting things like that...there is nothing else to do. There is the mall to go but you would done walking around within 15 minutes, then what. More driving around. Seriously.
After reading literally hundreds of comments on the North Dakota forum that basically say the same thing about North Dakota... I have come to the conclusion that those who are happiest in North Dakota seem to share a trait: They are not easily bored. Likewise, I have notice that those who tend to be least happy in North Dakota also share a trait: they require constant entertainment of some sort. Inner stimulus as opposed to outer stimulus.
Nothing really wrong with either personality type. But mixing an area that doesn't offer a lot of glitz with a person that requires it is a recipe for misery. Perhaps something to keep in mind if you are that type of person and are thinking of moving to North Dakota? I can't count the number of posts I've read by such folks who are in North Dakota for whatever reason, and are caught in this situation. I think North Dakota may work best, in general, for the "self-contained" and/or "keeps to himself/herself" type of person. Just my observation...
I would imagine it depends a lot on growing up and what you did in your formative years.
I have more fun snowmobiling then the next guy does boating.
I enjoy ice fishing more then I do fishing during the summer because I can get out to the good spots without a boat.
Instead of hiking the trails in the mountains, in winter I snowshoe the same trails.
I put 3000 miles on my 4 wheeler last year and most of that was pushing snow with the blade or chained up on the trails in the mountains.
The last time I was in a restaurant was 2 years ago when I took my daughter to lunch for her birthday.
I haven't been to a movie in over 10 years.
Jus this morning I spent 3 hours outside working around the place and taking care of the horses. It was -8 when I went out.
I think it's a mindset as to how a person entertains themselves. Some people look at the thermometer of the outside temp and they wrap up and go back to bed and then complain about being bored because there is nothing to do. I look at a thermometer and decide how many layers I'm going to put on to be comfortable outside.
Oh, I enjoy all the things in the summer too. Boating, fishing, hiking, camping, etc. But I don't let a simple thing like winter deter me from going outside. If you lock yourself in the house for 7 months out of the year, yes, you're going to get bored. But don't take it out on society and blame everybody else.
More fundamentally, it's the difference between being entertained, and making your own entertainment. Used to be everyone learned how to make their own (which might be as simple as watching clouds go by), because you didn't really have a lot of choice in the matter -- public entertainment was a rarity (sufficiently so that some people made a living as storytellers and bards). But the last couple generations have had radio, movies, TV, and now the internet to keep them occupied, so a great many have never learned to entertain themselves. I think the direction schooling has gone, where "omighod rote learning is boring so we can't DO that" has exacerbated the problem, by failing to teach people how to cope with boredom at need.
Note that I don't include reading as "being entertained", because it requires that you do the heavy lifting -- the book just supplies the words, you have to build the picture yourself. I would also note that as a general rule, I've found those who need to BE entertained are not readers.
So yeah, I agree entirely with ChrisC and ElkHunter.
After reading literally hundreds of comments on the North Dakota forum that basically say the same thing about North Dakota... I have come to the conclusion that those who are happiest in North Dakota seem to share a trait: They are not easily bored. Likewise, I have notice that those who tend to be least happy in North Dakota also share a trait: they require constant entertainment of some sort. Inner stimulus as opposed to outer stimulus.
Nothing really wrong with either personality type. But mixing an area that doesn't offer a lot of glitz with a person that requires it is a recipe for misery. Perhaps something to keep in mind if you are that type of person and are thinking of moving to North Dakota? I can't count the number of posts I've read by such folks who are in North Dakota for whatever reason, and are caught in this situation. I think North Dakota may work best, in general, for the "self-contained" and/or "keeps to himself/herself" type of person. Just my observation...
Interesting perspective... though I'd like to put a slightly different twist on it... at least in my case... I dislike ND due to lack of opportunity.
Face it, just about anything you can do in ND, you can do in other places. You can stare at clouds, you can watch the grass grow, you can even keep an eye on drying paint... but other states do offer opportunities ND does not... whether they be museums, professional sports, beaches, mountains, theme parks, or race tracks.
You made people who don't like ND sound like a bunch of ADHD suffering meth heads who require 24/7 stimulus to prevent boredom. I think that's quite a bit of an overstatement.
Honestly, I could probably live with the entertainment in ND (I'm not much of a culture guy anyhow)... what I couldn't live with was the lack of professional opportunity. Part of my identity is my professional success, I couldn't have that in ND. I didn't want "me" to be all about my children as is most North Dakotans.
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) There just wasn't a lot going on there for us. Of course, we didn't check out the nightlife, per se. We went to the Nickelback concert and it was awesome. We went to the mall, a couple restaurants, stayed at a nice hotel, checked out a couple museums and then we found it lacking. I really just do not see, in my opinion, ND to be a happening up to date place. I figure they are about a year behind the bigger cities in just about everything lol but a lot of people like the slow paced, not a lot going on type of feel. My brother mentioned it seemed like a nice place when he came to visit but said the slow pace of the town would drive him nuts. Plus the fact if you wanted to go somewhere like a metropolitan area...you'd have a long drive ahead of you. Of course, many people already know this, but I will not regret leaving ND if I ever get to leave and I probably will never it back because we have no family or native ND friends to visit. It will not be our list of places to return before our lives are over. And that is ok with me 
