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I am not surprised....I have heard this many times from visitors to my former hometown Fargo keeps impressing....
While it may not be remarkable for The Forum newspaper to receive a letter to the editor, it’s remarkable for me to send one as this will be my first such correspondence.
The occasion is that I am so inspired by what I discovered and discerned about your metropolitan region during my visit this week that I feel compelled to share my observations with your fortunate residents and Forum followers.
As the senior vice president of the Berkshire Hathaway Home Services real estate global network, former CEO of Realtor.com and founder of TownAdvisor.com, I have devoted much of my adult life professionally marketing and visiting towns and cities within all 50 states and each province of Canada.
Never before were my expectations more exceeded than upon experiencing two days of greater Fargo.
I defy anyone to point to a more impressive downtown in any other city or town of comparable size than your aptly named renaissance district. With its character rich high ceilings and physically deep restaurants and boutiques along the pedestrian friendly sidewalks, it offers such a magnificent merger of both your cities past, present and progressive future.
I've been to Fargo three times and enjoyed it each time. I remember visiting it for the first time and feeling very impressed. It was much, much nicer than I expected. Since then, I have a better idea of what to expect, and I totally enjoy it.
I would guess that most outsiders in this country have never been to Fargo. But they have a negative impression of it anyway. Because, sad to say, Fargo suffers from one big flaw:
It is located in North Dakota.
Now wait, don't get the pitchforks out yet. I happen to enjoy this state a lot. I think there's a lot of beauty to be found there, and the people that I have encountered there have been wonderful. I, personally, think very highly of North Dakota. But to the people who have never been there, the ones who condescendingly look down on it, they "know" only three things about it.
1. It's flat. Well yes, the eastern third of the state is very flat. But so is Chicago, and most people don't hold that against the Windy City.
2. It's boring. For people who require constant stimulation, like social media influencers and the mindless sheep they influence, then yes, Fargo specifically, and North Dakota as a whole, is boring. But for people who are content with a friendly, peaceful city with a good amount of places to eat and things to do, Fargo is a fine place.
I think people expect it to be a kind of sad, depressed place.
It's economically sound, well kept, mostly clean, etc. It has the university. It's a nice place, and that surprises people. It isn't a place that I'd go for as a tourist but that's most places.
Fargo is quite good for its size nationally (so is Sioux Falls). Keep in mind that the metro area is still just a bit above 200,000 though, so a lot of the competition is pretty blah.
Not really big enough to call it a diamond in the rough. Maybe if it had like 500,000 in the metro area rather than 200k.
I have relatives in Dilworth who say Fargo is overrated, but I've never been and would still like to come see it for myself. To me, based on pictures and first glances Fargo kind of reminds me of a much colder and smaller version of Dayton, Ohio.
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Fargo keeps impressing....
