Best state in Upper Midwest? (job market, safe neighborhoods, best schools)
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I am quite certainly getting an opportunity to do my master’s (and hopefully PhD) at the University of Georgia next year. Therefore, I have started (again) to research my possibility to stay in the US after I graduate. My fiancé actually prefers dry, hot, sunny weather (as we had in Perth Australia last year) but she do not want to move to the west coast. It is too far away from our families in Sweden she says. So, I have been examining the east coast. And when it comes to hot weather, it has to be dry. Her skin cannot stand hot and humid, as we have here in north Italy.
I do know that where we could end up actually is really dependent on where we are able to find employment; she as a physical therapist and me within agricultural/environmental science. But, pretending that it was 100 % up to us, that is what I am researching. So, we are down to earth, outdoorsy, catholic people in our mid – 20s. Planning on starting a family in the next few years. The south feels too hot and humid and too southern (evangelical, American conservative, pro-gun and unsafe). The north east too expensive and too crowded.
What about the “upper Midwest”? Places like Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota?
Are they naturally beautiful and diverse, have good economy and job prospects, safe, four season weather, decent infrastructure and good social services – as we think? What is the best state/city in the upper Midwest?
If she needs a dry climate, I wouldn't look in the Midwest - the West is where you'll find that. If conservative attitudes are out, then Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico are your best options - moreso Colorado and Nevada if a good economy is important, moreso New Mexico if a low COL is. Colorado has the best schools out of all those.
What about the “upper Midwest”? Places like Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota?
Are they naturally beautiful and diverse, have good economy and job prospects, safe, four season weather, decent infrastructure and good social services – as we think? What is the best state/city in the upper Midwest?
There is no answer to this question that isn't "Minneapolis".
Upper Midwest isn't hot per se (summertime highs usually in the low-to-mid-80s), but it's humid. Went to Chicago in early July for work a couple years ago. Even though it was only in the 80s, it was uncomfortably humid. I was drenched in sweat after walking a couple miles.
The winters are also bitterly cold there. It's not uncommon for parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin to stay below freezing for days or weeks on end.
As Timid said, if you truly want dry look at the high plains and the intermountain west (Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada).
Eastern Washington or Eastern Oregon may work as well.
Most of the Midwest is either warm or hot in the summer and definitely humid, so you won't be able to escape the humidity and stay in the Midwest.
If you're dead set on the Upper Midwest, I think the all-around best state is Wisconsin, personally. Minneapolis, MN or Madison, WI could work (I personally prefer Madison to Mpls). If you want larger, more cosmopolitan, more diverse city with plenty of safe neighborhoods and great public transit, I'd go Chicago (really on the border between the Upper/Lower Midwest).
If humidity is to be avoid, the Mountain West is a much better fit. The only real city that isn’t hot or very warm in summer is Duluth (City Population of 86,000). Duluth has a couple of days in the 90s even, but has a mostly cool summer. All other cities are either warm or hot or are more so towns. The surrounding is very woodsy and rural, along with similar climates in far northern WI, UP of Michican, and northern LP of Michigan. The job market in Duluth sucks (hence why I had to move) and will not be a place to pursue a corporate ladder career.
I honestly wouldn’t consider the Upper Midwest if your climate consideration is seriously important. Mountain West is your beat bet. Denver is a good choice here, but caution on cost of living as Denver remains the most expensive inland metro in the US.
I’m partial to Wisconsin.
Most any city next to a Great Lake will have more moderate temps. Cooler in summer, warmer in winter, comparatively speaking. It gets humid, but nothing remotely as bad as points further south.
People on here sometimes try to make Milwaukee out to be like Alabama in the summertime, but I’ve lived in both. They might as well be on different planets.
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Minnesota. We're the "core" of the Upper Midwest. Michigan and Wisconsin are great too, but they do have Milwaukee and Detroit. A bit more rough around the edges. We get less snow than them but more bitter cold. The trade off is sunnier winters. We're in the transition between the deciduous mixed woods to the east, the northwoods to the north and the open prairie to the south and west. The Twin Cities are urban enough without feeling congested.
Minnesota. We're the "core" of the Upper Midwest. Michigan and Wisconsin are great too, but they do have Milwaukee and Detroit. A bit more rough around the edges. We get less snow than them but more bitter cold. The trade off is sunnier winters. We're in the transition between the deciduous mixed woods to the east, the northwoods to the north and the open prairie to the south and west. The Twin Cities are urban enough without feeling congested.
I’d be a bit more inclined to lump Milwaukee with Minneapolis than with Detroit.
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