Moving to Minneapolis from another country (home, school districts, tornado)

[WoodburyWoody]

Originally Posted by Stasy_85

Thank you so much for your comments. You know this tornado thing just scares me too much�� It's all because we don't have tornados in our country and I saw them only in movies. Yes, we have earthquakes, but we already used to them, they happen often, but they are not so strong to ruin the house. Now I am comparing weather forecast of my city and minneapolis and it's almost the same.

If you are comfortable winters comparable to Minneapolis-St. Paul (and don't mind them or relish them), you are in better shape than most who move here.

We typically have wonderful Summer and Fall seasons, at least in the opinion on those not from here. It is usually Winter that drives people away. Spring rarely makes an appearance, but perhaps once every ten years or so.

The upsides to Winters here are 1) sunshine, 2) outdoor activities and 3) snow removal is very good by most cities and the state road management services.

Sun - In the Winter, we get a LOT of blue skies and sunshine.

Activities - And the general feeling by the locals is ... if you are going to live here, make Winter work for you. No real downhill skiing here, but there is an effort with what we have. But lots of cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, winter bicycling (the Twin Cities is serious about bicycling, all year long, and like the roads the bike trails are kept pretty clean), outdoor hockey, hiking, etc.

Snow removal - This is a decent-sized metro, about 2.5 million in all (with 'burbs, one contiguous metro) and the cities and state do a very good job of keeping roads clear in the winter and dealing with it quickly when storms hit.

But again, if you are used to a couple of months of serious Winter weather (and embrace it) and don't mind a lack of Spring (some years, it is best to just take a trip somewhere warm in March or April to help get to May in Minnesota), you will like the Twin Cities.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by Tipsy McStagger

Eh, I don't know about "not much for tornadoes". Whole swaths of north Minneapolis were wiped out just a few years back and the north suburbs seems to get hit with some frequency. There was an outbreak of a couple dozen in the area in 2009. It is still the northern part of Tornado Alley after all. It's not Oklahoma but it's not as though they are rare.

Thing is with tornadoes, they strike randomly so there is no way to avoid them by choosing where to live as any place is equally likely to be hit. Although they really seem to like the Hugo area for some reason. Statistically they aren't really a threat and virtually all dwellings have a basement of some kind in which to take cover.

The Northside tornado was a tragic anomaly. It is incredibly rare that tornadoes-- particularly high impact tornadoes-- touch down in the city of Minneapolis.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by Stasy_85

Hello everybody! I'm together with my 3 years child and husband thinking of moving to Minneapolis from another country. So I have some questions and it would be very nice if I could get answers on them:
1. Can you please tell how Minneapolitans treat to people from post soviet countries?
2. Will it be difficult to find job without American diploma? My position is demand planning supervisor and I also have experience in purchasing.
3. What about tornados?are they very strong and dangerous? Where in Minneapolis it is better to live in order not to face with very strong tornado?
4. Can I find in Minneapolis some adaptation school for my child where she can learn english?

3. Tornadoes are rare within the metro, and even rarer in the city itself. There is no place that is better for avoiding them within the city limits than any other place within the city limits. But your risk factor in the city is incredibly low.

4. Every school in the public school districts, and most private schools or charter schools, will have ESL (English Second Language) and ELL (English Language Learners) programming for students. Your child may be evaluated for necessity of being enrolled in this type of programming (if her English is already decent or good, she may not be enrolled). Some schools have better programming than others. In Minneapolis Public Schools, quality of ESL/ELL programming largely depends on staff and personnel at the school.

[srsmn]

I would also advise that if your child is only 3, and you are planning on moving soon, she will have 2 years to learn English before Kindergarten starts.

Kids her age are still rapidly building language skills, and can absorb a new language through hearing it spoken constantly (immersion) than adults can.

So, just by living in an English speaking country and possibly by enrolling her in daycare or some other predominantly English speaking environment, she should learn a lot.

[Tipsy McStagger]

Originally Posted by srsmn

The Northside tornado was a tragic anomaly. It is incredibly rare that tornadoes-- particularly high impact tornadoes-- touch down in the city of Minneapolis.

Why are we limited to Minneapolis city limits?

It's incredibly rare that they touch down in any spot on the ground where you paint an X and even rarer that they are large enough to cause destruction. That's even true in places like central Oklahoma, where there are cities that have never been hit, which doesn't really mean much when there are F4s going off all around you every spring. The threat in towns that haven't been hit isn't any different than in those that have and certainly isn't existential, even in MSP.

Twisters occur every year somewhere in the vicinity of the twin cities, and actually hit things built by humans in the metro area in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011, and a few times before that. It's notable that every one of those storms except 2009 resulted in at least one fatality and there were hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed collectively, which is why people in the twin cities head for the basement when the sirens go off. There isn't any place statistically likely to be hit frequently, predictably and directly by even something as large as a hurricane, let alone a tornado, so by definition all these events are "rare". Over a thousand tornadoes every year and most of them just tear up fields.

Tornadoes are certainly rare in Oregon and Vermont. Cascadia subduction quakes are rare. Tornadoes in Minnesota...not so much.

I suppose to me this is really a semantic argument. You are unlikely to ever see a tornado in much of tornado alley, let alone take a direct hit from one causing damage or casualties but even in Minneapolis, it's in your best interest to know what to do when the sirens go off, even if authorities get arguably trigger happy with them. That's much different than the threat from say a fault line going off every few hundred years. Tornadoes in tornado prone areas are relatively common. Whether they frequently land on your head is entirely another issue altogether.

From the same link as the earlier map.


Big storms only:

[n_2]

Minnesotans are generally friendly towards foreigners in my experience.

The University of Minnesota has a number of Russian professors. The city of Plymouth has a large Russian community including a Russian grocery store (with Pirogi, for example) and a bunch of shops that have signs in both Russian and English. There are some Ukrainians and Byelorussians in Plymouth also, but I think they are outnumbered by the Russians.

[Natasha73]

I am from the Ukraine and live in Saint Paul for 9 years.... It's nice here ... You will like it .

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by n_2

Minnesotans are generally friendly towards foreigners in my experience.

The University of Minnesota has a number of Russian professors. The city of Plymouth has a large Russian community including a Russian grocery store (with Pirogi, for example) and a bunch of shops that have signs in both Russian and English. There are some Ukrainians and Byelorussians in Plymouth also, but I think they are outnumbered by the Russians.

I did not know that!

If memory serves, there is a Ukrainian grocery/deli/bakery in Osseo, which would be near Plymouth. Any familiarity?

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by Tipsy McStagger

Why are we limited to Minneapolis city limits?

No reason to limit, necessarily. Only that the OP asked specifically about Minneapolis.

But you are right: anywhere within the metro/state/country that the OP moved, tornadoes would be a negligible threat.

It is certainly not unrealistic to think that somebody in a foreign country (where they don't have tornadoes at all) would be unfamiliar with the rarity of them touching down and/or causing damage.

[Stasy_85]

Originally Posted by Natasha73

I am from the Ukraine and live in Saint Paul for 9 years.... It's nice here ... You will like it .

I'm from Kazakhstan. And I liked this city and state so much! Maybe you can tell about your experience. It was hard to find job? Did you face with tornado by yourself? I mean did you see it? I think if you tell me how often they happen it will be more clear.also can you please tell about winters. Are they the same as in Ukraine?