those winters. (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Currie: employment, place to live, vs.)

[sunnyc]

While considering moving to Minneapolis, I find myself with only one reservation - winter. Does it snow a lot there (like I have heard), and make life commuting on the freeways hectic/stressful? This concerns me as I may move there alone, and will know absolutely nobody to call if I get stuck several times on the way to/from work. Maybe my fears are unjustified, but I'm not from a place where it snows frequently.

[MnMomma]

We can get a lot of snow (nothing like upstate New York) or we can go a whole winter with very little snow. Other than having to clear your own walkways, sidewalk and driveway, snow is not a problem--it is cleared quickly on the main streets and then the smaller ones. I've never even come close to getting stuck--except in my own driveway.

I don't know about the outer suburbs.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

We salt the bajeezus out of our roads so as long as you're not driving in a snowstorm or directly after it is usually manageable. Expect your car to get real rusty real quick though...many people here drive crappy cars in the winter and save their nice cars for the warm months. Others, like me, drive crappy cars year around because nobody around here really cars that much about them anyway, plus I'm a poor student

[chilaili]

Getting an AAA membership might also be worth it. I really needed it one year and altho it was snowing and rush hour and they said it'd take 2 hours for a tow truck, it was nice to know they were coming.

[MplsTodd]

Like the others said, snow really isn't much of an issue here in the Twin Cities, I think the real issue is the cold and length of winter. Winter effectively starts in December and lasts through late March (sometimes early April). Most people enjoy the winter weather in December as it fits into the Currier & Ives sense of the holidays. In January and February (and even late December), we can have blasts of very cold weather (sub-zero degrees) that last for several days. But we also have lots of days when the weather is in the 20s--which although it sounds cold, isn't bad at all if you dress for it (scarves, mittens, heavy coats,e etc...) Plan to spend more time indoors (that's one reason why The Twin Cities have a significant literary community). Or take up cross-country skiing or skating.

Also, people in the Twin Cities have customized our community to adapt to the cold weather--that's why the first enclosed mall was built here (Southdale in the mid-1950s), as well as the first skyway system (both downtown Mpls and St. Paul).

One thing you will find however is that by March everyone is tired of winter and ready for spring. So I'd recommend you plan to take a trip to Florida or Mexico in March to help you over the tough last period of Winter. Other than that, I really like the four season climate and think the Twin Cities are a great place to live!

[golfgal]

The only time snow is an issue for driving to/from work is if it hits right at rush hour. MN is well equipped to handle snow removal so unless it is an extraordinarily large snowfall, the roads are cleared in a matter of hours. If there is so much snow that they can't get the roads cleared, your place of employment will probably be closed--which doesn't happen very often in the metro area.

Individual towns might have different plow schedules but for the most part, it will be cleared in a matter of hours as well. I can think of ONE time in recent years, last 15 years, where our roads took longer then a day to get plowed and that was after about 20" of HEAVY, WET snow.

Last winter was the first winter in 15 years that we had snow on the ground all winter. The few years before that we got less then 20" all winter and it melted not long after it fell.

[knke0402]

Minnesota doesnt have hardcore winters anymore... and it doesnt even get really cold until January, IMO.

[JenLee]

I've had AAA road service since I first started driving and in the last 10 years have used it more for flat tires than being stuck (3 tires -on 3 different vehicles vs. 0 times being stuck!). Last winter I spun out on 394 on glare ice and hit a snowbank and got hung up; the next 3 cars pulled over and 5 young men helped this "shook up" older woman by pushing my car out of the snowbank! I never got their names nor was able to thank them afterwards; they all jumped back in their vehicles and took off once I was out of the snow.

THAT is Minnesota Nice to me!

[Northern Drifter]

Im in San Diego, and while I was in Colorado and Minneapolis recently I noticed I didn't see any rust on cars. What happened to the rusty cars?? I was born in Minneapolis and remember those rust buckets fondly in the 80's-early 90's haha

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Since the economy stinks people are holding onto their old cars so I imagine you will start to see more rusty vehicles.