Dallas Vs. Minneapolis (St. Paul, Bloomington, Eagan: middle-class, layoffs, neighborhood)

[SBelle]

I have lived in Texas my whole life (all 25 years). Try not to confuse DFW with the rest of Texas. I moved up to Dallas from Fort Hood/Killeen area about 10 years ago and smaller Texas towns are better to live in. The communities are closer and people seem less stressed. If you decide to stay in Texas I would suggest moving to Austin or one of it's suburbs.
It is true there are many Mexicans here and if that bothers anyone living in Texas, they should leave right now because the illegal immigration problem is only going to get worse. Many employers encourage their employees speak Spanish or learn. This occurs more in the school system and healthcare fields. If you don't have a college degree, you better learn Spanish because many jobs that don't require a degree or are entry-level jobs prefer people who can speak Spanish. That only makes sense considering the large population of Mexican citizens. They are the majority, or shortly will be, and I think it is appropriate for those teaching their children and working in hospitals to be able to speak at least some Spanish.
I noticed that driving etiquette seems to be about the same between the two cities. I have been cut off in both areas, however I have never had anyone swear at me or physically threaten me or the people I was with like I have in Dallas. Also, with the many immigrants driving around here without insurance many hit-and-runs occur. The same may be the case in MN too, I don't know.
Personally, I am moving to Minnesota in another year. I have family up in the Twin Cities and every time I visit the people are courteous and respectful. I think the problems that exist in Minnesota (prostitution-massage parlors are everywhere, gentrification, etc.) exist in DFW too.
I also prefer the scenery up there. Most of the time in Texas (especially DFW) the scenery is burnt grass and dirty lakes. Everything is so polluted and you cannot enjoy the outdoors! Granted there are some places that are beautiful, but not the majority. Minnesota is sooooo beautiful and has so many beautiful parks and lakes. I really can't think of anything that I dislike about the Twin Cities. The one thing that is annoying is some of the residents are a little arrogant about their state, but that may just be them displaying their pride for MN and there certainly isn't anything wrong with being proud of where you live. If the winters get too cold, just buy some warm clothes and keep the heater up or fire going. Regardless of the cold snow covering everything is so beautiful especially around the holidays. It is nice seeing seasons, something we lack down here. Hope some of this helped.

[dbf32771]

Hello,

I live in the Twin Cities. It is a great place to live. It seems to me that you are leaning towards the Twin Cities. We have great schools, great jobs -many are unionized (some people like that, some don't). The pay is higher, but the income taxes are higher. We have no taxes on food and clothes though.

I heard Texas has low state income taxes. Plus, for me at texas climate is more suitable. I much rather have hotter summers than brutal winters. I have lived in the Twin Cities since 2002 -I moved from Florida for family reasons. People have told me that the winters are not as brutal as they used to be.

Minneapolis is a multicultural city. We have lots of imigrants from Somalia, Liberia, Ghana, and many other Africian nations. We also have a large Hmong and Mexician population. However, lots of the Mexicians are illegal aliens. Minneapolis is a sanctuary city for illegal aliens.

I hope my response was informative

[sm_skarlett]

Minnesota! you can only take so much clothes off to cool off in the heat! Yes, it does get cold in minnesota in the winter. but its tolerable. Just get a warm coat. and i dont think anything beats going for a romp in the snow on a nice winter day, then coming inside, lighting the fireplace, and sippin on a cup of hot chocolate! haha, its mid-july, and i'm already missing winter!!! plus, we have lots of shopping, wether its downtown, uptown, the MOA, or a suburban mall(burnsville, southdale, etc). and if you like water and water activities, we have thousands of lakes, and some nice hiking down by the rivers(minnesota, and mississippi). hope it helps!

[Loon75]

Yellow Snow Person,
No complaining about the cold is allowed unless it's actually cold!! It's going to be very hot this week. You need to start with that. Maybe you could talk about how humid and dry and sunny and cloudy it is when you are boat cruising on one of the 10,000 lakes or when you are walking along one of the millions of miles of trails in the million acres of diverse forests?
Just be happy...Minnesota is really not a bad place to live. We are all very lucky to be here. If you don't agree, you are welcome to move because it is a free country...I think.
Love, Loon75

[Loon75]

Yellow Snow Person,
I know you posted in May, by the way...it was quite nice in may. Actually, hotter than normal. May is one of the best months of the year. Perfect weather, great thunderstorms and mild sunny days. The flowers are fabulous!!! The trees are green and full. I can't believe you don't like May, oh you grumpy Yellow Snow Person.
Love, Loon75

[nosredna5]

Originally Posted by 2blessed2stress

they did just uncover those 8 brothels right here in Mpls!!!!!!!! That blew me away!

I just returned to home city Minneapolis after living the last 12 years in Dallas (most of my adult life). It's NOT an armpit - it's just very different. Granted, it's parks and pedestrian-friendly amenities are lame and there is more crime and poverty overall. However, there are nice parts of Dallas, incredible diversity, culture and - unlike Minnesota - there is actually a - albeit small - non-white middle class (along with lots of poor non-whites, mind you). Unfortunately Minneapolis and St. Paul have a very, VERY poor non-white population that many whites here don't even see.

I admit to moving back to Mpls because I like the environment, culture and bike paths/parks here. However, Dallas has strengths and it's not fair to call the whole place bad, trucker person.

[lukeache]

Minneapolis is way more civilized and interesting than Dallas. Minneapolis feels much more like a real city, where Dallas has this plastic, cookie cutter feel to it. Minneapolis is pedestrian-bike friendly, try walking or riding a bicycle in Dallas. The humidity in Dallas is a turn off, but the cold here sucks too, I still like the four seasons better than muggy summers. One thing I dislike about Dallas is the mentality of the people, it is a place full of 30 K millionaires, very materialistic and plastic(you actually see waiters driving BMW's in Dallas LOL Anyways, Minneapolis because of the Scandinavian influences, is way more civilized, down to Earth and developed in just about any sense. Not to say that there aren't any good places in Texas, but Houston and Austin are the best cities in Texas in my opinion. Houston feels much more like a real city than Dallas, because it is much more cosmopolitan and diverse than Dallas.Austin is more like Minneapolis, very progressive, open and diverse, but it is much smaller than Houston or Dallas. Consider Houston or Austin and forget Dallas!

[shutupnthink]

twin cities is a great place because its infested with nice parks and biking trails all over. just watch out though, because they put their low income house projects in nice looking areas. so you'll be thinking your in a safe area that looks really nice, and theres a ton of undercover projects all over. look at battle creek park (the name fits these days.) and lake phalen. both used to be nice areas.

the bad thing is all the "big city" feel and parks that you get in mpls/st paul are paid for by you in taxes! taxes here are a pain n a smash!

n the cold will have you complaining about 7 months out of the year. after you've been here two years.

the city is kept clean though. for the most part.


twin cities is very multi-cultural
there is alot of racism that is not really talked about. If you're not white you might not like the twin cities. most the suburbs are white, so you would be judged all the time for no reason. its annoying. and if you are white and can't afford the suburbs, you will most likely be in a neighborhood where whites are a minority, and its the same thing there too-the other way around though. just never bring up race in a conversation in the twin cities.

[Kid Cann]

Originally Posted by shutupnthink

twin cities is a great place because its infested with nice parks and biking trails all over. just watch out though, because they put their low income house projects in nice looking areas. so you'll be thinking your in a safe area that looks really nice, and theres a ton of undercover projects all over. look at battle creek park (the name fits these days.) and lake phalen. both used to be nice areas.

the bad thing is all the "big city" feel and parks that you get in mpls/st paul are paid for by you in taxes! taxes here are a pain n a smash!

n the cold will have you complaining about 7 months out of the year. after you've been here two years.

the city is kept clean though. for the most part.


twin cities is very multi-cultural
there is alot of racism that is not really talked about. If you're not white you might not like the twin cities. most the suburbs are white, so you would be judged all the time for no reason. its annoying. and if you are white and can't afford the suburbs, you will most likely be in a neighborhood where whites are a minority, and its the same thing there too-the other way around though. just never bring up race in a conversation in the twin cities.

Fail. Speak for yourself. YOU may not like the weather 7 months out of the year, but for the most part Minnesotans embrace the winter months.

And seriously... 7 months? What 7 months are you here for? That's saying September, October, November, December, January, February, and March are horrible, when in reality it's only really bad from about December to March, don't be trollin' around and scaring posters

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree that winter is nowhere near seven months (and agree that the bad part is December to March), but I don't know about most Minnesotans embracing the winter months; I'm sure many do, but I think more people put up with them because of the other benefits of living here. I do think, though, that many Minnesotans probably will say that they enjoy having four seasons, even if they don't enjoy all of them.