College graduate moving to the Twin Cities? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: cul-de-sac, sales)

[northstar22]

Hi,

I'm posting this because I might be interested in relocating to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. I'm a 23 year old, single male college graduate from Michigan. I was recently hired for a job in rural North Dakota, but that fell through, and my parents said I'd probably be better off in a large, urban area. I'd rather stay in the Upper Midwest, and Chicago is TOO big, so I'm thinking about MSP. I'm looking to move within the next few months, as my lease where I live in Michigan expires at the end of March.

My main questions center around jobs, living locations, and entertainment activities. I work from home, so I can take my job anywhere, but I'm also looking to move into a permanent, "brick and mortar" position. My plan is to move first, and then look for a job (keep in mind I already have an online job to pay the bills). I majored in aviation, but it's not really important to me to stay in that industry. I have experience in sales and internet marketing. Any ideas?

Also, I'm looking to live in the suburbs/exurbs. I know most young people prefer the city and urban lifestyle. I don't. I also don't care where in town my job ends up being. I don't mind a long commute. So far, I've looked at Apple Valley and White Bear Lake, which seem nice. Any ideas for me?

What is there to do for fun in MSP? I know there are the usual bars downtown, but besides that, what is there? What makes the Twin Cities unique?

Thanks for the help.

[MplsTodd]

I think there's a lot to do in the Twin Cities. It really depends on your interests. In brief, the Twin Cities have:

1. a great arts community--lots of good museums, theater, wide variety of music clubs and good live music scene

2. great recreational opportunities: there are excellent bike trails both in the city (along the rivers, around the lakes, and in between via Midtown greenway) and in the suburbs (County trails). There's also lots of lakes to walk around or sail on.

3. Professional and Collegiate sports: The Twins are a great team and will have a new stadium, plus the Vikes, Wild, T-Wolves, Gophers etc...

4. Interesting neighborhoods--even if you live in the ex-urbs, hopefully you'd be interested in checking out the variety of city neighborhoods. Plus lots of suburban communities have interesting areas (like Hopkins, Excelsior, Wayzata, Anoka, Stillwater etc...)
5. Good quality of life: relatively low crime, good quality of water and air, diverse economy,

Those are some initial thoughts!

[gearedtowardssalad]

If you like music, you'll definitely be in the right place. There are countless concerts every night going on in either Minneapolis or Saint Paul. Check out the City Pages for a taste of Twin Cities culture. www.citypages.com (For instance, there 165 events listed for tonight on the site.)

[uptown_urbanist]

Between Apple Valley and White Bear Lake I'd be inclined to go for the Apple Valley location because its closer to the airport; I know you say you don't mind a long commute, but eventually it wears on most people. Presumably with an aviation degree you'd be able to have a competitive edge for some of the jobs, even if marketing or sales, in some of the aviation-related businesses around the airport. Be warned that the suburbs of the Twin Cities, at least the most traditionally "suburban" of them (which I think includes Apple Valley) are not known for being particularly young person-friendly, so be prepared to work a bit harder to meet people, especially if at first you're not working at a physical company. (not that people aren't friendly, it's just that your neighbors are more likely to be older and have lives revolving around their kids' schedules).

What kind of place are you looking for? Not city, I realize, but are you looking for more of a small town feel, or more classic suburban? It sounds like you have an appreciation for the unique, but places like Apple Valley don't offer much in the way of uniqueness (although Apple Valley is home to the MN Zoo, which is nice; they have concerts and things, too, in the summer, too). White Bear Lake has a more small town feel, at least in their downtown area, and there are other suburban/exurban communities scattered around (like the ones mentioned by MplsTodd) that have less of the anywhere-in-America big box chain sprawl and cul-de-sacs feel and more of the smaller town with a sense of identity feeling. Of course if you don't mind the sprawl there's plenty of that, too, and can just pick a place based on what apartment/house you like best.

If you want to go really far out towns like Northfield are very nice. Not a commute I'd want to take on, but a very nice town that has some people who commute to the Twin Cities daily. It wouldn't be bad if you either continue working online or if you got a job out that direction and didn't have to come in all the way (or across) the metro area. It's an attractive college town (with a nice downtown and a river), so lots of things to do, including a lot of interesting college-sponsored events that are open to the general public.

[northstar22]

Thanks for the info. I did look at the "citypages.com" site, looks very interesting. It seems like the Cities aren't very "Minnesotan," not that there's anything wrong with that.

I do prefer a small town feel, so maybe Northfield would work for me. I'm not a huge fan of "anywhere in America" sprawl, but I'll take that over living in the city. I've done commutes of almost two hours (one way) before, so long commutes really don't bother me. Is traffic really bad in the Twin Cities? I've looked at places in White Bear Lake and Anoka, and I'll make sure to check out the other areas listed.

Also, which side of town gets more snow? I like snow and its associated "activities."

[Astron1000]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

Also, which side of town gets more snow? I like snow and its associated "activities."

Snow can fall anywhere - I don't think there is much of a difference. One week the western burbs will get hit, the next week it might be the eastern burbs. However the local ski areas are all in the southern metro only because it is hillier (Afton Alps, Welch Village, Buck Bump, er, I mean Buck Hill...).

[golfgal]

The other thing about living more toward Apple Valley, Rosemount, Northfield is the possibility of working out of the Rochester Airport. It gets you a little closer to Rochester then White Bear Lake would but still all under 2 hours.

If you like smaller towns but want to be close to the metro area I would look at Stillwater, Hastings, Chaska, Northfield, Rosemount, Farmington. Hudson and Prescott in Wisconsin are also options.

[Kebinminn]

Elk River or Big Lake may be an option for you, if you do plan to work in the cities any town with a stop on the Northstar Commuter Line will give you the distance and an option other than driving if you want it.

[northstar22]

I just started sending my resume out yesterday and I'm already getting callbacks. Certainly a change from Michigan.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd prefer to stay on the Minnesota side of the state line, so I'd rather not look in Wisconsin. I've been doing some more research, and Anoka really seems like a nice area. Is this a safe place to live? Could anyone maybe tell me a little more about the Anoka area?

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

I just started sending my resume out yesterday and I'm already getting callbacks. Certainly a change from Michigan.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd prefer to stay on the Minnesota side of the state line, so I'd rather not look in Wisconsin. I've been doing some more research, and Anoka really seems like a nice area. Is this a safe place to live? Could anyone maybe tell me a little more about the Anoka area?

I lived there during my high school years. Anoka is safe, it has a historic small town style downtown area. Outside of that 10 square block radius it is very suburban. It's very homogenous, 90+% middle class white population. It's the Halloween capital of the world and the hometown of 1989 Miss America Gretchen Carlson...not really much else of note. I ditched the northern suburbs for the city and it is likely (and preferred) that I'll never go back.