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Minot Real Estate is as diverse as any other comparable sized city. Yes SW is nice as most of the development in the past two decades has been in that direction. By development, I mean both residential and commercial. In the last five years, all areas have seen new construction. Minot Real Estate is currently a sellers market. Energy development and expansion of the Minot AFB has created a housing shortage. Apartment vacany rates are usually 1-2%. Homes in the 100-200K area are in short supply. If you see one you like you had better buy it. An aquaintance recently listed his 250K house and sold it for a full price offer in 6 hours.
Minot is situated on a river valley. Flood control now keeps the city safe from devastating floods loke those experienced here in the 70s, yet Real Estate in the valley consists of the older homes, partly due to the old flood plain, partly due to the expansion of the city. (Newer homes in the outlying areas) In any event the university is surrounded by residential areas. There are no truly "Bad Areas" in town, Just like anywhere, some are nicer than others. The Catholic High School is directly adjacent to the university campus. University Avenue and Broadway are through streets that border the campus on two sides.
Commuting: You can get from any where to any where in Minot in less than 15 minutes. "Rush Hours" are short lived and the congestion ocurrs mainly on three or four primary routes. These can be avoided by surface streets once you learn your way around. Two wheel seasons are short-lived at least until you become acclimated. Locals like myself usually break out the M/Cs in late April or early May. June is the wettest month so have comfortable rain gear if riding then.
Jobs: Unemployment in Minot and the surrounding area is low, less than 5% usually. Your qualifications are sound general enough that you should be able to find something realtively soon. Teaching in the public school system is a little difficult to break into. They have a teachers union and work under contracts that are negotiated periodically, usually bi-annually. The economy is booming in the area right now. The state on the whole is doing well. The conservative nature of the State Government keeps a tight rein on public spending inspite of a budget surplus of 1.5-2 billion dollars.
School: The public schools are topshelf. Attendence,graduation rates and testing scores are always above the state and national averages. The Catholic schools are k-12 and very good as well. Teachers and students alike enjoy smaller class sizes yet lack equal opportunities in extra-cirricullar activities, but no more so than any other smaller school. The Catholic High school has sports teams on par with any of the smaller (rural) public schools in the area.
Cars: There is an small independant mechanic shop (MBM Motors, 14?? East Valley Street) that does work on foreign cars including Volvos, but no dealer for hundreds of miles. MBM has been in business for many many years, and I have heard mixed reviews on thier work. I suppose it depends on the individual service one recieves. There are pleanty of shops around town that should be able to handle routine service, i.e. oil changes, lubes etc.
Misc. They weather can be brutal. Air temps in the winter can reach -40 degrees. Add wind to that and the cold is truly life threatening. Spring and summers are mild, however temps above 80-90 are experienced in Jul-Aug. Things start to cool down again in October and we have seen snow plenty of times before halloween. Dress for the weather, plan your activities accordingly and don't be foolhardy. Pretty much the same weather advice given for any climate. Minot is very friendly, relatively quiet, safe community. I worked for the Local Police department for 30 years, so I know the town pretty well. Curiously enough, I am now retired, I am considering moving south, to Arizona to escape the winters. I however have grown weary of the weather only on the last couple of years, after weathering more then 50 of them in a row!
Not to be prejudicial, but I'm guessing that a Liberal arts grad/english teacher driving a Volvo is probably not an avid FOX news watcher. The political climate in North Dakota is quite conservative. I wear my politics under my vest so to speak, and as a result, get along with most people quite well. I don't mean to presume your politics, but thought you should be aware, that independants, moderates and liberals are at times frustrated at views and comments expressed by our neighbors.
When my husband was in the Air Force we were stationed at Minot. When we got our orders people would say'Why Not Minot' We found out why not. The people were friendly nice little town good schools etc but the weather was the worst we have experienced and we have travelled allover the world. Many times our house would have snow up to the roof top with winds blowing. Our children would wait for the school bus in 65 below with wind chill factor for the school bus. At times we had fine snow blowing inside our windows and we found it in the back of our sofa. If you like cold weather and long winters you will be fine but if not then move south. The other thing to consider is that we had to pay a lot of money for wood or other heating and cold weather clothes for our children. September through to April was the norm for the winter.
Minot Real Estate is as diverse as any other comparable sized city. Yes SW is nice as most of the development in the past two decades has been in that direction. By development, I mean both residential and commercial. In the last five years, all areas have seen new construction. Minot Real Estate is currently a sellers market. Energy development and expansion of the Minot AFB has created a housing shortage. Apartment vacany rates are usually 1-2%. Homes in the 100-200K area are in short supply. If you see one you like you had better buy it. An aquaintance recently listed his 250K house and sold it for a full price offer in 6 hours.
Minot is situated on a river valley. Flood control now keeps the city safe from devastating floods loke those experienced here in the 70s, yet Real Estate in the valley consists of the older homes, partly due to the old flood plain, partly due to the expansion of the city. (Newer homes in the outlying areas) In any event the university is surrounded by residential areas. There are no truly "Bad Areas" in town, Just like anywhere, some are nicer than others. The Catholic High School is directly adjacent to the university campus. University Avenue and Broadway are through streets that border the campus on two sides.
Commuting: You can get from any where to any where in Minot in less than 15 minutes. "Rush Hours" are short lived and the congestion ocurrs mainly on three or four primary routes. These can be avoided by surface streets once you learn your way around. Two wheel seasons are short-lived at least until you become acclimated. Locals like myself usually break out the M/Cs in late April or early May. June is the wettest month so have comfortable rain gear if riding then.
Jobs: Unemployment in Minot and the surrounding area is low, less than 5% usually. Your qualifications are sound general enough that you should be able to find something realtively soon. Teaching in the public school system is a little difficult to break into. They have a teachers union and work under contracts that are negotiated periodically, usually bi-annually. The economy is booming in the area right now. The state on the whole is doing well. The conservative nature of the State Government keeps a tight rein on public spending inspite of a budget surplus of 1.5-2 billion dollars.
School: The public schools are topshelf. Attendence,graduation rates and testing scores are always above the state and national averages. The Catholic schools are k-12 and very good as well. Teachers and students alike enjoy smaller class sizes yet lack equal opportunities in extra-cirricullar activities, but no more so than any other smaller school. The Catholic High school has sports teams on par with any of the smaller (rural) public schools in the area.
Cars: There is an small independant mechanic shop (MBM Motors, 14?? East Valley Street) that does work on foreign cars including Volvos, but no dealer for hundreds of miles. MBM has been in business for many many years, and I have heard mixed reviews on thier work. I suppose it depends on the individual service one recieves. There are pleanty of shops around town that should be able to handle routine service, i.e. oil changes, lubes etc.
Misc. They weather can be brutal. Air temps in the winter can reach -40 degrees. Add wind to that and the cold is truly life threatening. Spring and summers are mild, however temps above 80-90 are experienced in Jul-Aug. Things start to cool down again in October and we have seen snow plenty of times before halloween. Dress for the weather, plan your activities accordingly and don't be foolhardy. Pretty much the same weather advice given for any climate. Minot is very friendly, relatively quiet, safe community. I worked for the Local Police department for 30 years, so I know the town pretty well. Curiously enough, I am now retired, I am considering moving south, to Arizona to escape the winters. I however have grown weary of the weather only on the last couple of years, after weathering more then 50 of them in a row!
Not to be prejudicial, but I'm guessing that a Liberal arts grad/english teacher driving a Volvo is probably not an avid FOX news watcher. The political climate in North Dakota is quite conservative. I wear my politics under my vest so to speak, and as a result, get along with most people quite well. I don't mean to presume your politics, but thought you should be aware, that independants, moderates and liberals are at times frustrated at views and comments expressed by our neighbors.
I sincerely welcome you.
Great overview of the city. Actually, I'm quite conservative. I have so many right-wing tendencies that I sometime walk in circles. As a native Texan, I'm happy to be leaving New York. I grew up on the southern end of the Plains in Amarillo, so I expect Minot to be similar, just with snow and Lutherans instead of dust storms and Baptists.
I just arrived at Minot and am now looking for a place to rent. The biggest things I'm looking for are closeness to Minot AFB, up to 2 bedroom, pets okay, a garage, and washer and dryer in the unit. I've found a place online that offers those except (10.3 miles from base) for the w/d. I haven't looked at it but plan on contacting the property management (Watts) on Monday. My main concern is, and no offense to anyone, there is a trailer park area nearby. It's right off the 83 on 21st AVE near the Grand International hotel. According to the older posts there is no bad neighborhood in Minot, but is this the least good? Anyone know? Thanks so much in advance!
I just arrived at Minot and am now looking for a place to rent. The biggest things I'm looking for are closeness to Minot AFB, up to 2 bedroom, pets okay, a garage, and washer and dryer in the unit. I've found a place online that offers those except (10.3 miles from base) for the w/d. I haven't looked at it but plan on contacting the property management (Watts) on Monday. My main concern is, and no offense to anyone, there is a trailer park area nearby. It's right off the 83 on 21st AVE near the Grand International hotel. According to the older posts there is no bad neighborhood in Minot, but is this the least good? Anyone know? Thanks so much in advance!
So basically, there are no "bad" areas in Minot, just cheaper run down looking areas. I don't think that area is considered one of those. You have the "new" houses, towards the 83 bypass on near 4th ave, then you have the nice side of Minot, which is basically NW and NE, then the crappier side, which is SE and SW. Not saying that none of those houses are nice or it's a bad area to live in, it's just older, cheaper, and slightly more run down. I'm surprised that you were able to find a place with all the things you wanted so quickly, especially a garage! Last winter, we didn't have a garage and it was heck to deal with. If it looks good, I would take it. I don't know that you would find anything better than that! Although, I'm not sure of your rank or what you BAH is, so maybe you can afford to pay more but housing is limited and Watts is a decent place to work with. We bought a washer and dryer when we got here at Sears for pretty cheap and they also have the stackable ones. So, in answer your question, there isn't anywhere that is less safe than any other area of Minot, just less enticing in the curb appeal department.
So, in answer your question, there isn't anywhere that is less safe than any other area of Minot, just less enticing in the curb appeal department.
I'd have to agree. My spouse works in federal law enforcement, and deals with the local police a lot, and the biggest crime worries are typically minor vandalism, drunk driving, etc..... We've had 2 shootings since I moved here, one at a trailer park, and the other at a cheap hotel by a non-local.
Yeah I remember that shooting. Most of the time when there is physical violence in Minot it involves people who live outside Minot. The most I've heard of here is drunk driving...A LOT! Basers and Townies alike. I like to call it North Dakotas favorite past time
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Minot Why Not
