I'm sick of all this wind and cold weather, so I'm probably moving to Chicago

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

That’s more or less all I have to say.

Okay, to avoid unbearable mundaneness, I’ll elaborate a little further. I’m originally from Los Angeles, CA, and have spent most of my life there. There have been some stints elsewhere – college here, whole summers there, temporary living wherever else – but for the most part, I have lived in the city of Los Angeles. There are a lot of people in LA, many of whom are assholes, but luckily with a large enough population size, even a minority of people will contain a large enough raw number that I can find whatever I want. I now live in Minneapolis, MN, population: 6. I don’t like this. I don’t like that I barely even know anyone here, but everyone I know knows someone I know, everyone went to the same high school, and everyone drinks at the same three bars. Sometimes I feel like I live in Mayberry. This sounds more like Mpls-bashing than I intended. I think this is a cool enough town, but I think it’s time to go.

I considered moving back to Los Angeles, but where’s the fun in that? I’ve been there already. Plus, call me crazy, but I kind of like that it gets cold in the winter and snows out here.

So there you have it. After the holidays are done draining my time and wallet, I think I’ll start looking for a position in Chicago. The day I have one (in this economy, it can be a while) is the day I give my landlord notice. I’m actually getting better at impulse control. The last time I said to myself, “I’m tired of this town; I’m out of here,” I found myself in MN 30 days later. I didn’t even have a job when I moved, and somehow (very luckily) found a decent one with a decent company almost right away.

#2

If you are leaving Minneapolis for Chicago because it’s time for a change, then go for it.
If you are doing it for the weather, you might want to rethink.

I’ve spend all my life in Minnesota, Chicago and Iowa (similar weather to Chicago).

I’ll take the cold and snow of Minnesota over the ice of Chicago any day. I got up early this morning to clear the driveway, but it’s done now. There is no way to shovel ice.

I also discovered that Minneapolis and Chicago are a lot alike, except Chicago is bigger, has longer commutes, and costs more. (ok, it does have better ethnic food.) I still like Chicago, and I liked the time I spend there, just don’t go expecting things to change a lot.

#3

The thread title is a bit of a joke, because ya know, nobody moves to Chicago to escape wind. I like bigger, I don’t care if it costs more (I’m from LA, remember?), and I totally miss food.

#4

Not to rain on your parade but there are days I don’t feel that much different about Chicago. I mean, depends on who you deal with every day, I’m in grad school so no one else here is from Chicago either. But I have non-grad-school friends from college (I went to an IL state school) and they all still hang out with their friends from high school. I know all their high school friends personally, some have become my friends.

There are networks you can get involved in where people are not from Chicago, or are from Chicago but are interested in meeting new people. But I wouldn’t assume it’s that much easier than Minneapolis.

But if you just want a change then by all means come on down! It’s a great town to live in. I moved hear from New York and I don’t feel like my life has become that much less interesting. ETA: oh and yes, it’s great for food.

#5

Yep, absolutely nuts. I’m working to get away from cold winter after growing up in So. Cal. this year I figured I try Texas. It was 23 when I went to work. Last year I was playing on the beach the day after Christmas and it was in the 70s.

#6

Yeah, but you forget to mention that the only reason you don’t get ice as often in Minnesota is that it doesn’t warm up enough to melt the snow. :stuck_out_tongue: (I moved from Minneapolis to Chicago.)

#7

Hanging out with your friends from high school and frequenting the same locations because you like them (your friends from high school and the locations) is one thing. Everyone in town attending the same high school because there is only one, and everyone in town going to the same three bars because there are only three, is another. Of course, I’m exaggerating just how small this town is a wee bit, but it is small, and everyone is from here, and it feels very small towny at times.

#8

Maybe that’s why my mom moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1945. She never liked to discuss it much, but I believe she was fed up with the small towni-ness and with the cold weather and her family.

#9

Don’t come for the weather, come for the pizza.

And hey, let us know when you get here, okay?

#10

Oh yes, I hear there are a few pizzerias in that town. Maybe I’ll dine at one. Now that SWA has flights from Mpls to Chi, I’ll probably hop on a plane in the near future and just hang around there for fun before moving. Hell, this might even turn into a well-planned moved, as opposed to the Hey-This-Sounds-Like-a-Good-Idea-Right-Now-So-I’m-Just-Gonna-Do-It shit that I usually pull.

#11

From November through March, we go weeks at a time without seeing the sun. In the city cold winds blow off the lake and you freeze your ass off not just in winter but in April, May, and even June. Be sure you’re OK with that before you come.

#12

I probably should have chosen a different thread title. My desire to move to Chicago has nothing to do with the weather. It amused me to type that because nobody moves to Chicago to get *away *from wind and cold. I am okay with butt-cold weather for half the year. I live in Minnesota.

#13

You can say that again. I say go for it! I love big cities. My best friend and I are visiting Chicago in June, and I am hype.

#14

I also miss mean people. Maybe “mean” is the wrong word. I miss grit, urgency and bluntness. These things have been outlawed in Minnesota.

Okay, so I wrote up a paragraph about the differences between where I’m used to living and Minnesota, but upon preview I’m deleting it because I can foresee (I know you people!) quick derailment and excessive scrutiny of my perceived differences between MN and wherever else I mention, and that’s really not the point. Why even bring up what I’ve deleted? Because, fuck, I say/type whatever I’m thinking, and that’s what I was thinking, so here we are. How about this: I specifically chose (kind of – my first and second choice was elsewhere, but enough about that) here because I wanted something different, *very *different, but not so different that can’t stand it. I mean, I could have chosen a mud hut in the desert, but I don’t think I would have enjoyed that very much.

I think this is a cool town. When I first visited, I was surprised by how much I liked it (coastal snobbery, perhaps?) and went singing the praises of this cold-as-shit Midwestern place. “Hey, guys, did you know that Minneapolis is pretty fucking swell, even though it only has two seasons, which are beastly humid hot bullshit, and -100 billion degrees? It’s an A- town with F- weather.” But apparently I’ve gotten my rocks off, and am ready for differentish, more familiar than this.

I’m rambling now. Ultimately, I plan on living in another country. I think Italy. Seriously, maybe a week ago I was this close (“this” being a very short distance) to moving to Costa Rica. That would have been at least a semi-reasonable impulse to act on considering most of my family lives there. I’m rambling again. See you soon enough, Chicago!

#15

I miss Chicago! I miss living across the street from Borders and the extremely sketchy Popeyes right under the Red Line tracks. I miss the food. I miss the bars. I miss my apartment. I miss the lake! I miss the weird people that would wander the streets and freak me out. I miss the green river. I miss shopping at the local Asian supermarket. :frowning:

#16

Speaking of local Asian markets, I lived in K-Town in LA, and it was nice having Korean food everywhere, and living around the corner from two 24-hour Korean restaurants. Fast forward to Minnesota. 1) There is no Korean food, 2) There is no 24-hour anything. I’m all, wtf, who do I have to fuck around here to get some kimchi at 3:30am?

#17

Eh, just come back to LA. It got down to like, 45 last night! And when’s the last time you had Roscoe’s, eh? You know you miss us out here. :slight_smile:

#18

Why do I have a feeling that somewhere in the Upper Midwest there is a line of Dopers forming with jars of kimchi?

#19

And tell them to make it spicy!

Ya know, maybe I should head back home. When I checked the weather this morning, I asked of weather.com, “What do you mean it’s 2 degrees? On Earth?” The sad part is come January, I’ll be looking forward to 2 degrees.

#20

Actually, I envy you. I’m sure you’ve been through enough “It’s fucking 80 degrees on CHRISTMAS!” days out here to appreciate having some actual weather.

Feel free to send some of that weather back home, if you would.