When my brother lived in Minot, for entertainment he went to the livestock auction. Honestly.
StG
Yeah, I was afraid of that.
Giant Freakin Marine is in construction (civil engineer/project managment) and he is paid very well to move to East Armpit USA for as long as it takes to build something, and then move again. He hasn’t been in the military for 30 years.
We are from an itsy bitsy town in Montana, so I’m used to long winters, and driving halfway across a state for goods and services. Our vehicles have block heaters, we own real coats, and we know how to use them.
The rental thing could be an issue. I am not buying a house sight unseen, or even in a hurry, but we have 2 cats. :mad: The kids are grown & gone, so that’s not an issue.
Oh, damn. Summer humidity means mosquitoes. I hate mosquitoes.
You’re saying it’s better than Butte, Montana? 
.
Thanks, Tripler.
Yes I am . . . especially considering I moved from Minot to Great Falls, Montana, and found my visits to Butte rather. . . underwhelming.
People say Minot is a hole, but believe me, I’ve literally seen the hole: it’s in Butte.
Tripler
I’ve earned good friends and lost good teeth in Minot. 
Are you moving to Minot because GFM found work up there? If his new job includes the title “5th” or “Civil Engineer” or “Squadron”, put my e-mail on speed dial. That was my old squadron.
Tripler
And yes, you will like Minot–better than Butte.
My step-brother’s there (has been for years), and while he doesn’t actually seem to mind the place as such, he says the cold is the most incredible thing he’s ever experienced. (Poor Florida boy.) He’s AF, too, of course.
Careful, that’s where Kelly Flynn (remember her) got in trouble she hated it with a passion. Why would a conservative town culture despise the military, does not compute. 
The town doesn’t hate the military–I only ran across “one of those in every crowd” on one or two occasions. Most are friendly as can be, and actually like the base and what it brings. So much so, that they’re celebrating the future arrival of another B-52 squadron.
Tripler
Straight Dope Minot Advisory Board Chairman
The Super Walmart you’re referring to is actually in Bismarck, which is 100 miles south. I think there’s one in Minot, but I haven’t been home yet this year. Minot isn’t a horrible place, thank god you don’t have to worry about sugar beet plants up there.
I didn’t live in Minot, I’m from Bismarck originally, but I had a few friends that went to school up there. They always said that once you got used to it, things weren’t so bad. The cold isn’t the worst thing about living there though, it’s the damn humidity. 100 degrees and 80 percent in July, it’s like unholy.
If you’ve got anything specific about living in the NoDak, I was born and bred so I’ll do my best to answer for you.
Ah - North Dakota.
My college buds spent a lot of time there - their dad flew C-130’s.
The told me of stepping out their second-floor windows onto the snow drifts.
The told me that the state bird in North Dakota is a mosquito, the state tree is a telephone pole, & the state shrub is barbed wire.
We drove through North Dakota on the way to someplace else, once, when I was a young man. Cherry Reservoir? I remember the flocks of mosquitoes hovering in great clouds. They were so many the air literally hummed with their sound.
When were were finally ensconced in the pop-up camper, they’d land on the window screens and poke their stingers in through the mesh trying to get a little nourishment. Big buggers, they could reach in pretty far. Outside, going to the rest rooms, we’d zip our hoodies all the way and pull the hood into a little peep hole and rruuuuuunnnn.
Vicious bastards.
I suspect there’s a supply of the food of the gods seeping out of the ground somewhere around there.
My sister, who is religious and goes to church, made a lot of friends in Minot when she was there for an internship. You might consider attending church.
I have been stationed in lovely Minot for over 7 years now, and it isn’t as bad as you make it out to be. True, if you are used to a big city, it will seem tiny, but the town is relatively large.
The most important thing i can say about this place is: “Minot is what you make it out to be.”
If you come here expecting it to suck, then it will. Have an open mind, and it will be better. They are pouring a lot of money into the base, and the town is growing to match. Over the last 2 years, they spent several million dollars rebuilding the base gym. There is a new BX going up right now, along with a new shoppette. With the new squadron coming in, you can expect even more to be spent. The majority of base housing (if you are into living on base) is being torn down and rebuilt. The new houses are very nice, especially compared to the old ones.
In town, there is a new Super Walmart at the south end of town. (Across from Minot Chrysler for those of you who have been here.) Barnes and Nobles just opened in the mall. The mall is large for a town this size as well. There is very little you wont be able to find in town, unless you are looking for the ultra specialized stores from the big cities. (Those are in Minneapolis, an 8 hour drive. Or just order it online.)
As for the weather, yes it gets cold in winter. What did you expect? Unfortunately, winter is from mid October through mid April. The rest of the year is construction.
If you have any questions about the area/base, fire away.
(Yes, this post made me register after about a year of lurking. What can I say, I don’t like people talking about where I live with blinders on.)
Marc
Well, that’s an item for the “shoot me now” side of the list.
So, anyone know a good realtor?
May I please steal that line and/or concept? Pretty please? I can’t wait to use it on a neighbor (here in Vegas) and a couple of golf buddies.
I can see it now: “OMG! You’ll freeze to death. What’ll you do all winter!?!?1 OMG!”
“Nah, I like winter. Ya know, you can get sex toys with block heaters. Montana imports 'em special from Canada. It’s all good.”
Of course, there’s a pretty good chance none of my victims know what the hell a block heater is, but I will get a laugh out of it.
Ah, no, there is actually a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Minot.
Actually, a sex toy with a hose heater would probably be funnier, if even more obscure.
(This was my preferred type when I was living in Helena, since it’s much less a pain in the ass to install. Provided the car didn’t have a corrugated lower hose, that is.)
Oh, please do take the line or concept.
I’ll have you know I was born and raised in ND!!! and Western ND at that!
{looks angrily around thread}
Oh, nm…there is a reason I don’t live there now. My condolences OP. 
Thank you.
My partner is a North Dakotan. I’ve visited with her family in the Bismarck/Mandan area many times. I’ve only driven through Minot once though, in the summer, on the way up to the family lake cabin up near Bottineau. I do know there is a Starbucks in Minot, if that is any consolation. Otherwise I admit that I don’t remember much about it.
The International Peace Garden was pretty neat, and is relatively close by.
Other fun things I’ve done in elsewhere in ND include:
Riverboat camping on the Missouri outside of Bismarck/Mandan. There’s a devoted population of folks who basically live out on the river in their boats in the summer months, “commuting” via motorboat back to the docks where their cars are parked to go to work every day. I’m fairly sure I picked up a case of West Nile virus the last time I was out there though, so be sure to wear protection.
Medora was fun, though is more for tourists. Actually, I’d say it provides about as much benefit to the locals who work there through the tourist season as it does to the tourists. It provides a lot of seasonal employment and socializing for the locals. There’s a nice National Park, and be sure not to miss the annual ‘Medora Musical’ that is pretty much guaranteed to include singing cowboys and cowgirls and much reverence to Teddy Roosevelt. Definitely try the pitchfork fondue.
When you’re bored, you can always drive around to find the various tribal casinos in your area. When youre really, really bored, you can drive around to find all of the assorted and random “wind art” scultpures, or the regional propensity to build huge replicas of things like giant Holsteins named Sue and Tommy the giant snow-mobile-riding turtle.
I can say that there is at least more diversity than just WASPs, at least in my experience. My partner comes from German Catholic stock on both sides, and her extended family is legion.