My boyfriend, KeithT, is moving to Minnesota next summer, and I’m considering following him there. At this point I’m looking for some info on the region.
How do you like it there? What are the good points? Bad points?
Are there any good websites on what’s happening in the region, both economically and socially/culturally?
Is there a renters’ guide online? Or one that I can request to have mailed to me?
Is there a business newspaper that I should read in order to get an idea of what companies are doing what in the region? A chamber of commerce magazine? Other sources of business and company news?
What are the “hot” industries? Where (in what fields) is there job growth?
Will a bleeding-heart liberal fit in or feel totally out of place?
Depends on where in Minnesota you’re moving to. Rental prices differ greatly depending on where you’re living.
We are, for the most part, a very liberal state, so no you will not feel out of place down in the Cities. If you’re oop Nort’ it’s a bit more conservative.
I love living here and wouldn’t live anywhere else. Right now it’s 18F and snowglobe snowing in downtown Minneapolis. This is, what, a week or so after it was 60F? I love the distinctive seasons.
Like it fine. Big enough city to have the advantages, small enough to not have the big problems. Nice cultural environment, fairly well educated, fairly high standard of living. Too darn cold for about four months a year. Nice park system.
The above links. Big companies are Target, Best Buy, Medtronic, General Mills, 3M, Wells Fargo, United HealthGroup, Cargill…lots of retail, lots of food, health care.
Fit right in. But you can be just as annoyed as the rest of us at our yes man GOP Senator and our Conservative Christian governor.
Anything else I should know?
What qualifies as “too darn hot” out there? I’m familiar with Upstate NY’s definition of “too hot” but I’ve also visited NC during the summer so am aware that there’s an entirely different idea of “too hot” down there. I’m guessing your definition is closer to ours around here, but I just want to check on exactly what qualifies as “too hot.”
The extreme temperatures vary a lot from year to year; the high is usually in the 90’s, and we stay there for a couple months. The low is usually in the teens, and we usually stay there for a few weeks.
I’m from the SF Bay Area; the average high/low temperatures here range as far as the record high/low range in the town I come from. So, I’m safe in agreeing with bothDangerosa and lno.
In the summer, it ain’t the heat, its the humidity. Minnesota is a state of water - lots of lovely lakes, ponds - lots of Canadian Geese (and their associated droppings), and in the summer it can be both hot and humid. The water also makes mosquitos and horseflies appear on sort of on the “Hitchcock could have made a horror film out of this” level.
In the winter, it ain’t the cold, its the windchill. A perfectly pleasant 38 degree days feels like 16 degrees because the wind is whipping.
Keep in mind (I think that there is some detail on this in the other thread) that this is the “Twin Cities” area - there is a Minneapolis area, but if you ask that question and focus there, you may miss out on living or working on an end of town you like better (or maybe not - its St. Paul after all). Minneapolis tends to be a little more cosmopolitan, more happening. Better nightlife. St. Paul is a little quieter, less popular and a little more affordable. The downtowns are about eight miles apart, and there are parts of St. Paul where Minneapolis is the closer downtown. I grew up in a St. Paul suburb with St Paul parents, emigrated to Minneapolis for college and the first ten years of adult life, married and bought a house right outside St. Paul. They let you move back and forth now without needing a Visa, so its a lot easier.
You needn’t worry about being accepted as a bleeding heart liberal–this area is infested with 'em, but we’re working on it.
Seriously though, it’s pretty darn nice. AND, it’s one the highest paid states, average-wage-wise. It’s the highest average wage state that isn’t in the northeast.
Plenty of artsy-fartsy, beaucoup outdoorsy stuff, and the city water is the finest in the country.
And, don’t forget the state food: hot dish. It’s everything you’d ever want in a food, because it’s made of anything you’d want in your food.
Oh yeah, if you visit St. Paul, be back before 10:00pm. We don’t require passports, but we do check ID’s.
Ahhh, Minneapolis/St. Paul. Largest metropolitan area in God’s country. It’s an excellent place.
I wrote a bunch in the thread lno linked, so I won’t repeat. And feel free to e-mail me if you’d like - addy’s in the profile.
Minneapolis/St. Paul has plenty of liberals (I’m one); not so sure about the rest of the state. Up north, and in more rural farming communities, it probably gets more conservative.
St. Paul is much quieter than Minneapolis. I used to live in downtown St. Paul, and one Saturday night we went to a bar with a friend. The place was totally empty - one other guy and the bartender made up the entire clientele. It seems everyone heads to Minneapolis on weekends. Weeknights are a different story - happy hour is livelier because the people who work in the city will stop by to grab a couple before heading home.
Craig’s List does have some activity here - you might check them out for renting. Otherwise, the big rental websites (rent.come is one; I know there’s another but can’t think of it) will also have listings for Minnesota. And the newspapers Dangerosa linked to will have rental and job listings in addition to regional news, but you may have to register for one or both.
It’s a great place - fall and winter are the best. The cold keeps the riff-raff out: if they knew how great this place was, we’d be overcrowded.
And don’t bother going to Minneapolis on Saint Paddies day. Saint Paul is where it’s at.
Minneapolis is also big in Banking and Advertising.
Feel free to put me on your list to contact with questions. Don’t trust a thing those Minneapolis folks say. They’re from the big city, and you just can’t trust big those big city folks. We here in Saint Paul had to make our streets slightly confusing just to keep them out.
Don’t forget the two sides of crazy. Dick Day of Owatonna to the south and Michelle Bachmann of Stillwater to the East. In the land of liberals, these two are good fodder for blood pressure medicine. (I hates me some Michelle Bachmann)
Hee. I don’t find St. Paul confusing at all. 'Course, I don’t find Minneapolis confusing, either, but it scares holy heck outta the yokels I work with when we have our annual conference at the Marriott City Center.
And you can’t trust NurseCarmen. He’s neither a nurse, nor a Carmen. They’re tricksy, those east-siders.
