I have a pretty unique opportunity in Minneapolis that just came up and it would require me to move my wife and two kids to Msp.
Anyone happen to live there or have any knowledge to share? I've been there a bunch of times for business but I'm not familiar with much.
Any info is much appreciated. Tia.
Cost of living is rising in many areas up there.
Also, remember not to use a wide stance while going to the bathroom. Or do, but you've been warned.
The winter would be my main concern. We have family there too. My brother lives there with his wife.
I've sort of had it with upstate NY.
I have only visited in the summer and Minneapolis is a great town. Very progressive city with a lot of diversity. All four major sports are covered which brings NY teams to town. Great university too. Central time zone which is also nice. I suspect winters are brutal.
I have been to a couple former colleagues homes and I immediately felt wow this would be an awesome place to raise a family.
Eden Prarie is always on the top 25 places to live in America (though I have only been through there in travels to somewhere else, never spent time there).
I've been to Woodbury (opposite side of St. Paul from Eden Prarie) and Lakeville (South of Minnesota).
the downtown warehouse district is a lot of fun, had some good restaurants and bars.
the winters are NOT exaggerated though. I remember my first February morning there scraping the layer of ice off the rental car windows with the credit card they give you as an ice scraper and getting in to the car and hearing on the radio the weather person say it's negative 19 (with no wind chill), my snot was frozen and my still slightly wet hair was frozen too.
I didn't mind it so much and you probably won't either coming from the Northeast, but the winters there are not exaggerated IMO, it's cold.
I think the summers make it worth it though, like in the northeast.
If I were totally unencumbered and could move anywhere to raise a family Minnesota would be on my list though the winter weather would certainly be a check in the cons column if I made a pros and cons list.
I like the vibe of the city. The people seem really pleasant. It's a clean city with some history, restaurants, sports, lakes and outdoors stuff. Me and my brother have promised to buy a lake house for the family if we move out there. Plus my travel would be so much easier out of msp than Albany.
Or better yet burn his practice to the fucking ground.
Nice downtown, great restaurants, and a cool "town & country" feel. The neighborhoods around Lake of the Isles & Lk Calhoun are particularly nice. The winters are significantly colder (and longer) than they are in NY, though I like cold weather.
Has all the major sports and just about the best minor league baseball stadium in St Paul. Your nicer suburbs are west and both north and south of the city.. Southern suburbs that I like are Lakeville, Burnsville, Eden Prarie. Western ones are Plymouth, Minnetonka, Wayzata. North ones are Forest Lake, Brooklyn Center. St Paul has its own unique feel and is a great contrast to Minneapolis. Your within a 3 hours drive to some spectacular vacation lake areas. Canada is a short half day drive away and international falls will remind you of Maine
That being said, the area compares to upstate NY in that when you get 5 miles out of the cities, you are in the boondocks. Most people have "outdoorsy" hobies
Can't wait for that game
I'd love to go to the game in Minnesota this year. Anyone thinking about going we should all meet up!
The rest of the year, the weather is great. The summers are definitely not "crazy hot". A couple weeks of high-80's with high humidity is typical, which is awesome if you love boating/swimming (and there's a good sized lake every 10 miles). In general if you're an outdoorsmen, you'll love Minnesota. They do a lot more than other states to promote that stuff (e.g. lots of bike paths, public parks, etc). Though the terrain is generally flat so if you want good hiking you've got to drive about a half day north near Lake Superior and/or the Canadian border.
It's cold there - no shit. Like you didn't know that.
Lots of places. If schools are important, check out the Apple Valley/Lakeville (southern suburbs) area or the aforementioned Eden Praire (western suburb). Lots of new developments (house + townhomes) in the Apple Valley area and its "town center" has numerous bars/parks and plenty of shopping (also ~15 min from Mall of America).
Definitely other places closer to downtown as well. There are parks/lakes literally everywhere so its hard to find something that isn't within walking distance of those.
Definitely don't want the platic/velveeta feel of too many chain restaurants and strip mall stores. We'd like a place with a little more character and personality to it.
I'd love to go to the game in Minnesota this year. Anyone thinking about going we should all meet up!
I'm in for that