Minnesota is not for everyone!
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2/11/2020
I lived in Minneapolis for 9 years and in the Twin Cities overall for 12 years. I regret giving this town the prime years of my life. It was a difficult transition moving from the Chicago area to Minnesota due to the cultural nuances. For one, even though many of my good friends are from the Twin Cities, this is a very insular community. I wasn't even able to break in well with my maternal family up there. Second, employers expect perfection from their workers, coming into work 30 seconds late, asking a female coworker out for lunch, or being "too" direct can cost one his or her job. The thought process is "not on our nickel". Also, Minneapolis is a very progressive city, I didn't even know what a LGBT person was before I moved there. Then these LGBT people would pick fights with me when I wasn't elated when they revealed their sexuality to me.
I'd recommend St. Paul over Minneapolis but I wouldn't even move back there. Cultural diversity rules the area and it has become a religion. The Twin Cities doesn't have that much diversity comparatively with other markets but it's over emphasized, with signs being everywhere reminding others of diversity. Most of Minnesota is white but their numbers are shrinking rapidly since women of my generation wanted to work, and some of those that had children wanted a little spice in their relationships by marrying someone of another race. Or they shunned men altogether and found another woman to be with. Native Minnesota men are also very territorial with their women.
The women rule the roost, outsiders called Minnesota "WOMANsota" and jokingly referred to the Twin Cities Sodom and Gomorrah. There is a lot of Minnesota pride and if you talk poorly about Minnesota to a Minnesotan they will outcast you; yet they like about the corruption in Chicago. Another thing is that when I run into a Minnesotan elsewhere, they don't care when I tell them that I lived there but I became friends with people from Chicago who moved to Minnesota.
This is a very sensitive environment and it's not for me anymore. I even stopped making annual trips there to visit my college during homecoming events. The educational system is very good and there's no tax on clothing or food for now.
Robert | Gurnee, IL