Nice place but mundane.
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11/14/2018
St Paul is a nice city to live, especially for raising a family. I am a transplant, moving here 33 years ago at the age of 26. I am self employed in the remodeling trades and this trade keeps me in St Paul, as the winters are very harsh , long and boring. Whereas spring it's starts picking up and then summer and fall gets too busy to enjoy any of it, plus you have to pay for the long winter, save for the upcoming one. It's a never ending cycle that keeps us tradespeople stuck in this part of the country. The people here St Paul are Minnesota nice, which means pleasant on the outside, very very reserved, seldom gregarious and not big fans of trying things outside their comfort zones. For many, vacation means going up north, where they hunt, fish or hang out at the cabin. Not that there's anything wrong with that , I do it too, but I see it as something that you need to do if you don't want to go nuts. Once here, you kind of stuck here. Nearest big city is Chicago 7-8 hrs away by car, long boring drive at that. Winters are tough. It gets really really cold, and unless one is into winter sports, winter is horrible. It gets dark at 4:30, heating bills are high, salt ruins your car, you fall hard on the ice at least twice in your life, shoveling snow is a forced workout. Most people get a nasty cold. Work dries up, more fender benders, back to layer upon layer of clothing. I think this is a probably a great state if you are born here, but if not, it's really tough to fit in and even after more than 3 decades here, I still cant come to call myself a Minnesotan.
Thomas | St. Paul, MN