Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Totally random I know! If you were offered a job in both these cities (restaurant mgt), which would you choose and why? Please feel free to elaborate on the good, the bad and the ugly. We live in Chattanooga, TN. We have visited MSP in March and loved it We have NOT visited CT tho. I realize they are obviously both a higher cost of living. We are middle class, normal people. 29 and 31. No kids. Just dogs. Please, if you have been or lived in either, some feed back is desperately needed. THANKS
I would go for Minneapolis Hands down. I have lived all over the country including Pennsylvania, California, Florida and Minnesota is where I chose to call home, even though the winters can be long and a bit harsh at times. I have not lived in CT, but have been there a lot on business it is has a kind of depressed feeling compared to Minneapolis in my opinion. Also, the restaurant scene in Minneapolis is awesome compared to a lot of the county and especially the Northeast. We have a lot of creative options, a hugely popular micro-brew and tap room movement and fairly good wages for these positions compared to other placed with a similar cost of housing. My sister works as a pastry chef at an upscale grocery and makes around $18/hr with benys, so they do pay for quality people here. We have been to Chattanooga too (we drive to FL once a year and like to stop here) and I think you will find Minneapolis a little more like that as far as having a fun feel and a lot of outdoor options not too far away. Plus, dog parks abound as well as a lot of K-9 options and k-9 friendly restaurants and shops (see www.sidewalkdog.comDog-Friendly Businesses Minneapolis | Dog Friendly Apartments, Minneapolis Dog License | Sidewalk Dog ) mod cut
Last edited by golfgal; 11-16-2013 at 05:00 AM..
Reason: realtor ads not allowed
Minneapolis, definitely! I live about 45 minutes from New Haven, just across the border in NY. Unless you're going to Yale, I can't think of much reason to live in New Haven. It's really not that great and there isn't as much going on. New Haven is a pretty far both of the two major cities in the region. It's two hours to both Boston and New York, so it's pretty inconvenient. Unless you have a good reason to move to CT, I would pick MSP personally.
I would go for Minneapolis Hands down. I have lived all over the country including Pennsylvania, California, Florida and Minnesota is where I chose to call home, even though the winters can be long and a bit harsh at times. I have not lived in CT, but have been there a lot on business it is has a kind of depressed feeling compared to Minneapolis in my opinion. Also, the restaurant scene in Minneapolis is awesome compared to a lot of the county and especially the Northeast. We have a lot of creative options, a hugely popular micro-brew and tap room movement and fairly good wages for these positions compared to other placed with a similar cost of housing. My sister works as a pastry chef at an upscale grocery and makes around $18/hr with benys, so they do pay for quality people here. We have been to Chattanooga too (we drive to FL once a year and like to stop here) and I think you will find Minneapolis a little more like that as far as having a fun feel and a lot of outdoor options not too far away. Plus, dog parks abound as well as a lot of K-9 options and k-9 friendly restaurants and shops (see www.sidewalkdog.comDog-Friendly Businesses Minneapolis | Dog Friendly Apartments, Minneapolis Dog License | Sidewalk Dog ) mod cut
Regarding what's in bold, clearly you know nothing about New Haven's foodie scene. It rivals some of the best Manhattan has to offer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justabitoff
Minneapolis, definitely! I live about 45 minutes from New Haven, just across the border in NY. Unless you're going to Yale, I can't think of much reason to live in New Haven. It's really not that great and there isn't as much going on. New Haven is a pretty far both of the two major cities in the region. It's two hours to both Boston and New York, so it's pretty inconvenient. Unless you have a good reason to move to CT, I would pick MSP personally.
The thing with the Northeast cities is they are very small in land area, whereas other cities are large and encompass what northeast cities would call their suburbs. It's really unfair to compare New Haven (tiny in sq mileage) to Minneapolis (larger in sq mileage). That being said, the suburbs in CT are some of the most affluent in the country (hardly "depressed" as another poster put it) and the OP should really check out some of the cool gothic New Haven neighborhoods. Old, charm and quirky.
and the OP should really check out some of the cool gothic New Haven neighborhoods. Old, charm and quirky.
Agreed, I'm always blown away by the architecture I find in East Rock on a daily basis now that I work there.
Also agree on the food aspect. That's the first I've ever heard someone say the tri-state area lacked in food. And depressed? Last time I drove through Woodbridge, Cheshire, Guilford, Madison, Fairfield, etc. I saw manicured lawns, stately homes, and a sense of success everywhere. The towns in CT that feel depressed are a minority.
It's also unfair to say there's "nothing going on". It's a much much smaller city than Minneapolis, but it's still very active for its size.
At the end of the day, each city has some great strengths. I would think we'd need to know more from the OP to make a solid recommendation. I'm biased towards the tri-state area, but that's me. Everyone's different.
I think it depends on what you're looking for. I'd never to move to a small city/town in Connecticut, that's the opposite of what I want. That isn't to say they don't have charm, and the Tri-State area does have a lot going for it, but I want a certain population size. Boston, Philly, Pittsburgh, NYC if I won the lottery - those sound compelling. New Haven has zero appeal as a place to live.
How do you like to spend your time? I really enjoy the breadth of activities - theater, music, art museums, festivals, etc - that take place in Mpls year round. A city the size of New Haven can't support that. We also have a lot of 20 and 30-something's putting their stamp on the city. It's where people in the upper Midwest move if they want to be part of a vibrant, urban community. And there is a lot of great architecture, from craftsman bungalows to Victorians to brownstone apartments, downtown has art deco and contemporary buildings.
I would also never, ever move to a city with a regional airport. As much as I complain about MSP, a regional airport would be worse. I assume Hartford would be ok, but Bradley isn't a hub for any airline. That means its harder to get to most places. So, unless moving to CT would mean you could drive to visit family it will likely be harder, more expensive, more time consuming to see them than from MSP. To be clear, it will likely still be a headache from here.
Finally, I'd say we do have a great restaurant scene. That's not to knock the food in the northeast, but that for a medium sized city we have fantastic food.
But I'm not you. The question is what do you value, what kind of life do you lead and which community will be a better fit.
How do you like to spend your time? I really enjoy the breadth of activities - theater, music, art museums, festivals, etc - that take place in Mpls year round. A city the size of New Haven can't support that.
For its size, the theater/music/art scene is actually really impressive in New Haven. There's little events, festivals, farmers markets constantly. Thanks mostly to Yale and other colleges/student populations in the area. I'm sure it's all on a bigger scale in Minneapolis, but 90 minutes gets you to the biggest city in the country if that doesn't suffice.
I'm from New England (Rhode Island) originally but have lived in Minnesota for the last twenty years. As other posters have stated, it is very hard to compare the two cities because they are so different and in the end, it largely comes down to personal preference.
In a nutshell, what I like about New Haven/New England: The coastline, history, easy access to a lot of interesting places to visit, great restaurants and culture
What I like about Twin Cities/Minneapolis: Great restaurants and culture, very clean and easy to get around, a plethora of beautiful lakes, fantastic quality of life
New Haven proper won't offer as much in the realm of culture/museums/theaters/etc. because it's a small city (as others have pointed out), but the New England/New York region as a whole more than makes up for this (Boston, Providence, and New York City aren't far away). Yet Minneapolis and the Twin Cities definitely hold their own in this capacity as well as they have some of the best theaters and museums in the nation (in fact, Minneapolis is second in theater seats per capita in the country outside of New York City). The Twin Cities also has a fantastic professional sports scene as all four major sports are represented - NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. In New Haven, you have to rely on Boston or New York to get your pro sports fill.
If you're a shopper, you've got all that New York City offers within 90 minutes from New Haven. Minneapolis has one of the country's largest malls - Mall of America - that is about to double its size with a major expansion in the next few years.
What I dislike most about Minneapolis is the weather (winters here are much worse on average than New England). What I like least about New Haven and all of the northeast is that it's way too overcrowded, dirty, and difficult to get around, with poorly laid out and narrow streets that are choked with traffic. Driving in the Twin Cities is a breeze (natives who've not been elsewhere and complain about traffic just don't realize how easy it actually is).
In sum, it's just too hard to make a choice because both regions are fantastic for different reasons and compare relatively well with what they offer. I will say that when I came to Minnesota 20 years ago, I knew nothing about it and thought I would hate it, but it truly is one of the nation's best kept secrets. Minneapolis and the Twin Cities consistently rank high for a superior quality of life (and many of their suburbs often make the top list of places to live in the country), and they offer as much to do, if not more, than many cities that are much larger in size. New England, being one of the oldest regions in the country, is charming and the allure of the ocean is hard to deny.
I'd say you have a winner in either choice you make, and again, it will largely come down to personal preference.
Minnesota is great. I recommend you try it out. I moved away from Minneapolis/StPaul many times but I keep getting drawn back. Right now I am in Maui where I can confidently say traffic is about 1000x better here but we are on an island and don't have far to go with not too many people. You drive on the 694/494 loop and you will see how terrible traffic is.
Pick a place to live close to your work to avoid "commutes".
Totally random I know! If you were offered a job in both these cities (restaurant mgt), which would you choose and why? Please feel free to elaborate on the good, the bad and the ugly. We live in Chattanooga, TN. We have visited MSP in March and loved it We have NOT visited CT tho. I realize they are obviously both a higher cost of living. We are middle class, normal people. 29 and 31. No kids. Just dogs. Please, if you have been or lived in either, some feed back is desperately needed. THANKS
Well, if you want a bigger city than Chatanooga, don't move to New Haven! It is a small college town, which in my experience are always very family-oriented and not much fun for young childless people, often having many more people at the youngest and oldest ends of the spectrum and not so many your age (I have lived this myself). Yes, it is relatively near NYC or Boston, but far enough to make going there an enormous hassle and expense; you probably won't do it very often.
Minneapolis offers a great balance of low cost of living combined with a lot of cutural and urban amenities all easily reachable from any density of neighborhood you might choose to live in. Weather is similar in both so nothing to debate there . Both are states with high incomes, high quality of life, and progressive "yankee" values.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We have NOT visited CT tho. I realize they are obviously both a higher cost of living. We are middle class, normal people. 29 and 31. No kids. Just dogs. Please, if you have been or lived in either, some feed back is desperately needed. THANKS
