Minneapolis vs. St. Cloud (Duluth: foreclosed, renting, violent crime)

[MsJetson]

This past summer I moved from south Minneapolis (near 38th & Chicago) to St. Cloud after I became the victim of a violent crime and the house I was renting was foreclosed on the same week. I loved living there because of the diversity, constant activity, and easy bus access to almost anywhere in the metro. There was always something to do or fascinating people to meet. After the crime incident and horrible response of the police my family convinced me I'd be better off in St. Cloud where they are, so reluctantly I went.

And I've been bored to death ever since. I'm starting to think the safety factor is much less important than having a fun and interesting life! The other major issue I'm having is ALOT of people in St. Cloud seem very racist, which surprises me for a city/area this size. I'm white but I'm about to deliver a baby that is half black, and I'm concerned about the effect this may have on my child down the road. Also, the bus system here sucks compared to Minneapolis in my opinion - it takes forever to get anywhere, especially if you have to transfer.

Are my experiences so far in St. Cloud out of the ordinary? Does anyone have black or mixed race kids in the schools here and if so, have they encountered racism? What about cultural activities? Is there good stuff about St. Cloud that I'm missing? My family is begging me to stay here and I'm trying very hard to find reasons I should. Help!

[marmac]

I doubt a white woman with a black child would even draw a look in St Cloud.

This isn't the 1950's where if you passed a black male on the street in St Cloud you knew he was a baseball player for the St Cloud Rox.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Yeah, do yourself a favor and move back to Minneapolis. St. Cloud sucks.

[marmac]

You never mentione if you have a job.

Biggest disadvantage of St Cloud vs Minneapolis is wage disparity .

Small difference in cost of living ( favoring St Cloud)
Big difference in wage scale( favoring Minneapolis)

Surprised the OP meantioned nothing about a job.

[uptown_urbanist]

I'm assuming the father isn't in the picture, since you don't mention him? If you're going to be a single mother, then one HUGE reason to consider staying in St. Cloud, at least for now, is because of your family. With a new baby in the picture you're not going to have much energy or time to have a fun and interesting life for awhile, especially if you were to be living on your own in Minneapolis. If you have family in St. Cloud that can help out you'll have a much easier time. Being a new parent is exhausting and often isolating. Why make it worse? Stay there and make some day trips down to visit friends in the Twin Cities on weekends. Then when your son is a little older you can move back to Minneapolis. I think it's smart to think ahead, but at the same time it's tough to really know what you'll want in a year or two. I'd stick with St. Cloud for now and reevaluate the whole situation down the road.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by MsJetson

This past summer I moved from south Minneapolis (near 38th & Chicago) to St. Cloud after I became the victim of a violent crime and the house I was renting was foreclosed on the same week. I loved living there because of the diversity, constant activity, and easy bus access to almost anywhere in the metro. There was always something to do or fascinating people to meet. After the crime incident and horrible response of the police my family convinced me I'd be better off in St. Cloud where they are, so reluctantly I went.

And I've been bored to death ever since. I'm starting to think the safety factor is much less important than having a fun and interesting life! The other major issue I'm having is ALOT of people in St. Cloud seem very racist, which surprises me for a city/area this size. I'm white but I'm about to deliver a baby that is half black, and I'm concerned about the effect this may have on my child down the road. Also, the bus system here sucks compared to Minneapolis in my opinion - it takes forever to get anywhere, especially if you have to transfer.

Are my experiences so far in St. Cloud out of the ordinary? Does anyone have black or mixed race kids in the schools here and if so, have they encountered racism? What about cultural activities? Is there good stuff about St. Cloud that I'm missing? My family is begging me to stay here and I'm trying very hard to find reasons I should. Help!

What type of entertainment are you looking for? I'm sure there's something out there for you to do. St Cloud is a small town. Of course a young person is going to get bored. You'll have plenty to do once the baby comes.

St Cloud has the best public transportation system for a town of it's size. Remember, Mpls has 400k people and St Cloud has 65K. It's not going to be like Mpls.

I highly doubt that you will get grief for having a bi-racial baby. Nobody up here will give it a second thought.

IMHO give motherhood a chance in St Cloud and if you are miserable move back to the cities.

[knke0204]

Comparing apples and oranges is never good.

65,000 people vs 390,000

150,000 metro vs 4,000,000... I'd hope that public transportation is great..

Actually St. Cloud has a very impressive public transportation system for a city of its size. It's very efficient, so I don't know what you're talking about..

You'll get a lot of fools on here that will say "St. Cloud sucks, it's just one long strip"...Well actually, if you ever ventured off of the strip you would know that that is completely false. You should also expect that from ANY town in the USA with similar populations and a growth pattern from the 1980s. 1970s and 1980s growth and development was disgusting. Tall cobra head streetlights, huge parking lots, ugly storefronts. What's left is Division Street.

Take it from somebody who actually lived there (me), St. Cloud isn't a bad place at all...

Diversity? The city has the largest Somali population outside of the Twin Cities. It's also home to St. Cloud State University, that brings in almost 1500 international students from over 200 countries in the world.

If you want big city life, move to Minneapolis. If you want mid-sized city living, move to St. Cloud. St Cloud is great because it is only an hour drive to the Twin Cities, but it's very independent of the Twin Cities.

St. Cloud is doing tons of great things. The mayor, Dave Kleis is an excellent guy, who has a great vision for his city. They just built a brand new library, and are building a police headquarters. Downtown has gotten much better since the 1990s, and the Civic Center is due for an expansion. Division Street is going through a change downtown, and the bridge has been replaced. Many streets in St. Cloud are very good, unlike Duluth. The University has a new President who is a wonderful guy. He has a great vision and in his 18 months he's been there, TONS of changes have already happened. I feel that in the next 25 years St. Cloud State University is going to have quite a name for itself in the midwest.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Slig

Yeah, do yourself a favor and move back to Minneapolis. St. Cloud sucks.

How many years did you live in St. Cloud for, and when?

[CoteauKid]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Comparing apples and oranges is never good.

65,000 people vs 390,000

150,000 metro vs 4,000,000... I'd hope that public transportation is great..

Actually St. Cloud has a very impressive public transportation system for a city of its size. It's very efficient, so I don't know what you're talking about..

You'll get a lot of fools on here that will say "St. Cloud sucks, it's just one long strip"...Well actually, if you ever ventured off of the strip you would know that that is completely false. You should also expect that from ANY town in the USA with similar populations and a growth pattern from the 1980s. 1970s and 1980s growth and development was disgusting. Tall cobra head streetlights, huge parking lots, ugly storefronts. What's left is Division Street.

Take it from somebody who actually lived there (me), St. Cloud isn't a bad place at all...

Diversity? The city has the largest Somali population outside of the Twin Cities. It's also home to St. Cloud State University, that brings in almost 1500 international students from over 200 countries in the world.

If you want big city life, move to Minneapolis. If you want mid-sized city living, move to St. Cloud. St Cloud is great because it is only an hour drive to the Twin Cities, but it's very independent of the Twin Cities.

St. Cloud is doing tons of great things. The mayor, Dave Kleis is an excellent guy, who has a great vision for his city. They just built a brand new library, and are building a police headquarters. Downtown has gotten much better since the 1990s, and the Civic Center is due for an expansion. Division Street is going through a change downtown, and the bridge has been replaced. Many streets in St. Cloud are very good, unlike Duluth. The University has a new President who is a wonderful guy. He has a great vision and in his 18 months he's been there, TONS of changes have already happened. I feel that in the next 25 years St. Cloud State University is going to have quite a name for itself in the midwest.

It's refreshing to see someone sticking up for St. Cloud. It's not a bad town and it gets bashed way too much. For some reason a lot of people hold it to unrealistic standards and I've never understood that.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by knke0204

How many years did you live in St. Cloud for, and when?

I went to St. John's University for 4 years. Fall of 2000 to Spring of 2004.