Shellacked again...

[clinamen]

5 minutes ago, khigh said:

I will probably put the first post up this evening. Honestly, winter isn’t that bad. Even -20 is easy to deal with because there is almost no humidity. You do need to start your car a few times a day to let it warm up. Snow is great. We got 17” in uptown on Monday and only had one bad day of driving. They had the highways cleared by Tuesday morning and the neighborhoods by Wednesday morning. 

The U has a tunnel system, so you never have to go outside on campus if you don’t want to. 

Minneapolis is the most educated city in the USA. We have more Fortune 500 companies per capita than anywhere else in the US. We are now the most bikeable city, beating Portland and Seattle. We have the most green space out of all US cities. There are ski resorts within the city (well, the burbs) and you can cross country ski on any of the bike trails in the winter. Ice skating is free, including skates, on city lakes. 

Minne is diverse. We pride ourselves on the way we take care of refugees, so there are large Syrian, Somalian, and Hmong populations. That means great food. 

Traffic is not bad at all for a major city. I work 20 miles away on the other side of the city and even during rush hour, it’s only a 45 minute drive. You do have to get used to the stoplights on the on-ramps. That’s so people are nice and alternate getting on the interstate. 

Coffee is Caribou or Tim Hortons (or Dunn’s). We don’t do a lot of Starbucks here. Amazon has a big presence in the city, so we all use Amazon Restaurants. You can have any food delivered to your home from places within 10 miles. In my area, that’s anything from Mediterranean to Chinese to Indian to bar food. 

I live in the Carag neighborhood. It’s old Victorian apartments. I am three blocks one way from Lake Calhoun and three blocks another way to Lake Street, which is a trendy place full of bars, restaurants, shopping, and local amenities. Target is king here (headquartered in Minneapolis) and Walmart is only in the burbs. 

I honestly moved here for two reasons. The boyfriend is from Bloomington (Mall of America). And, I was tired of summer. Summer here is great. It’s never too hot. You may have a few 90 degree days, but most of the time, it’s in the 70s and 80s. 

Sorry that was so long, but I love this place. There is a reason that it is said that it is impossible to get people to move to Minneapolis, but once they get here, it’s impossible to get them to leave. 

Thank you for all of this! I’m a Minnesota admit as well so this is really useful  

[Ufffdaaa]

34 minutes ago, clinamen said:

Thank you for all of this! I’m a Minnesota admit as well so this is really useful  

I think that everything @khigh said was fair except for winter. There's a reason people are "Minnesota nice." Winter is rough. People who have always lived in those conditions are tough. Do you know why "-20 is easy to deal with" (or -40 or -50 or -60 with wind chill)? Because you can't go outside! You spend your winter months running from a building to your car. 

Also, I'm not sure which months most of the country considers "winter," but winter can stretch from October to May. Once, my classes were cancelled in Fargo, ND in May for a blizzard. 

Did you know that we plug our cars in? I took my car in for an oil change while I was roadtripping around the US and an employee at a car repair shop came up to me and quietly asked (about my then 2001 grand am), "Why do you have a plug in sticking out of your hood? Is it electric?" 

I don't want you to be shellacked by winter. It sucks. It hurts. You walk outside and your face hurts. Like, stinging pain. If you try to walk a few blocks in -20, your legs will become giant ice blocks that feel like they each weigh 100 pounds. If you go outside without gloves, you will get frostbite and lose your fingers. If you plan on driving a long distance when it's that cold, you need to pack emergency supplies in case your car breaks down. The cold literally kills people. 

The food in the Midwest is amazing though! You've probably had Southern comfort food, but Midwest comfort food is its own thing! 

[Wabbajack]

58 minutes ago, khigh said:

I will probably put the first post up this evening. Honestly, winter isn’t that bad. Even -20 is easy to deal with because there is almost no humidity. You do need to start your car a few times a day to let it warm up. Snow is great. We got 17” in uptown on Monday and only had one bad day of driving. They had the highways cleared by Tuesday morning and the neighborhoods by Wednesday morning. 

The U has a tunnel system, so you never have to go outside on campus if you don’t want to. 

Minneapolis is the most educated city in the USA. We have more Fortune 500 companies per capita than anywhere else in the US. We are now the most bikeable city, beating Portland and Seattle. We have the most green space out of all US cities. There are ski resorts within the city (well, the burbs) and you can cross country ski on any of the bike trails in the winter. Ice skating is free, including skates, on city lakes. 

Minne is diverse. We pride ourselves on the way we take care of refugees, so there are large Syrian, Somalian, and Hmong populations. That means great food. 

Traffic is not bad at all for a major city. I work 20 miles away on the other side of the city and even during rush hour, it’s only a 45 minute drive. You do have to get used to the stoplights on the on-ramps. That’s so people are nice and alternate getting on the interstate. 

Coffee is Caribou or Tim Hortons (or Dunn’s). We don’t do a lot of Starbucks here. Amazon has a big presence in the city, so we all use Amazon Restaurants. You can have any food delivered to your home from places within 10 miles. In my area, that’s anything from Mediterranean to Chinese to Indian to bar food. 

I live in the Carag neighborhood. It’s old Victorian apartments. I am three blocks one way from Lake Calhoun and three blocks another way to Lake Street, which is a trendy place full of bars, restaurants, shopping, and local amenities. Target is king here (headquartered in Minneapolis) and Walmart is only in the burbs. 

I honestly moved here for two reasons. The boyfriend is from Bloomington (Mall of America). And, I was tired of summer. Summer here is great. It’s never too hot. You may have a few 90 degree days, but most of the time, it’s in the 70s and 80s. 

Sorry that was so long, but I love this place. There is a reason that it is said that it is impossible to get people to move to Minneapolis, but once they get here, it’s impossible to get them to leave. 

56 minutes ago, khigh said:

One more thing, and this is important for college students, Internet is CHEAP. I get 1gig download for $50 a month. Fiber is everywhere in the city. 

I’ll do a neighborhood breakdown later. 

This is awesome!! Thank you!! I will search for your blog to read more too.

It's encouraging to read that -20 is "easy to deal with."  I think my fear of the weather is getting rolled into the first feelings of impostor syndrome. Thoughts like, "Can I actually do well while ALSO AVOIDING FROSTBITE?" and "Do I have enough discipline to reach all my goals AND SHOVEL SNOW?"

 

[khigh]

7 minutes ago, Wooshkuh said:

I think that everything @khigh said was fair except for winter. There's a reason people are "Minnesota nice." Winter is rough. People who have always lived in those conditions are tough. Do you know why "-20 is easy to deal with" (or -40 or -50 or -60 with wind chill)? Because you can't go outside! You spend your winter months running from a building to your car. 

Also, I'm not sure which months most of the country considers "winter," but winter can stretch from October to May. Once, my classes were cancelled in Fargo, ND in May for a blizzard. 

Did you know that we plug our cars in? I took my car in for an oil change while I was roadtripping around the US and an employee at a car repair shop came up to me and quietly asked (about my then 2001 grand am), "Why do you have a plug in sticking out of your hood? Is it electric?" 

I don't want you to be shellacked by winter. It sucks. It hurts. You walk outside and your face hurts. Like, stinging pain. If you try to walk a few blocks in -20, your legs will become giant ice blocks that feel like they each weigh 100 pounds. If you go outside without gloves, you will get frostbite and lose your fingers. If you plan on driving a long distance when it's that cold, you need to pack emergency supplies in case your car breaks down. The cold literally kills people. 

The food in the Midwest is amazing though! You've probably had Southern comfort food, but Midwest comfort food is its own thing! 

Everyone experiences winter in a different way. Any time the weatherman says the temp is going to be “above,” I’m outside. I work outside at least a few hours a day (sell cars). You just have to embrace it and tell your neighbor “well, it could be worse.”

Minnesota Nice is like Southern nice on steroids. It’s passive aggressive. It’s fake nice, which works for me. 

[Wabbajack]

13 minutes ago, Wooshkuh said:

I think that everything @khigh said was fair except for winter. There's a reason people are "Minnesota nice." Winter is rough. People who have always lived in those conditions are tough. Do you know why "-20 is easy to deal with" (or -40 or -50 or -60 with wind chill)? Because you can't go outside! You spend your winter months running from a building to your car. 

Also, I'm not sure which months most of the country considers "winter," but winter can stretch from October to May. Once, my classes were cancelled in Fargo, ND in May for a blizzard. 

Did you know that we plug our cars in? I took my car in for an oil change while I was roadtripping around the US and an employee at a car repair shop came up to me and quietly asked (about my then 2001 grand am), "Why do you have a plug in sticking out of your hood? Is it electric?" 

I don't want you to be shellacked by winter. It sucks. It hurts. You walk outside and your face hurts. Like, stinging pain. If you try to walk a few blocks in -20, your legs will become giant ice blocks that feel like they each weigh 100 pounds. If you go outside without gloves, you will get frostbite and lose your fingers. If you plan on driving a long distance when it's that cold, you need to pack emergency supplies in case your car breaks down. The cold literally kills people. 

The food in the Midwest is amazing though! You've probably had Southern comfort food, but Midwest comfort food is its own thing! 

From what I'm gathering, the winter is like an interaction with a very dangerous animal: you have to respect it. If that's true, I think there's hope.

[FreakyFoucault]

9 minutes ago, Wabbajack said:

From what I'm gathering, the winter is like an interaction with a very dangerous animal: you have to respect it. If that's true, I think there's hope.

While I was an undergrad, during the notoriously brutal winter of '15, we had several "cold days," on which classes were cancelled because it was, I kid you not, "extremely unsafe" to go outside. Now, naturally, everyone went outside anyway to get to the campus bar, but it was still pretty darn frosty. 

Wussification of America? Maybe. 

Too darn cold to feel your face? Definitely.  

[Wabbajack]

4 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said:

While I was an undergrad, during the notoriously brutal winter of '15, we had several "cold days," on which classes were cancelled because it was, I kid you not, "extremely unsafe" to go outside. Now, naturally, everyone went outside anyway to get to the campus bar, but it was still pretty darn frosty. 

Wussification of America? Maybe. 

Too darn cold to feel your face? Definitely.  

The coldest weather I've ever experienced was winter in DC--so not very cold. My poor husband is from Miami. We have absolutely no idea what we're getting into.

[khigh]

You can’t be a real Minnesotan until you’ve done two things- fight a bear and dig your car out of the snow!

For perspective on how I like the cold...today is 22 above and flurries. I’m heading to IKEA in shorts and a sweatshirt. 

Edited January 28, 2018 by khigh

[FreakyFoucault]

3 minutes ago, khigh said:

dig your car out of the snow!

 

I keep telling my engineering friends that they'd make a fortune if they invented a device that quickly but safely de-snowed and de-iced your car. I'd pay a lot of money I don't have for one of those! 

[FreakyFoucault]

12 minutes ago, Wabbajack said:

We have absolutely no idea what we're getting into.

I won't lie, subzero temperatures (especially with wind chill) aren't pleasant, but you get used to it. And if it gets particularly bad, I'd recommend studying abroad during the winter semester. Rome, for example, is quite temperate in the winter, if a little rainy. 

Edited January 28, 2018 by FreakyFoucault

[ashley623]

I'm from Texas and absolutely HATE the summers. I get soo heat sick so often, and so I purposely only (mostly) applied to colleges that are in states with real winters and milder summers. It's easier for me to bundle up in the cold than sweat my face off in the heat. 

[punctilious]

26 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said:

I won't lie, subzero temperatures (especially with wind chill) aren't pleasant, but you get used to it. And if it gets particularly bad, I'd recommend studying abroad during the winter semester. Rome, for example, is quite temperate in the winter, if a little rainy. 

Can you study abroad during a PhD? Because that sounds sweet.

[FreakyFoucault]

19 minutes ago, punctilious said:

Can you study abroad during a PhD? Because that sounds sweet.

That’s a good question! Probably depends on the program. 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@katie64 I'm from California and only applied to one school in this state. I'm coming to the realization that there's a good chance I'll be moving somewhere with real seasons, haha.

[ashley623]

11 minutes ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

@katie64 I'm from California and only applied to one school in this state. I'm coming to the realization that there's a good chance I'll be moving somewhere with real seasons, haha.

The only place I've ever lived besides Texas is San Diego, so I feel you there. I definitely prefer real seasons and just cannotttt with the extreme heat anymore. Even my horse is extremely sensitive to the heat, so I feel like it's much needed for both of us to move somewhere cooler hahaha. 

[punctilious]

20 minutes ago, katie64 said:

The only place I've ever lived besides Texas is San Diego, so I feel you there. I definitely prefer real seasons and just cannotttt with the extreme heat anymore. Even my horse is extremely sensitive to the heat, so I feel like it's much needed for both of us to move somewhere cooler hahaha. 

It's funny because when I was back home visiting family in Vermont and Massachusetts over Christmas, I was asking my husband, "Do you SERIOUSLY want to come back here for school?" as we shuffled through snow/ice/freezing rain/-15 degree temps. 

[midwest-ford]

2 hours ago, Wabbajack said:

This is awesome!! Thank you!! I will search for your blog to read more too.

It's encouraging to read that -20 is "easy to deal with."  I think my fear of the weather is getting rolled into the first feelings of impostor syndrome. Thoughts like, "Can I actually do well while ALSO AVOIDING FROSTBITE?" and "Do I have enough discipline to reach all my goals AND SHOVEL SNOW?"

 

As a lifelong Wisconsinite, I really feel like half the battle with the cold is having the right clothes. If you have a good pair of snowboots (I have two pairs, one for serious snow and another just to keep warm when it's snowy but not crazy bad), a parka with a hood (you can find some that are "rated" for the cold, so like I have a parka that's rated to work well in -5 to -35F weather), a hat, and a few pairs of gloves, it makes all the difference. 

I can't speak to Minneapolis in particular, but I'd also add that your experience with Midwestern winters might also depend a bit on if you have a car. On one hand, having a car in winter is stressful (digging it out, making sure it doesn't die, driving safely in gross weather), but on the other hand, there are certainly times when it's much easier to deal with the cold when you can hop in your car and go instead of waiting outside for public transit. 

I do know some people who have moved to the Midwest and absolutely couldn't take the cold, but I know more who like it! Also consider: fall. The best and most beautiful fall season of your life will be in the Midwest! 

[FreakyFoucault]

8 minutes ago, midwest-ford said:

your experience with Midwestern winters might also depend a bit on if you have a car. On one hand, having a car in winter is stressful (digging it out, making sure it doesn't die, driving safely in gross weather)

If you're like me and drive a Cobalt, be prepared to go car-sledding in the winter. But hope that it's not on the freeway... 

[khigh]

24 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said:

If you're like me and drive a Cobalt, be prepared to go car-sledding in the winter. But hope that it's not on the freeway... 

I drive a Fiat 500. Front wheel drive. Manual. Mussolini (my car) has been a beast this winter. 

I do have to say that my saving grace is leggings under pants. I’m obsessed with fleece lined leggings. 

[khigh]

Oh, and since y’all are literary people, I think you would enjoy the F Scott Fitzgerald tour. He grew up in St Paul and he and Zelda had a cabin in White Bear Lake. 

[ltr317]

24 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said:

If you're like me and drive a Cobalt, be prepared to go car-sledding in the winter. But hope that it's not on the freeway... 

I hear you.  I was driving a Fiat Cinquecento (500, new version) in upstate NY on interstate 81 in a blinding snowstorm two winters ago when suddenly I felt the rear end coming around.  It took all of my prior training in racing cars to keep from spinning and going off the highway and into a bunch of trees.  Fishtailed several times but managed to stop before I went off the road.  Oh, and I was too cheap to buy snow tires. 

[ltr317]

16 minutes ago, khigh said:

I drive a Fiat 500. Front wheel drive. Manual. Mussolini (my car) has been a beast this winter. 

I do have to say that my saving grace is leggings under pants. I’m obsessed with fleece lined leggings. 

Cool.  Fellow historian and Fiat owner.

[FreakyFoucault]

18 minutes ago, khigh said:

I drive a Fiat 500. Front wheel drive. Manual. Mussolini (my car) has been a beast this winter. 

On the first icy day in December, I was driving home from work when I hit a patch of black ice (this was at night). My poor Cobalt (and poor me) went pirouetting along I-480 at roughly 65 mph. Three things happened in the following order: 1) I tried to remember whether your steer in or out of a skid; 2) I then realized that my car was still turning after 360 degrees; 3) and finally, I made a Faustian bargain to spare my life from the oncoming traffic.

And here I am! Here's to hoping my soul isn't called to Hell before I manage to finish my PhD...

“What art thou FreakyFoucault, but a man condemned to die?” 

Edited January 28, 2018 by FreakyFoucault

[FreakyFoucault]

9 minutes ago, ltr317 said:

Oh, and I was too cheap to buy snow tires. 

I had snow tires on during the above story. They help, but they're still no match for black ice (at least when you have a car like mine that weighs twenty pounds soaking wet).

[ltr317]

5 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said:

I had snow tires on during the above story. They help, but they're still no match for black ice (at least when you have a car like mine that weighs twenty pounds soaking wet).

My Fiat probably beats the Cobalt by a pound or less.