Hello Minnesotans,
In about a month I’ll be joining your ranks. I’m buying a house just outside of St Cloud. It’s not my first pick in terms of politics from what I’ve read, but the state laws are far better for my family than where we live now.
Aside from the fact that we’re moving in November, which is one of my more brilliant strokes, to be sure, I’m very excited for this change.
I’m looking for any and all of your Minnesota advice.
I’ve got a pretty big family, gaggle of kids (from 2nd grade to sophomore in high school), a few dogs, and ambitions on some waterfowl next year maybe.
I’m not afraid of driving in snow, I grew up in MO, we got our share of snow, so I know that often judicious throttle control is better than frantic braking. However, I’ve never dealt with snow on that scale that sticks for that long. I think we’re going from an average annual snowfall of 12ish inches to 40-something annual inches of snow.
Will a self-propelled two stage snowblower kill me on a couple hundred feet of driveway?
Do I really need to scrape the snow off my roof?
How do I help the dogs with the cold? (Do dog boots and coats actually work?)
Got any recommendations for cold weather clothes? (I know we need layers, I’m already a fan of wool, but I need some advice on sourcing stuff that my kids will want to wear)
I love gardening, how much more time will a greenhouse give me in terms of growing season?
How the heck do I make Minnesota friends? I’m not a church person, so I expect this to be difficult for me.
DMV advice?
Best restaurants to visit?
Our family has spent the last year grieving and trying to process what has often felt like some kind of absurd unreality. I want to make this transition as positive as I can.
You don’t get to pick where you’re born, but you do (to some extent at least) get to pick where you live. We picked Minnesota because of the people, the land, and even the weather.
Sorry for being a stereotype, but I really don’t know how else to ask aside from the non-stop googling and YouTube I’m already doing.
TL;DR:
Yet another “I’m moving to Minnesota, help me!” Post.
Edit: You all have given me some great ideas and places to start! Thank you so much!
I’m really excited to start this new chapter and you all have helped relieve some of my worries about being buried alive in snow at least :)
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I love to hear it. It seems like you’re actively preparing yourself for the ‘hard’ part of the year and thats great!
Dogs: Up to your pups. My husky loves the cold weather (surprise right?). Just make sure on days where its 0 or below you’re paying attention to their feet. They’ll freeze and get frostbite, ouch. If you see them doing pained tippy taps, bring em in. Boots help if your pups go on long walks but have cold sensetivity, gonna have to just feel this one out. Dog coats, unless they’re a specific breed, are mostly for cute pictures.
The other posters answered your other questions well, so I would like to chime in: Making friends can be tough here. Point blank. Especially in the cold winters, where its not uncommon to kind of socially isolate yourself. We can be kind of cliquey, mostly unintentionally if we’re being honest. Going to a bar or any of the local town events though, give you the opportunity to open small talk with the locals. If you make an effort to reach out, get involved in a group activity, club, or sports, you’ll make some of the most loyal friends you could ask for.
The fact that you’re asking questions is so great, we look forward to having more critical thinkers here!
My dogs have been ok in MO in the winter, aside from pretending to pee so they can come back in quicker. I’ll have to see how they handle it.
I’ll probably need advice when things start to thaw on gardening in Zone 4. I’ve read that there’s some events with master gardeners in warmer weather. Maybe I’ll meet some nice folks who can explain rhubarb to me.
Thanks for the info!
Some dogs just REALLY don’t like the cold, and thats okay! ID recommend shoveling out a good path and a nice open area during the winter to make going outside easier if they’re cold babies. The snow drifts can get so tall it becomes really uncofmortable for them to shit - they’ll sink into the snow a bit and the poop piles up a little too close to their asshoe for comfort.
TMI? Maybe, but as a dog owner im sure you understand.
Imagining my Great Dane having this problem is hilarious. He weighs enough that I anticipate this being a reality. I’m gonna have to take your advice on making an open area for them.
As for gardening, from what I can tell, is just a bit pickier. I’ve adopted to starting seedlings in my basement and get them ready for the outdoor spring season. Make a solid plan of what you want (like rhubarb) and find the strains that deal with cold weather or large fluxuations in temp better.
We aint getting year round banana trees up here 🤣
There are some gems for food in the St. Cloud area. I moved away from the area about three years ago into the Twin Cities, so can’t speak to more recent additions, but White Horse downtown was always good food if you could put up with unnecessarily slow service. Olde Brick House downtown also good. Old Capital Tavern in Sauk Rapids is solid. Krewe in St. Joseph is probably my favorite restaurant in the area though, and make sure you stop at Jupiter Moon Ice Cream afterwards.
Overall Minnesota is a great place to live. Don’t hesitate to get into the twin cities and suburbs as much as you can - you will have way more high end food options, way more activities for the kids, and way more opportunities for your own socialization. Don’t fall into the St. Cloud mentality of the Twin Cities being 45-60 minutes away meaning you can’t take advantage if it.
Spend some time farther up north when you have time for weekend trips. Rent a cabin up in Bemidji, take the kids to Duluth, get into whatever kind of outdoor winter sports you can put up with. Take the kids tubing at Powder Ridge this winter.
Welcome!
Don’t fall into the St. Cloud mentality of the Twin Cities being 45-60 minutes away meaning you can’t take advantage if it.
Also, don’t fall for the “The cities are a war zone, you’ll get shot down there” crap that a lot of people outside the metro try to sell. Minneapolis really isn’t any worse than any other city that size and neither is St. Paul. A lot of the people who are deathly afraid of the cities are really just afraid of cities in general and don’t have any real concept of what is or isn’t a bad neighborhood.
Also, I’m seconding the food recommendations but I’d add that my wife and I were in St. Cloud this spring and we went to Arroy Thai & Filipino which was also great.
100% this. Thanks for saying it.
Thanks for the specific recs! I’m building a list of places to check out now!
Couple other restaurants I thought of that I’d recommend - Gilibertos and Bravo Burrito are great tacos and burritos. Hajime > Fuji for sushi. Jules Bistro is great coffee and lunch downtown. Kinder Coffee is also great coffee. I think I might need a Kinder -> Krewe -> Jupiter Moon kind of Saturday afternoon soon…
I’ve never dealt with snow on that scale that sticks for that long.
As others said, the snow is cleared off the road, and in only sticking around in the ditches and fields. Unless it’s actively snowing, the main roads are typically clean and dry, although at times, if it’s windy, there can be drifts and icy spots on the roads, especially in rural areas.
Will a self-propelled two stage snowblower kill me on a couple hundred feet of driveway?
Only if you stick your arm in the auger while it’s running. The snowblower will do the work for you, so you just need to go out there and enjoy a nice walk in the fresh snow.
Do I really need to scrape the snow off my roof?
This depends on the house. An older house, maybe. A newer house, probably not.
How the heck do I make Minnesota friends? I’m not a church person, so I expect this to be difficult for me.
Looks for people with similar hobbies. People say it’s hard making friends here, but it’s really not that different from anywhere else.
DMV advice?
Apply for your license online, then print out the confirmation letter and bring whatever documentation it says to bring. See if the local office does appointments. In MN, the “DMV” is a mix of county offices, city offices, and private businesses. They are referred to as “deputy registrars” and are not actually operated by the state. The experience at one office can be completely different than a different one. When I moved to a different town, I got my license updated in a bank. When I had to renew it, I went to a county office.
Welcome to Minnesota! Hopefully you’ll like it here!
I’ve just never really dealt with snow of that magnitude so I hear horror stories of ice dams and it’s a little scary. I’ve been thinking it might be safe to copy the neighbors if in doubt, at least till I know better.
As for friends, I’ve bounced around a bit in my adult life, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, didn’t make too many friends beyond my coworkers or people I already knew. I’m not changing jobs for this move, so to meet anyone local I’m gonna have to come out of my shell a bit. If you hear of a gardening/ttrpg/3d printing meetup let me know lol.
The DMV thing sounds familiar. I think I’ll just have to be very thorough in my prep.
Thank you!
gardening/ttrpg/3d printing
These are all popular here, especially ttrpg. It’s not my thing, but I know there’s a lot of people into it. Gotta have something to do during the long cold winters dontchaknow.
Snow- the roads will be mostly normal to drive on except when it has just snowed. The fact that it sticks around means they lay down salt and/or sand where it is needed. Still, get a good lesson on how and when to brake, how to steer in a skid, and other snow stuff if you want to be safe on the road. If you are ever stuck in the snow, someone will stop to help. If you ever see someone stuck in the snow, you will stop to help.
Not sure what you mean about the snow blower. I have never had one and my parents had enough shovels for the many hands.
House roof snow. Never needed to scrape. If you have a flat roof that might be a thing. They should all be built with ‘snow load’ in mind though. There are other roof concerns like ice damming that I definitely have heard people putting fixes in place for.
The only thing I ever did for the dog was mushers wax on her feet. That repels snow and helps if the pads get to much salt. Dog coats definitely work if you have a skinny/small/very light coated dog.
Warm beats fashion for clothes. Get you ear flap hats or whatever else keeps the chill off. You might feel like a fool, but no one will look twice.
I don’t know about the greenhouse but you can grow plenty in the summer without one.
Making friends- do something you like same as anywhere else. New to you would probably be ice skating, pick up hockey, curling, or x-country skiing. Kids joining 4H or scouts or whatever could do it too. I am sure there are local groups for any of those. Just look for meet ups of whatever kind you or the fam is interested in.
I’ll have to look at the foot wax. I’ve got a Dalmatian, a great Dane, and a little mutt, they complain about the cold sometimes, I’ll have to feel things out as we go. :/
I think I’ll get some of those flap hats for the whole family, they seem popular for people in cold places, at least on YouTube.
As far as the gardening goes, it’s one of my favorite things to do, but moving from zone 6 to zone 4 is kind of wild. I’m a little worried I’ll have trouble growing things that I’m used to being able to produce is all.
Thank you for taking the time to give me some advice!
I’m not afraid of driving in snow, I grew up in MO, we got our share of snow, so I know that often judicious throttle control is better than frantic braking. However, I’ve never dealt with snow on that scale that sticks for that long
The municipality should basically take care of the roads for you. I don’t think you’ll have any issue. If you can front the money I do recommend getting winter tires.
DMV advice?
My DMV visits have been cordial and pretty efficient. Make sure to read any posted signs; they might require you to fill out a form before going up to the counter. I did once not do this and the person at the desk was very kind about telling me I had been a dingus (not a hint of frustration or exasperation).
Best restaurants to visit?
I feel like this is mostly going to be based on your locality. I’ve never been to St Cloud, so I can’t really speak to that. But the two chains that pop to mind are Culver’s and Pizza Ranch. Oh, also keep your eyes out for an apple orchard. Not a restaurant, but you’ll get some good food for sure.
How the heck do I make Minnesota friends?
If you figure this out let me know :P
I’ll put winter tires on the list.
1 or 2 honey crisp trees are on my list for spring planting, I didn’t realize that Minnesota was the source of so many apple varieties! We actually have Culver’s and Pizza Ranch in MO already though :) I’m a little sad that I’m moving away from whataburger again, but I’m sure somebody makes a good patty melt up North though.
Thank you for the advice!
Snow tires are worth it, get a separate set of wheels if you can afford it then you can rotate them in yourself.
Two stage blower is more than enough.
You may need to scrape your roof, it depends on your attic space and insulation. If you start getting ice dams you need to do something.
Depends on the dog. I think boots and a coat are humane when it’s -40 out.
I buy most our winter gear from Reima, REI, and Costco. MOA has a North Face store if you want to try stuff on. Midwest Mountaineering is a nice place too for top shelf gear.
Join groups or clubs. 75% of my friends are from one Facebook group and we branched off from there. Be neighborly and invite others to your hobbies if they’re interested.
Find a good tater tot hot dish recipe.
Get into winter sports and you’ll look forward to the snow. I snowboard, snow shoe, fat bike, and I’m looking forward to trying cross country skiing.
I’m late to the game here and everybody has already answered your questions. As a native born Minnesotan who has a lot of love for this state I just wanted to say welcome to you and your family!
I peaked through your comment history and it really fills me with pride that you found our humble little middle state appealing!
I hope your family finds happiness and joy and I’m sure you’ll take advantage of all the beauty, wonder and fun Minnesota has to offer!
Semi similar boat in terms of moving for me, but from the KS side of the border hah. Just looking to move in 2025. Hopefully you get some good advice as I’ll be watching hah
Good luck to you. It’s been super stressful for us, I hope it’s less so for you.
Since it sounds like you’ve lived mostly in the south, I’m going to quote some advice my wife gave to a co-worker when she first moved up Georgia.
“You may think you have winter clothes but, you do not. Buy a coat, gloves and, a hat when you get here. They don’t carry them heavy enough down there.”
Also, if you’re going to try to be outside in the winter, consider bomber hats these if you’re not familiar. They look dopey but you wouldn’t believe how much warmer they keep you. I keep one in the car for emergencies and I’m convinced it’s saved my life during some breakdowns at -50.
Just get a snow rake. It’s cheap insurance. Snow on your roof isn’t likely to collapse it, but ice dams happen even on newer roofs, and it’s another 5 minute job after you’re done using the blower to clear the driveway.
Fixing an ice dam after it is there is a pain. Prevention via snow rake is cheaper and less headache
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