[aliah79]

Hey ladies,

DH and I currently live in TN. However, we are not happy here and are looking to move to another state/area of the country. DH is from Canada, Winnipeg actually, so ND would be closest to his family, but Montana and possibly SD are most appealing. However, we've never been out there, and don't know anyone who lives there etc.

I was hoping maybe you ladies would be able to help... tell me what it's like living there, cost of living, good areas to look into. We don't want to be in a huge city, more out in the county, but close to an urban area for work and stuff.

We're really just in the discovery phase of this and trying to make a decision so we know what our goals are... I know it's a huge request, and not specific at all. Are there any websites that help compare cost of living in different states?

I'd appreciate any help

TIA!

 

[Starr]

I'm actually in western MN close to the dakota borders. I went to college in ND. Rural ND is really reasonable living. The part I am more familiar with is eastern SD and ND, not sure if that is where you are looking. Wahpeton and Breckinridge are pretty good. They have a great park and zoo and are only an hour or so from Fargo. The only thing is the really prepare for flooding in the spring, they had a bad flood in 97 or 98. Hope others are able to tell you more.

 

[gentle_mama04]

I live in eastern MT now but I grew up in the Minot area of ND and my husband is from northern SD. I lived in Bismarck for a while. They all have their ups and downs. Bismarck is getting a lot bigger now. There's lots' of shopping. Where I live now we only have a Walmart and two grocery stores. Along with the mom and pop places. It's a small town and I've met some pretty cool people here. (At least I haven't gotten any weird looks for wearing my baby and breastfeeding. Most people compliment me on it.)

 

[thriftyqueen]

Hi there,

I live in Minot, North Dakota. It is a nice town to live in. We have a population of 36,000 and have most stores and the ones we don't have Bismarck has (a hour and a half drive). The cost for a home in Minot is around 100,000-150,000 (3 bed 2 bath). You can get houses in small towns in ND for dirt cheap. Just depends on if you would want to live in a city or in a small town.

The downside to North Dakota is the temps in the winter. DH won't have a problem with that being from Canada, but it does take some getting used to. We have had mild winters (by our terms), which means only a few days of -20or so. Mostly we see temps hovering around 20 above most of the winter. Spring, summer, and fall are beautiful though.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Jillie]

I'll be back when I can type in peace

.

 

[ndakkitten]

I have lived in ND most of my life, in rural area north of Minot as well as Fargo and now Bismarck. My husband is Canadian as well, originally from Ontario.

Bismarck and Fargo are growing very rapidly, with new shops and restaurants opening monthly. Basically where you want to live depends on what you want.
One nice thing I have found about Bismarck is that it does have a local chapter of the MOMS club http://www.geocities.com/bismomsclub/, which is a great way to meet other moms and find activities to do with your kids. Also, you can live in one of the small towns just outside of Bismarck (such as Wilton or Lincoln) to get that rural feeling, but still be close by.

One website to compare cities that I would use is Money Magazine's Best Places to Live 2006 at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/. This lists everything from median incomes and cost of housing to quality of living and crime statistics. Both Bismarck and Fargo made the top 100.

Hope this helps you!

 

[Jillie]

I've lived near in Fargo and near Grand Forks. Fargo is getting to big for me now, I don't enjoy driving there now. But it is a nice city and has lots to offer. They have a small zoo and a nice childrens museum. They are working on imporving the library system. There is plenty of shopping and many resturants. Grand Forks is smaller, but still nice. Not nearly as much of everything, but still decent access to the things you need. Has a natural foods store, albit small, and on the other hand a super Target. Both cities have colleges and other schools, so there is a little cultural diversity (a little). ND is a nice place to live. But I've got to imagine it will be VERY different from TN. Good Luck.

 

[`guest`]

A good place to compare is sperling's www.bestplaces.net/ they have a comparison section, I think. MT I can tell you about. There are virtually no large metro areas here. There's Billings, which has over 100k, and Missoula is pretty large. Missoula has lots to do with kids. It's very hippy-crunchy, the University is there. But there is bad weather in the winter, because of inversions. Billings is a pretty standard city, a little cowboyish.

Helena is the capitol city, is very slow, you could buy land around there pretty reasonable. Other cities are Great Falls, there is an airforce base there, so it's that kind of city. Then my town, Bozeman, which I love sooo much, about 40k growing like crazy. Towns nearby are cheaper than Bozeman proper. There's land round, but it's so expensive.

Montana is a beautiful state, I fall in love with it every time we go camping, or just even for a drive. it's breathtaking, and the people are friendly. But I think ND and SD are the same in the friendly nice people dept. Good luck, it's a big decision for you and your family, I'm sure.

 

[mclisa]

I have to comment since no one has brought up South Dakota! It's a great place to live!

Sioux Falls can be a little expensive, but there are so many people out in the bedroom communities that travel into SF to work that you could certainly make that work. Parker, Tea, Hartford, etc. The schools are excellent here. The SF schools can be rather large, but again, if you go out to the smaller towns the schools are smaller and still just as good.

The job prospects are better in the eastern part of SD, but the Black Hills are so beautiful.

Watertown and Brookings are other good options because they are located on I-90 and would be easy to get up to Canada to visit relatives.

Sioux Falls has more options for ap living. There are 2 health food stores, LLL meetings, midwifes for birthing (Lisa Van Gerpan) and doctors that are good options too in regards to vacinating (Dr. Patty Peters has been mentioned.)

It was interesting to listen to Ben Stein (think "Beuhler, Beuhler" and he's also a very smart about the economy) comment about SD. He found it to be a great place because it is unhurried and calm. No hustle/bustle to make you stressed. Lots of nature close by to help you relax as well.

gotta go, someone is waking up and demanding attention

 

[KatWrangler]

Here is another great resouce I have been using.

http://www.city-data.com/

They have a forum set up by State and then City to ask questions.

ETA:

Here is the link to the forum.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/

 

[karlin]

I live in Rapid City, SD. It's in the southwest portion of the state, just outside the Black Hills. It's a beautiful location. Our town has about 60,000 people, plenty of jobs, and the cost of living is pretty low/average. We have several health food stores, a co-op, and a great AP mom's group. There's so much to do, especially if you're into hiking and camping, etc.

 

[lanielayne]

I had to get a double take at the post because I could have posted that not 6 months ago! We moved in March from Memphis to Missoula, MT. I love it here though of course I haven't lived through a winter yet. It is very family-oriented. The median age is 32 or so and everyone around here has little kids! It is very crunchy and everywhere you turn you see slinging moms and people on bikes! The summer was alot warmer than I expected with June, July, and most of August in high 80s to high 90s though now it is getting cooler more like fall. Average house price in town is 200,000 but you can find them for around 150,000 if looking to live out a bit. I used city-data to compare but I have to say that some things I think were a little off. The real estate and job market appeared closer to Memphis than it really is. Good luck in your decision!