Minnesota or Portland - Where is better to live?

Minnesota is REALLY cold.

Where in Minnesota btw? Minneapolis-St. Paul, I'm guessing?

Portland, Maine or Portland, Oregon? Portland, Oregon seems like a great place to me, but have only visited.

European? From where? I'd say Minnesota, but only if you're from Finland. Portland otherwise... though I've never been to either.

Minnesota, Minnesota, Minnesota!

I've lived in both places.. I would never go back to Minnesota that's for sure, and I would love to end up back in Portland some day. But I guess it depends on what you like. If you like mosquitos, big people, and a pretty cool night life in Minneapolis than I would go there. Ohh, and it gets pretty damn cold in the winter time. Portland, has everything you want from a night life, to the beach, running, and the mountains. However, the people in Portland are weird. You will never find a dull day walking around Portland.

hi, opening poster here. minneapolis/st paul in minnesota and portland, oregon. i'm english, not finnish.

I am from Minneapolis and I really like it. The cold is exaggerated. It really only matters a couple of days per year.

I really like Minneapolis/St. Paul. It offers much more than most people from the coasts realize. The running options are great if you live in the right spot.

I have not been to Portland.

If you would like to see the U.S. while you are here, there are many many many great things to see in the western U.S. You could take "short" road trips to places like Yosemite, Death Valley, Telluride, Lake Tahoe, etc. The western U.S. is really unbelievable if you want to see amazing natural attractions and wide open spaces. I imagine in would be quite a novelty for a European to explore such vast places.

From Minneapolis, there are not many cool destinations close. The Boundary Waters are great, Duluth/Lake Superior are cool, you could drive to the Black Hills in western South Dakota or Chicago.

My two cents

The women are a lot more attractive in Minnesota than Portland but it is still the Midwest and it gets cold, cold cold. Minneapolis is a fun city but leave that area and you are a pretty long way away from anything let alone races. Decent running scene.

Portland is also cliquey and parochial, like a big high school. If you were not born in Oregon they tend to disdain you. The English accent thing can work for you a bit. It also rains a buttload in Portland, 10 months a year of drizzly gray gray gray. If you don't mind that, it's a decent place to train but don't expect to make a ton of friends there. Overrated hipster town.

There are better places to live in the US.

uh uhb uh uih wrote:

The women are a lot more attractive in Minnesota than Portland but it is still the Midwest and it gets cold, cold cold. Minneapolis is a fun city but leave that area and you are a pretty long way away from anything let alone races. Decent running scene.

Portland is also cliquey and parochial, like a big high school. If you were not born in Oregon they tend to disdain you. The English accent thing can work for you a bit. It also rains a buttload in Portland, 10 months a year of drizzly gray gray gray. If you don't mind that, it's a decent place to train but don't expect to make a ton of friends there. Overrated hipster town.

There are better places to live in the US.

Houston and New Orleans perhaps.

uh uhb uh uih wrote:

Portland is also cliquey and parochial, like a big high school. If you were not born in Oregon they tend to disdain you. The English accent thing can work for you a bit. It also rains a buttload in Portland, 10 months a year of drizzly gray gray gray. If you don't mind that, it's a decent place to train but don't expect to make a ton of friends there. Overrated hipster town.

There are better places to live in the US.

Rains TEN MONTHS of the year? Seriously? Exaggerate much?

I've lived in PDX for the past 22+ years. I grew up in Chicago and lived my first 30 years there. So I know COLD and HOT, HUMID weather and mosquitos.

I'll take the Portland weather any day of the year, compared to the Midwest. And while it MAY SEEM like it rains a lot, in REALITY, the volume of rain is actually LESS than most midwest cities. And I'll take the gray days of winter over freezing my ass off.

The Twin Cities is a beautiful area, but so is Portland. I'd suggest researching the economy and job availability of both areas, visit both if you can, and then make your decision.

while admittedly biased, portland is amazing for a young guy, especially if you're active. you can bike pretty much anywhere in the city, there's tons of runners around and great places to run from forest park by either the zoo or leif erikson trail to the ten mile path around the river downtown. don't be bogged down by the talk of too much rain either; many days have a little drizzle and mist and it's overcast a lot but it's also in the 50s to 60s i.e. perfect training weather... i hope to return there if i get a two-year job in japan that would finance the move

lots of good, helpful points being made here. how about purely for running? which of these two cities/schools would a 4 minute miler be better off joining?

I lived in the Twin Cities for 11 years and then moved to Portland, OR where I've been for 16 years. I'm from the east coast, so I was not a native to either. Personally, I prefer Portland, but that's my opinion.

As a runner, you cannot ignore the fact that it is REALLY cold in Minnesota in the winter and that "winter" pretty much stretches from November through April. It's snowed when I was there in October and May, so I don't think it's an exaggeration. You do get used to the cold, but initially it will be quite a shock. Often winter's days are clear and pretty - BUT pretty tough to be outside. The wind is often from the Northwest and you pretty much have to run towards it (so you don't freeze to death on the return. I got tired of the winter run because it was always the same direction.

(My fingers, toes and ears are still affected by the "frost-nip" I got in my first years in MN). The summer in Minnesota can be hot and humid and there are lots of mosquitos and gnats to deal with when you run in the early evening. The fall is quite nice, but also short.

Running routes in Minnesota, when not snow covered, are pretty good. The River Road and the lakes are always nice, if a bit crowded. Fort Snelling, Hyland Park (great trails) and several outlying parks are great to run.

It rains frequently in Portland, except in the summer when it's typically dry. It's often gray in the winter, but the landscape is always green, which is nice. Things start budding in late February, which was a shock to someone used to Minnesota winter. But Portland has it's share of miserable running weather as 33 degrees and raining can be awful. The fall is nice here, and the summer is glorious.

I'm partial to the trails, so Portland's vast Forest Park is a great place to run. The trails do get muddy in the winter, but never that bad that you can't run on them. There are many loops to create and I never get bored exploring there. Road-wise, there is Terwilliger and the waterfront.

As for running clubs/groups, I'd give the nod to Minneapolis/St. Paul. It's been years since I've been there, but the Twin Cities have much better races and far superior marathon and many competitive clubs. Although the team I ran with has folded, it looks like the club scene is fairly active (RunNFun still exists).

Portland has a truly crappy marathon, very average, boring races and almost no competitive clubs or training groups. Assuming you aren't joining an elite club, it may be tough to find people to train with. If you are really fast, there is a group connected with the Bowerman AC and also there is a small group at Run Portland. For the average runner, there is a club called Red Lizard, but it's focus is not on competitive racers. Imarunr could give you a lot more information on them.

IMO, I thought Minnesotans were actually more cliquish. A lot of people live in MN and never leave, so they aren't exactly looking for new friends since they have so many old ones! It took a while to build a network of friends, but once I did I found them to be a are a loyal and wonderful bunch. So many people move to Portland that being a newcomer isn't unusual. Portlander's are pretty friendly and it was relatively easy to make friends.

I think the public schools in Minnesota are better than the ones in Portland. (I have 3 children) The Twin Cities boasts a lot of cultural opportunities and is better than Portland's (although Portland does have its share - it's just on a smaller scale). The Twin Cities have all 4 major sports, while Portland only has two (soccer and basketball).

It seems like the job market is better in the Twin Cities than in Portland. Houses seem more expensive in Portland. There is great coffee and amazing access to organic food in Portland as well.

I think that both places are great places to live, but there will probably be something that will tip the scales for you. For me, I hate running in deep snow and will put up with rain and mud, so I'm set here. It's a pretty laid-back place and that suits me as well.

Good luck with your decision!

Having lived in both states, I think Portland has a much better selection of places to run. Two words: Forest Park. Coming from the UK, Portland's weather shouldn't be much of a change for you. The weather in Minnesota will teach you to grow a beard for the winter and set a goal for how few times you'll fall on ice, but it's really not that bad. Both places have fairly large running communities.

Personally, I prefer Oregon in the warmer months and Minnesota for the winter. I love running out on flat rural roads where you can see snow-covered fields stretching out for miles. It's a good feeling. That said, I also love trails that wind through the forest for miles, especially when it's hot.

Hope that helps.

I judge a place by how it looks on a topographic or relief map:

http://g.co/maps/mgj4x

http://g.co/maps/gm8ja

No contest there. I can't vouch for either city as I've never been to either one, but I grew up in the midwest and now live in northern California, and I'll never live anywhere flat again.

I live in Minneapolis and really love it. I'm a native Midwesterner but Minneapolis and Minnesota are not where I grew up. I've heard great things about Portland too so I don't know that either would be a bad decision. Here are a few things I love about Minnesota:

-Running/biking: Amazing and endless running trails. I trained for my first marathon last summer and was able to get some incredible 20-22 mile loops in. I could be running through a park in the middle of the city and couldn't believe I was in a metro area of 3-4 million people. I saw several deer and other wildlife. Yes, winter running can be tough at times but the city is amazing with getting our trails plowed. Many times they are cleared before you even wake up and are cleaner than the roads. I have no issues running outside year-round.

-Seasons: I've never seen a more beautiful Fall than I see here in MN. I love Summer here too and I don't think the bugs are as bad as people have said, especially IN the city. The northern lakes might be a little different story...although still quite manageable in my opinion.

-Sports: We have them. Being in a city with a brand new baseball stadium is one of my favorite things about where I live. It's a great way to spend a beautiful day. I would miss not having the option to catch a game.

uh uhb uh uih wrote:

The women are a lot more attractive in Minnesota than Portland but it is still the Midwest and it gets cold, cold cold. Minneapolis is a fun city but leave that area and you are a pretty long way away from anything let alone races. Decent running scene.

Portland is also cliquey and parochial, like a big high school. If you were not born in Oregon they tend to disdain you. The English accent thing can work for you a bit. It also rains a buttload in Portland, 10 months a year of drizzly gray gray gray. If you don't mind that, it's a decent place to train but don't expect to make a ton of friends there. Overrated hipster town.

There are better places to live in the US.

I am ex-UK and have lived in the Portland OR area for 15 yrs. USA for 23 yrs.

Almost everything hits the mark with the above post. It does NOT rain as much as the poster says it does (for this go to Seattle) the summers are gorgeous. For running Minn. is good but Portland is better. Portland the city also is more Euro in feel - I like it and if you are a hipster it is NOT overrated. For an Anglo both places will feel remote but the Pac. NW will likely feel more cut-off from the rest of the world.

If you like mountain hiking, of course, there's no contest, and of course there's that little thing called the Pacific Ocean. As a Brit I feel really weird NOT being near the sea - and no, lakes don't substitute.

Are you stupid? Los Angeles!

Lived in Minneapolis and St. Paul following college. I was not a native of Minnesota- I completely agree about the cliquish comment. If you aren't from Minnesota- or at the very least from the Upper-Midwest- good luck. With that said- Portland could be exactly the same for out-of-towners. I've only visited many times- but people seem to be very nice- and it seems to be a destination place for many young people to relocate.

The cities are beautiful- and there appears to be an excellent quality of life- its just rather lonely if you go it alone.

From a running standpoint- its a great place June-August. After that, the weather is just heartbreaking.