It was always a joke that the only places you could move after living in Duluth were: Back to the Twin Cites; Bozeman Mont.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Seattle, Wash. or Portland, Ore. Add Los Angeles, Calif.; Las Vegas, Nev. and Tempe, Ariz. and that was 2008.
27 thoughts on “The places you can move to once you have lived in Duluth”
I think that Hawaii should be added to this migration map as I know several people that still migrate back and forth.
I’ll be leaving St. Louis County for the first time in my adult life to live in Portland, OR come September. Seems I’m not alone…
One of those Portland moves was by an ex who decided to empty our bank account to fund his trip (hope he stays there).
Hey Codie, don’t loan any money to Jake! 😉
I live in Bozeman now and I’m not even remotely surprised anymore when I meet people who’ve moved here from Minnesota.
Iowa sucks!
Helena, Mont. not quite Bozeman, but actually affordable.
Codie, I’m going to Portland in September too (my wife is going to school and I’ll be telecommuting back to Duluth). What will bring you there?
I hope it isn’t opportunities for jobs, because I know many people there and they say that the job market isn’t bad, it is nonexistent.
Brooklyn, NY and San Fran, CA come to mind- at least my friends who left in the mid 80s. A couple others left the US entirely. The irony is that most of my friends in other cities bemoan the cliqueishness of their current local arts/music scene and refer to Duluth as the place where “real” people create stuff.
“Iowa sucks!” That’s a big TEN-FOUR.
This reminds me of some graffiti I saw in San Francisco in the early 1990s that stated “Welcome to San Francisco, now fuck off and go back to Minnesota.”
Don’t quite a few northeastern Minnesotans end up in Alaska?
Mevdev, I am going to Portland just to go, pretty much. I’m not quite ready to go back to school, and that’s a city that would make it easier to live the lifestyle I’d want to live until I do… I’m not worried too much about the unemployment though, honestly. I mean come on, I’m from Duluth! I’m used to a struggling economy.
I’ve never lived in Duluth but spend a lot of time there. It has a real nice vibe to it. I really like the city and would like to live there someday. It’s a matter of employment isn’t it? That is always a concern but it also keeps Duluth the way it should be.
When I opened an account in Bozeman (I’m actually in Yellowstone) the bank guy even told me there were a lot of people from Minnesota there.
Duluth is where I wound up after Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
… and was actually going to move out to Bozeman after wintering in Minneapolis.
Obviously that didn’t happen, cus I’m still here.
So, doesn’t this mean I’m doing this all in reverse?
As far as I can tell, the average Minnesotan is only aware of one place more than 500 miles from here: Arizona.
Last summer I gave away nearly all my possessions, intent on moving to Oregon. I spent a month in Oregon EWNSouth seeking a place to call home. I had a few criteria–place had to have at least what Duluth has:: 1)esthetically beautiful;2) affordable; 3) home to college(s) and young thinking; 4)nature/outdoor centered 5)able to get away from freeway noise. 6)climate I could live with.
I could never find all 6 of these, no matter where I went. Astoria came the closest: It looks like Duluth, is outdoor centered, no freeway noise but a tiny college and rain 7 months of the year. (I figure I can shovel snow, but rain….what can you do with rain?).
In the midst of my frustration about not finding a place a friend who was in tune to my quest called me from the shore of Lake Superior. “Listen to the waves,” he said. “Now listen to the campfire.”
I have traveled to all 50 states but in that moment I realized nothing will compare to Duluth. So I stopped looking, came back “home” and that’s the end of that. Like a Kate Wolf song, “Sometimes what you’re looking for is what you left behind.”
I’m a Scandahoovian and I like having four seasons including one with lots of snow. Besides, no one really needs to see my pasty flesh in shorts. Yes, some neighborhoods aren’t as spiffy and crime-free as they were when I was a kid. My solution was to live a clean life and be an example to my neighbors and children. Anywhere you live, there are going to be those that are part of the problem and those that are part of the solution. Given my own interests in the arts, music and the four seasons, I have seen the things that I care about really evolve in a positive direction in the past couple of decades. And I must say “thanks” to the life-long Duluthians AND the many transplants who have helped this city grow in richness, if not size.
This thread got dumb.
Remember when all of my friends had pipe dreams of moving to all those places on the list? That was dumb, too. I want all my friends back, but please don’t take my job.
Ah, now that’s better.
¿Where’d comments go?
Sorry Adam, I refuse to give mindspace to haters of Duluth. Even with such nice folks as yourself and TimK.
What are you talking about? I’m a total dick.
But you love Duluth, and I think you like skateboarders too.
Shhhh.