Rochester MN?

[GatorAbe7]

It's looking like I'll be briefly getting relocated to Rochester MN.

Have never been there, though I've been to the Twin Cities twice, both in the post-Christmas dead of winter, and I've never been colder. At one point it was -19 F in central Minneapolis and I filled my gas tank with some sort of anti-freeze fuel agent in case temps further dipped. The next morning, just as cold, I drove through a residential area of St. Paul and couples were taking sunrise walks through their neighborhoods, in -15 F!

Anyway, without scouring internet testimonies, anyone spent time here? I imagine it's a rather unique community, divided into groups of Minnesota natives with the famous accent and the elite medical community that exists because of the Mayo Clinics.

Thanks in advance.

[gatordavisl]

I wish I could tell you something about Rochester. Wife and I relocated from Hogtown to Duluth last August. So far so good. The novelty of the snow is amazing. We only had a few days of real cold (-20ish) temps. This week has been pretty nice. Today I drove up the north shore aboot 30 miles, found a trail, and snow shoed for the first time. The area up here is amazing. Mountain/bluffs overlooking the lake. Had some of the most fresh, peaceful, quiet air I've experienced in years.

[Al E Gator]

Been to Rochester, MN once years ago to check out the digs at the Mayo Clinic. Rented a Ford Explorer and remember driving from the airport late at night on snow-covered roads to the hotel suite Mayo had reserved for me. Let's just say it's cold over there (and yes, Mayo is an impressive place) and...well...um, that's about it...

lol

[ufrulz2]

Abe, PM me. I live about an hour north of Rochester.

[HungaryGator]

lived in Minneapolis for 2 years. I visited Rochester 3 or 4 times on business. Its a town of about 100,000. Pretty white collar from what I could see - yes the Mayo Clinic and other medical firms dominate that town. The area is flat, its gets incredibly windy and in winter it is gray all day.....as in your cannot see the sun at all....and it doesn't get above zero....yes that's right I did not say freezing, I said above zero for weeks at a time.

The folks in Minnesota I found to be genuinely very nice. Yes, their accents are funny and they have strange words like "spendy" instead of pricey and a parking garage is a "ramp"....even the part that does not go up and down-the whole structure is a "ramp", etc. The food sucks. There's no good barbecue to be found and fresh seafood is of course out of the question. Good luck finding any good Cajun too. Plenty of Lutefisk though...and every other kind of pork sausage imaginable. Oh, and grocery stores sell horrid 3.2 beer which is not worth drinking and Minnesota has blue laws so don't count on being able to buy booze on Sundays. Also, the Vikings means EVERYTHING to these people. College football means very little and most have no clue of anything beyond the Big 10 - ie some of the most provincial college fans I've seen anywhere. 2 years of all of the above was all I could take.

[Jaggator]

Population breakdown by age




Household income

[gatordavisl]

Originally Posted by HungaryGator

lived in Minneapolis for 2 years. I visited Rochester 3 or 4 times on business. Its a town of about 100,000. Pretty white collar from what I could see - yes the Mayo Clinic and other medical firms dominate that town. The area is flat, its gets incredibly windy and in winter it is gray all day.....as in your cannot see the sun at all....and it doesn't get above zero....yes that's right I did not say freezing, I said above zero for weeks at a time.

The folks in Minnesota I found to be genuinely very nice. Yes, their accents are funny and they have strange words like "spendy" instead of pricey and a parking garage is a "ramp"....even the part that does not go up and down-the whole structure is a "ramp", etc. The food sucks. There's no good barbecue to be found and fresh seafood is of course out of the question. Good luck finding any good Cajun too. Plenty of Lutefisk though...and every other kind of pork sausage imaginable. Oh, and grocery stores sell horrid 3.2 beer which is not worth drinking and Minnesota has blue laws so don't count on being able to buy booze on Sundays. Also, the Vikings means EVERYTHING to these people. College football means very little and most have no clue of anything beyond the Big 10 - ie some of the most provincial college fans I've seen anywhere. 2 years of all of the above was all I could take.

Plenty of inaccuracies here. The temps have not been this extreme, esp. during the recent years. You can get good beer at the right store. We buy booze in Duluth on Sundays, though the laws may be different down there. True about College football and the Vikes (but what would you expect?). You will need to go to the cities for good culture, but the fact is that it exists there. Great food, great music, great theater, etc. in the cities.

[HungaryGator]

Originally Posted by gatordavisl

Plenty of inaccuracies here. The temps have not been this extreme, esp. during the recent years. You can get good beer at the right store. We buy booze in Duluth on Sundays, though the laws may be different down there. True about College football and the Vikes (but what would you expect?). You will need to go to the cities for good culture, but the fact is that it exists there. Great food, great music, great theater, etc. in the cities.

I was in Minnesota in 2005-2007 and winter was just freaking brutal both times. Yes you can buy good beer just not in the grocery store since they only had that 3.2 crap in grocery stores - I was told it was a state law. I didn't notice "great food" anywhere and I lived in Minneapolis which obviously has a lot more on offer than Rochester or Duluth.

[LeafUF]

Minneapolis gets a lot of foodie love. Heck even Famous Dave's is championship BBQ. I think you are being a little harsh on the place but clearly your experiences weren't very good.

Never been to Rochester myself but I am sure it will be a nice enough place to be short term. It will be cold in the winter and the winter will be long though.

[StrangeGator]

Never been to Rochester, but Minneapolis is one of my favorite US cities, and I've only been there in the winter. My brother spent several days in Rochester when he took my niece to Mayo. He liked it okay, but that was in the summer. Everything I've seen of Minnesota and western Wisconsin is very nice.

[gatorknights]

As many of you know, I grew up in the Twin Cities about an hour north of Rochester. I have been to Rochester many times for wrestling tournaments.

There is a good reason why I live in Florida

Seriously, the summers are great, and the St. Croix River is a blast.

And copy that on Famous Dave's, it is fantastic BBQ, it'll make you feel at home. Try the baby backs. Pure delilciousness.

[GatorAbe7]

Thanks for all of the replies guys.

With all that behind us, it looks less and less like I'll be going to MINN, which is fine. Either way, in DC or MN, it looks like I'll be without sun. Today was DCs first truly sunny day since about November. Really miss it.