I was talking to someone a few days back on here but can’t find the thread. Anyone live in or no anything about Minneapolis? I might be looking for a new city to explore and have heard some good things. It also looks like a $ goes a long way in terms or real estate. any advice or link would be appreciated. I have solid experience and a good looking resume.
piper jaffray is HQ’d there
I live in Minneapolis. Where are you coming from? The Twin Cities is a fun place in my opinion. I have lived in Chicago and visited NYC many times. TC is not as big as those cities but it is alot more managable. Reputable Places to become employed; RBC Dain Wells Fargo US Bank Piper Target Ameriprise others? If you want to bounce any questions off me feel free. Otherwise best of luck to you!
Thanks KJH, Right now it is just an idea, I am “in between” cities right now but getting sick of Chicago politics and increased taxes and a non-working transit system. Any links to and informative websites would be nice. Also what are considered the “in” areas of the city? I have been looking at minneapolisloftsandcondos dot com and am really impressed with what you get for the money. What is the restaurant / bar scene like? Upscale areas? Mostly white/blue collar?
I cannot think of any Minneapolis informational websites. Commuting around MPLS is pretty good. We have city buses and a lightrail system. Driving is not all that painful either. The ‘in’ areas of the city are Uptown and near the Warehouse District. Thats where the younger people live/work/play. I work in the Warehouse District and have been pleased. Prices are very good. I have been seeing condos advertised from the $180s for a 1 bedroom in MPLS. I live in the Western suburbs about 20 minutes from Minneapolis. Its very nice out west and I enjoy the even cheaper living and space. www.twincitiesnightclubs.com is a great site for nightlife. Aqua, Lonetree, and Brothers are my favorite nightclubs. They have alot of really nice places though. Many of the U of M students hang out downtown. Uptown is more for the 25-35 crowd. As far as white/blue collar; North Minneapolis and Lake Street are more of the areas you want to stay away from. Out west by Lake Minnetonka is mostly inhabited by White Collar. I don’t have too much more information other than that. If you want to know more just ask.
What are the salaries like in the Twin Cities?
salaries are comparable to Chicago. check out www.cfa-mn.org Also don’t forget about Cargill - they run the Black River hedge fund, as well as CarVal which invests Cagrill’s money. Other shops (some are subs of those already mentioned) Thrivent Peregrine Voyageur Varde EBF Deephaven Sit Riversouce (AM side of Ameriprise) FAF Advisors (AM side of US Bank)
Just moved to NYC from Mpls…quality of life in mpls you can’t beat…nice 2br / 1br in uptown or downtown will cost you $1200-1300 Buyside-wise, it’s probably the 4th biggest city outside of NY, CHI and SanFran. Sell-side, not so much. Downsides include a 2am bartime, not a great place to meet people (both friends and mates) as most of the people that are there have been there for life. Most PMs there have also been there forever; you don’t really move from chicago or NYC to Mpls…
one more buy-side shop i thought i’d mention is Galliard (also wells fargo owned like Peregrine). I basically grew up in mpls and now work here and def agree with what a lot people have already been saying. The clear adv is a lower price level cost of living but decent salary at most shops anyway. i was able to buy a condo at 22, and it was cheaper than renting. second, the lakes are awesome here. most PM’s have cabin’s and everyone in the summer chills out at their cabins and takes three day wknds in the summer. it is also a really clean city, and surprisingly has a little bit of culture (e.g. jean george restaurants, walker art center, guthrie). clear disadvantages are the nightlife. i always use to defend mpls to my boys from san fran, nyc, chi, but after getting the chance to party in a lot in those places it’s true mpls bars/clubs are lame. the coolest bar in uptown doesn’t touch the $hitiest bar in say lincon park. there are a few cool places but still lame, period. I also think it’s funny how people always say minnesotan’s are cliquey. one of my good friends who’s my neighbor moved here last year and said he had a hard time making friends for the first few months. i guess it’s true but i don’t see how it’s harder than any other city. (if you are at a bar in pac heights, SF by yourself will girls just come flocking to introduce themselves to you?) and finally i’ll also comment that the winters here do indeed suck. not so much the cold but I leave for work around 6:15 and leave around 4-5 and both to and from work it’s pitch black. this is depressing. the skyways here are cool too but that means you never get outside… literally I park underground at home and at work so i typically spend 0 minutes outside, not thati’d want to since it’s freaking -100 out.
I think you guys have said most of what I would say so here’s just a couple quick comments: As KJH said, stay away from north and south mpls. But other areas like southwest and around the city lakes are pretty nice. The nicer suburbs are going to be Edina and the Lake Minnetonka area (Minnetonka, Wayzata, Excelsior, Orono.) Like clos83 said, housing is cheap compared to other metropolitan areas. Most 22-24 year olds with a decent job can own a house/condo if they want to. For a list of the potential employers in the area check out: http://tcssa.org/mem_pro_Home.asp I’m not going to stand up for the mpls bars/clubs but I will say this. It’s waaay better than St. Paul’s! With all that said, mpls is great from April to October. The other 6 months are cold, dark and miserable. (i.e. digging the wife’s car out of snow at 6 am, CPA friends only see sun light on Sundays)
well your user name is not exactly a ringing endorsement for the twin cities
I like it here other than the weather, I just hate the cold. The “stuck” may also refer to one’s employment situation…but that’s another topic
I know it sounds a little odd… but look at the branches of Cargill. If nobody has noticed, they are doing some pretty interesting things and expanding like crazy. Not to mention, Cargill is HQ’d in the MPLS metro.
I grew up in Minneapolis, so I know the area rather well. Let me know if you have any other questions. I currently work at a discount brokerage in Minneapolis. I’m taking level 1 this December. I know there are lots of good companies in the area. Any tips on getting into a job that would be more geared towards ER. I’m going to checkout Cargill like apcarlso mentioned. Any other advice from people in the area would be appreciated.
I grew up in the suburbs of the Twin Cities and went back this past summer to visit and I can tell you that even though prices have gone up, your dollar will still take you very far. A nice townhome can be had for $200k-300k and a really, really nice house will go for between $450k-550k. It is a great place to raise a family, the K-12 public school system is awesome, and people are extremely friendly. I would definitely consider moving back and I find myself curious of the job opportunities available. I have no doubt there are quite a few, just curious where to look. I did stumble across this the other day on the CFA Minnesota website: http://cfa-mn.org/mem_pro_Home.asp Also, the winters have continued to become more and more mild over the years.
I loved Minneapolis. I grew up in rural MN (new ulm anyone?) and went to the University of Minnesota (CSOM anyone? my old x500 id is my name for this forum…07 alum woot woot!). There’s something for everyone in Minneapolis. Quaint ethnic stores, variety of resturaunts, and lots of cozy cafes. I’m in Saudi Arabia working for the big oil company now but I like to think that I’ll come back to Minneapolis. One thing people didn’t mention was all the small investment boutiques. Definitely an underrated city in my opinion. Saudi Arabia’s winters are a lot better than MN’s! lol
Hey, quick question. I’ve been working on a project for a real estate development in Winona, MN. Everyone has been exceptionally friendly to me in Minnesota and I was just wondering if any of you have had any experience living and/or being in one of the small towns in Minnesota, such as Winona? Minnesota sounds pretty nice, except for the accents, which drive me nuts (anybody watch TV in that state?). Secondary question: is St. Paul not as nice as Minneapolis? No one has seemed to mention it much (or do people kind of lump them together when talking about the twin cities?).
Hey alsa, I’m an aramco brat, born and grew up in Dhahran. Were do you live?
kkent - You don’t like every word being pronounced with a long vowel? Yah suuure some regions are pretty bad. Most people from the twin cities don’t have that bad of accents. But you go outside of the suburbs and you can get people (like my relatives) with a thick scandinavian brogue. Winona may be a little different from other small towns because its more of a college town. Not sure, never been there myself. St. Paul is not as nice as Minneapolis. Mpls has a population of about 350k and St Paul is 250k. St Paul is the capital so it has alot of goverment jobs/buildings but doesn’t have too much for a downtown. Someone else can correct me if I’m wrong but I’d guess 70% of businesses are located in Minneapolis vs. 30% is St. Paul. That’s not so say there aren’t good jobs in St. Paul, there are a number of asset mgmt firms there, its just less that Mpls. Mpls is also the cultural center of the state. Most theaters. museums, etc are in mpls. I think alot of non-Minnesotans say Minneapolis but refer to both. The downtowns are probably about 10-12 miles from each other so its not like they run together seamlessly. The two usually compete with each either too. When St. Paul got the MN Wild it was a coup.