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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Les H who wrote (27713)	3/3/2005 2:14:01 PM
From: RealityNotFantasy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

$500,000 condos in Minneapolis, Minnnesota..WOW! IMHO... Sub-zero Temperatures Winters + Mosquito Infested Humid Summers = $500,000 condo... might as well live in California! I read the article you put a link to but it wasn't easy getting to it. You have to go to google.com and do a search by typing in, "developers warn condo glut pioneer press". I don't know where they get these demographic numbers but IMHO, I don't agree with them based on what I interpreted from the most recent US Census Bureau disclosures (web site). The HIGH cost of living in the Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota metro is unbelieveably HIGH for the Upper Midwest. The only one that comes close is Southeastern Wisconsin / Chicago area but they have MORE amenities and opportunities. Metros in South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma have cost of living that are MUCH LOWER. I have friends around Santa Barbara / San Luis Obispo, CA area. Our apartment rents & cost of groceries is THE SAME (Surprise)! Personal income tax is very close. They have the upper hand though...less traffic, pristine weather and no snow in Winter and no mosquitoes in Summer. According to a report done by a local paper, the transit spending by Minnesota is about half those of other states (Surprise again). That is why we still have Great Depression Era style freeway bridges and traffic is just as bad as in some parts of California (Surprise again)! So why live here...most native Minnesotans love to tout their state as one of the best places to live in BUT they never, never tell you the negatives. They are so proud of their state, they don't want to say anything bad about it....EVEN if it breaks away from REALITY. REALITY CHECK: each place has negatives AND positives. EACH has to be addressed, not just the positives. Since I've endured life here for 5 years, if I had the opportunity to move out, I would but I can't. ***I DO NOT RECOMMEND MINNESOTA*** Now, the increasing high cost of living (REAL ESTATE for one), traffic congestion and pollution, etc. are beginning to rear their ugly heads. Can native Minnesotans still say their state is one of the best? I PERSONALLY DON'T THINK SO. I compared what in-state students get charged in Minnesota community colleges versus what community colleges in other US states charge. It appears if you are an in-state community college student in Minnesota, you are getting charged 40% more per credit/unit charges compared to other in-state students in other states. In-State / State Resident Examples: Minnesota: @$130 / credit or unit Indiana: @$77 / credit or unit California: @$25 / credit or unit Out of State / Non-Resident Examples: Minnesota: @$228 / credit or unit California: @$160 / credit or unit It appears that the spread between in-state and out of state tuition for Minnesota is only 44%. For California, its 84%...it appears in-state Californians get more of a break from tuition than in-state Minnesotans. The numbers speak for themselves for life in Minnesota: 1) Expensive Real Estate (condos in the $500,000s..). (Minnesota Dad, Mom, Adult Son, each own 2+ houses...speculators?) 2) High Cost of Living (Groceries, apartment rent is the same or similar to other HIGH Cost US states) 3) High Traffic Congestion (Freeways don't have enough lanes for these SUVs!) (Transit spending is @ 50% less than in other US states). 4) Expensive Higher Education (see above). ITS NO WONDER IT APPEARS THAT ITS HARD TO ATTRACT BUSINESS HERE Just my two cents....