St. Paul has plenty of options for public and private schools. St. Paul Public Schools are currently going through a major changes mostly due to lack of funds and declining enrollment. The best schools in the area - considering only test scores - are in the suburbs - and many parents in St. Paul send their children to private schools in and around St. Paul, or schools in other school districts. The problems that beset all urban areas affect do some of St. Paul' city schools too, but there are also many good schools in the city where students score well academically.
St. Paul' professional sports teams, while not bringing home any major trophies for some years, have plenty of dedicated fans and every year, one or two of the teams seems to be having a exciting season. A national football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey team all play here. The Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Minnesota Vikings all play in Minneapolis, and the Minnesota Wild play at the Xcel Center in St. Paul.
For participating in sports, there is plenty to get involved in. St. Paul has above average numbers of cyclists, runners, golfers, horse riders, and sailors per capita. There's plenty of opportunity for outdoor and water recreation in the summer and snow sports in the winter. Sailing, cross country skiing, rollerblading, water skiing and disc golf are very popular. St. Paul is home to the largest curling club in the country. And proof that an active lifestyle promotes good health - the Twin Cities have one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the nation. Just stay away from the hotdish.
Hotdish is the classic Minnesota food. Hotdish is a casserole of meat, vegetables (usually canned or frozen variety) cooked in a liquid (usually cream of mushroom soup) topped with some carbohydrate (often tater tots) and baked. Bars, any form of brownie-like cake baked in a sheet and cut into squares, are a staple dessert. Brownies, however, are not bars. Visit any local bakery for a fuller explanation. But it's not all hotdish in St. Paul. Every major cuisine is represented is restaurants all over the city, with many on Grand Avenue, an Italian district in the northeast of the city, the District del Sol on the Eastside, and the best Asian food in the Twin Cities on University Avenue, just outside downtown St. Paul, with Hmong and Vietnamese restaurants and several Asian markets.
The cost of living in St. Paul is comparable to the national average for most expenses. What should you budget for? Heating bills are the second highest in the nation, because the winter is so cold and so long and fuel is expensive. Housing is cheaper than the national average. And clothing is cheaper in St. Paul, because the state doesn't apply sales tax on clothes or shoes. Accounting for a large part of clothing and many other retail sales in the city, is the Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in the country, is just outside the southern city limits.
Food prices here are similar to the national average. Even though the length of the winter means a short growing season, and restricts what can be produced locally, there is a strong local Minnesota food movement and co-op markets selling local foods, and farmers' markets, are very popular.
The winter in St. Paul might be long, but the summer is too. The weather in St. Paul goes as follows: five months of summer, one month of fall, five months of winter, one month of spring. The summer is warm, moderately humid, interspersed with thunderstorms and tornado warnings (and the occasional actual torndao) but generally pleasant. Spring and fall are brief but lovely. And how about the winter?
The number one question new arrivals ask is: "How bad is the winter in St. Paul?" It's long, and it's cold. Winter starts around mid-November and isn't done until late April. Minneapolis/St. Paul is the coldest metropolitan area in the continental United States, the temperature rarely rises above freezing all winter, several feet of snow fall, days below 0F are frequent, and when the wind blows the windchill factor can often be -40F. We all survive it and you will too. The right attitude, the right supplies, and finding your own way to have fun in or out of the snow will get you through the winter and you might even enjoy it.
As well as the winter, another major drawback of Minneapolis is the relative isolation of Minneapolis within in the country. There is not much nearby. Chicago is the nearest major city, a 6 hour drive or 1 hour plane ride. Duluth, the largest city in Minnesota outside the Twin Cities metro area, has a scenic location on Lake Superior. Duluth is a popular weekend getaway destination, or used as a staging post on trips to the scenic central and northern parts of Minnesota like the North Woods or the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Handily, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport is right in the middle of the metro area so at least it's easy to get out of town. Delta, Airlines recently merged with our local carrier, Northwest Airlines, which is now being re=branded as Delta, and is the major carrier operating from MSP. Local budget airline Sun Country uses MSP, handy for cheap flights around the country.
St. Paul is a calm city that enjoys a high quality of life, is very livable, and not too expensive, with all the excitement of Minneapolis just on the other side of the Mississippi River.
