Secrets of the City

I could be wrong, but it seems there is a stronger hispanic population in south Minneapolis than there is in St. Paul.

I may be wrong, but I think St. Paul’s community is more established, but South Minneapolis has a lot more Latinos.

My neighborhood is heavily Latino and I don’t see any relationship problems. Of course, I’m white, so I don’t exactly have the inside view.

I read in your letter that you say traffic is bad in la. Having never been there i couldn’t say but i think drivers in the tc, though probably not as numerous as in so cal, are complete idiots! So fair warning.

The Latino presence is still very strong in St. Paul, and West St. Paul itself has always been identified as a Latino enclave going back a hundred years. Visit a neighborhood bar in West St. Paul and you will still find Anglos greatly outnumbered. The largest Cinco de Mayo celebration also happens along St. Paul’s Concord St. (aka Caesar Chavez Blvd.), so don’t be so quick to discount the east metro … you west metro ruffians!

caisaac, your brother should be able to tell you what life is like around here.

For your kids sake, stay out of east saint paul.

caisaac, I don’t speak for anyone but myself, but I welcome Latinos. I will be the one asking you about food; and if you speak Spanish, well I love speaking Spanish so I’m down with that.

While the roads are not crowded like in LA, you should know there is often snow and/or ice on the ground for nearly half the year. That offsets the “improvement” of fewer drivers.

The Latino population in MN has roots dating back a hundred years or more, but the recent emigrants and immigrants have their own cultural gap to close with the more established population, let alone the majority culture. Whatever, it’s moving. If you took a midwestern white person and plopped them in CA or GA or NY the results would be similar strife. Midwesterners are socialized differently, and you will learn that. I’d say that pushy, self-assertive and argumentative people are not trusted here. It was a steeplearning curve for me when I lived in NY! People will tell you the inconvenient truth there. Here folks will shadow puppet it for you. If you lack the ability to read between the lines, good luck to you!

I’m from L.A. originally, and I’ve chosen to live in Minnesota these past ten years for many of the reasons you mention. There are fewer cars here, shorter commute distances, less stress. The schools are generally better, the standard of living higher, and the streets safer–while there are still a wide array of cultural options.
I would suggest you might enjoy West St. Paul. It’s a mixed area, with lots of Latino families, but many other types of people. There are great Mercados and authentic Mexican restaurants in the area, and West St. Paul holds a very lively party/parade on Cinco de Mayo.

I’m a transplanted northern Californian living in MN for 20 years. The diversity here is far greater than you might expect. Since your child is young, You’ll have time to get settled in the right school district if you are renting for now. When you do, stay away from both St. Paul and Mpls public schools. Both do a lousy job of educating non-white students and any students who don’t have thier own family resources. Most of the first ring suburbs will be a good choice – you’ll find better diversitiy than the further out burbs, excellent schools and easy commutes.

As for driivng, minnesotans don’t know how to megre, but the DO know how to use turn signals (unlike Californians).

It’s good you have family here. The saying goes “Minnesotans are very friendly. They’re always happy to stop and give you directions to somebody elses’ house.” That said, I’ve found that a little bit of effort does go a long way when building community in your neighborhood. We often have neighborood barbques in our diverse suburban neighborhood. All it takes is moving a grill out to the driveway, putting out some chairs and inviting folks.