What Is The Best City In Minnesota To Live In?

I was having a conversation with my 93-year-old mother this week. My mom has early stages of dementia and has lived in the same town in North Carolina all her life with the exception of a few years during the first World War when she lived in Virginia when her dad worked in the shipyards. 

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The travel my mom has done in her life has been pretty limited, she and my dad lived pretty simple lives and loved their house.  

She still struggles with which state I live in now, even though I’ve been here since 2023. When she realizes that I’m half-way across the country, it makes her sad and a little jealous she says. In my former job, I traveled around the country to places she’d never thought about visiting and Minnesota is the fourth state that I have lived in. 

My mom would tell you though that our hometown of Marion N.C. is the best place to live. Her reasons are much more founded in the way things were in the 50’s and 60’s though. 

Regarding the best place to live, Stacker put out a report in which they list what they call the best city in each state to live in. When it comes to Minnesota, they say that Lauderdale is the best city in the state to live. 

Now, I’m relatively new to Minnesota as far as learning all the city names, but there are people I work with who are Minnesota natives that didn’t know Lauderdale.  

Stacker says that it is located just outside Minneapolis and is near the University of Minnesota. The population for Lauderdale is less than 2,500. 

Stacker sites the Bell Museum on the University campus that features an observation deck and a fossil display that is called a “touch and see lab”.  

Maybe it’s because I’m still kind of new here, but anytime Minnesota is mentioned for something best in state, it seems to always be around “The Cities”. Do people outside of Minnesota realize there are more towns and cities here other than Minneapolis and St. Paul? 

There wasn’t more information available from Stacker on this choice.  

Their choice for North Dakota was West Fargo. Brandon was the selection in South Dakota while Kohler was chosen in Wisconsin and University Heights near Cedar Rapids was the celebrated town in Iowa.