Sometimes the mundane grabs your attention. This week as I logged into my laptop, I had my usual Firefox news, weather, and conditions’ notifications pop up. There I saw the regional map with the title, “Hibbing. Light Traffic.” I chuckled.
This is hardly worth a notification.
We never have traffic. In fact, last week in a local meeting someone said if they had to sit at a stoplight through a second rotation they were flabbergasted!
In January our middle-child moved to St. Paul. Having spent the early years of my career living in the Mac/Groveland neighborhood of the city, I am thrilled for the beginning of his life as a young professional, living in the metro. And I’m curious how our boy will like the city.
His workplace is on the west side of the Twin Cities, 24 miles from his apartment. On a GOOD day, he’s learned, his commute takes 40 minutes. But the reality is that he must drive through/around Minneapolis, and if he travels anytime around the hot hours of 7:00-9:00 AM and 4:00-6:00 PM, he WILL be sitting in traffic for at least an hour. To travel 24 miles.
Around here, you will cover that 24 miles in 24 minutes, worst case scenario.
Ben Winchester, University of Minnesota Rural Sociologist and expert in people moving rural, has found that people migrate to rural communities for 1) a simpler life, 2) safety and security, 3) affordable housing, 4) outdoor recreation and 5) quality schools.
A “simpler life” can mean many things. But certainly, spending less time hemmed in traffic plays a role. In Winchester’s 2011 survey of new rural residents, 77% of respondents noted they moved “to find a less congested place to live.”
Certainly it was one of the reasons we moved. I still remember it, sitting on the freeway heading out of the Twin Cities, inching our way towards the North land in stop and go traffic. My spouse and I looked at each other and asked, “what are we doing?”
It is a privilege, and one that I had been under-appreciating. But talking to my son, and visiting again for a work trip, I am reminded of just how EASY it is to get where I want to go on the Range, with less stress, time and (quite frankly) gas. (Cars get higher miles per gallon when we maintain a steady speed, avoiding sudden acceleration and braking, and drive at a moderate speed.)
The city is fun… for a visit. 🙂 But the Iron Range are where it’s at for a less congested lifestyle. Join us?