“He might find Fargo to his liking, especially if he seeks solitude.”
Many years ago, a friend of mine from back in Kentucky got the idea that he might want to move to Fargo for somewhat obscure reasons I no longer recall. I told him I’d poll some of my Fargo friends on the matter, and send their answers to him. I told them, as a point of reference, that this friend enjoyed books and live jazz.
Here are the answers I received, which are too good not be entered into the public record forever. I anonymized them, and can’t find the original emails, so I don’t remember who said what.
Also worth noting is that these were written in the depths of winter. Please enjoy this advice on your move to Fargo.
“It doesn’t cost a whole lot to live. Also, Fargo was just ranked the fifth most dangerously drunk city in the US by Men’s Health. I don’t know. It’s tough. He might find Fargo to his liking, especially if he seeks solitude. There is Friday night jazz at the Hotel Donaldson downtown. The colleges have jazz students that play as well. The Simon Roe Trio is a group of professors.”
“There’s NO LIVE JAZZ. BUT, there’s a lot of bleak prairie punk and alt-country. And everyone goes to the same shows so he’ll probably meet people easily. How ‘bout cheap beer, does he like that, too? What ‘bout everything low-brow? Does he appreciate an obscene amount of that?”
“If scowling in the dark and reading long novels indoors are your idea of a good time, then Fargo is the place to be. It’s cold (colder than Minneapolis for sure) and dark and there isn’t a whole lot to do. There are some very nice neighborhoods, and at least one of each of every chain restaurant you can imagine. There is also a very beautiful movie theater called the Fargo, and a lot of bars and big suburban-style churches. Because of the three colleges, there are a lot of youthful goings-on; a lot of lectures, probably a lot of music (though Ralph’s, the crown jewel in the Fargo music scene, is gone now). They’ve gotten a few interesting coffee shops since I was there last. They have some nice parks along the Red River. The flatness of the Red River Valley is strangely fascinating. But it is cold.”
