Commuting from surrounding area to Fargo (Wahpeton, Lisbon: for sale, house, buyer)
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My family and I are considering a move to the Fargo area after our first retirement. I've been viewing the on line homes for sale and there seems to be some nice home a few miles outside of Fargo (10-40 Miles). I guess my biggest concern is a commut from a rural area to Fargo during the winter. I'm originally from the South, but have lived in WA State and Kansas so I've had some cold winters. But I understand that ND winters can be extreme and I don't want buy too far out of Fargo if I can't drive there in a hard winter.
It's not as bad as you may think. Maybe one or two days during the winter they may close the roads. If you buy a 4 wheel drive SUV will help. You can have a comfortable commute if you live west in Castleton or east in Hawley.
These two sites should give you an idea of an average winter in Fargo. On the City Data site, you can scroll down to get the average temps and snowfall and wind speed, etc. Good luck on your move.
My family and I are considering a move to the Fargo area after our first retirement. I've been viewing the on line homes for sale and there seems to be some nice home a few miles outside of Fargo (10-40 Miles). I guess my biggest concern is a commut from a rural area to Fargo during the winter. I'm originally from the South, but have lived in WA State and Kansas so I've had some cold winters. But I understand that ND winters can be extreme and I don't want buy too far out of Fargo if I can't drive there in a hard winter.
Thanks,
Keith
I wouldnt worry about it too much...its the wind which is the big worry...the wind picking up the fallen snow and the reducing vsby. In worst case storms roads are closed...esp the interstates to prevent people from getting stranded....but in most winters that is rare and doesnt happen every winter. The main thing is that if you work in Fargo....have a backup plan in case the weather is bad when you need to drive home and if bad enough know someone whom you could wait out the storm with or spend the night with. If a storm is predicted to hit, you can probably take off of work early to beat the storm. That is what most rural school districts do in order to get their buses off the roads by nightfall. But overall I would not let weather affect your place to live...just make sure your car is in good working order.
It's not as bad as you may think. Maybe one or two days during the winter they may close the roads. If you buy a 4 wheel drive SUV will help. You can have a comfortable commute if you live west in Castleton or east in Hawley.
For an easy commute, you can also live in towns in both ND/Minn just a few miles from I-29. The further you go out from Fargo and the futher you move away from I-94 or I-29, generally speaking, the less expensive housing prices become (excepting, of course, Minnesota lake country).
If your "commute" will just be for shopping, you'll get more house for less money by going further out. If this is the case, you might consider a larger town within an hour or so of Fargo with a hospital for immediate/emergency care and with some reasonable level of shopping/services (i.e Wahpeton - plant closing should give it a buyer's market in housing - Lisbon, Hillsboro, Mayville).
I'd like to thank all of you for the information you've provided. It doesn't sound as bad as I thought and we'll continue to do research on the Fargo rural area and surrounding towns. Please continue to provide feedback if anyone else has good information on commuting to fargo.
Keep in mind to look at the town to see how bad flooding can be there. I know there is an area of housing I think that is in mapleton or Cassleton close to the highway that was pretty much surrounded by water. Others I know who live south of Fargo by the Wild Rice river have had flooding issues too.
A home may be cheap because of this and is something to really look into.
The winter I wouldn't worry too much about. Main thing is blowing snow. get a good 4wd vehicle and you are all set.
The cold really isn't too bad most of the time. Is it cold, yes, but, I found I felt colder in Connecticut because of how wet the snow was. When the wind gets ya, thats when you really feel it, but if you bundle up nice and wear something that covers you nose its not so bad in my opinion, and I grew up in the south.
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