It's a tough call between the highly educated workforce and excellent schools and the amazing health care. Those two qualities are the most cited characteristics locals note for things they think are great about the city. North Dakota State and four other colleges/universities are all in the Fargo area, a city of just north of 100k people. As a result the rate of higher ed among the population is extremely high for a smaller city. Sanford Health, the largest, rural, not-for-profit health-care system in the U.S. is here and it has a trauma center, newborn/pediatric intensive care services and women’s, orthopedics, heart and cancer centers. Sanford also has an excellent Children’s Hospital so locals have amazing care throughout their lives. 

Here's a pov on Fargo from a recent transplant: 
*I just moved here about 5-6 months ago and I'm actually very impressed with the amount of activities there are to do in Fargo even during covid. For sure, there's a lot less content out there-- and a lot of restrictions for businesses, but heck even I have found stuff to do without relying on university activities.*

*I believe right now there's still ceramics classes, the art museum is open, art galleries, plenty of tiny little shops to explore, an excessive amount of food options, local zoom yoga, the new skate rink, the traditional arcade, replay arcade, etc.*

Healthcare vs. Education

The Best Thing About Fargo?

Growth is controversial to locals. Many have benefitted from that economic and population growth and love that the downtown area has become more vibrant supported by the newbies. Many locals also though decry the traffic, extra crime and "out-of-state attitudes" that have moved into what was at one point a fairly homogenous place. So, depending on your point of view, growth may be the best thing to have happened to Macon or the worst. 


Here's a locals pov on the worst aspects of living in Fargo: 
*Worst: We are at least 3-4 hours by car from anywhere else you might want to be. Flights to most places you might want to go are rarely direct, so there’s added expense and time. Passenger trains are inconveniently scheduled around commercial train schedules.*

*Even though the core neighborhood areas are close together and you don’t have to spend a lot of time in the car, we are car dependent. Public transportation is limited and underused. Bike lanes are ignored by many drivers, so the are also underused.*


Growth

The Worst Thing About Fargo?

Fargo has a ton going on for a small city. There is an active theater scene with several community and college groups. There’s live music, comedy clubs, museums, and plenty of adult sport and clubs to join for those looking to enjoy a passion or just hang/meet with new friends. There is also an excellent restaurant scene and tons of microbrewery and bar options for a night out. Not surprisingly it is also extremely family friendly with tons of parks and outdoor play options for you and the kiddos. 


Lifestyle of Fargo

If you can get over the winter the quality of life here is excellent. The cost of living is very low and the job opportunities are solid for a small city. You can live, raise a family and make it all work with much less stress than so many other comparable places. 


Quality Of Life

Why You Should Move Here Now?

Downtown Fargo is where the action is. They’ve made a huge push to make the area fun, with a big concentration of social options, cultural options and plenty of condo/loft and apartment choices all within a short walk from your social life and your workplace. The downtown area also has great green spaces for those who want to play outdoors and beautiful waterfront views so you don’t feel exclusively like you're downtown. 
- Downtown

Young Professionals/College Students

Downtown

Clara Barton is a great neighborhood with nice older homes, tree-lined streets, extremely safe blocks and excellent public schools. Kids play in the yards, on the sidewalks and in the park without fear and parents feel comfortable raising their little ones there. 

Hawthorne is another popular choice. It has extremely active community groups that support the schools, beautify the streets and protect the Southside Historic District that runs through part of the neighborhood. The area is well-known for excellent schools with the Hawthorne Elementary School and South High the most common choices for locals. 
- Clara Barton
- Hawthorne
- Lincoln


Families

Clara Barton

Fargo

**Everyday life in Fargo?**

Pre-covid, Fargo had multiple community theatre and college theatre groups, plenty of live music, drop-in dance lessons in salsa and swing, bi-weekly standup comedy, an arcade bar, pinball, axe throwing, an indoor shooting range, park district adult sports ranging from softball to fencing, archery, ping pong, or bird watching, art museum classes in pottery, painting, metal, glass, and the library had chess club and go, etc.

There are tons of local restaurants, some great ethnic options, and local breweries (yes, is drinking). There's an opera group, a symphony, a planetarium, go-karts, mini-golf, actual golf, a brief horse racing season, you can go kayaking on the Red, or join a community garden. If you're a dog person there's multiple dog training clubs and dog parks and dog park meetups. If you're a fitness person, there's yoga studios, crossfit, barre, even a couple pole fitness studios. Several bars have free nights for pool and darts, trivia as you mentioned, karaoke, cornhole leagues. There's a board gaming community, there's an RC racing group we have minor league baseball and hockey, and I hear a somewhat competitive college football team. And if you're willing to leave town a bit, there's a trapshooting club, a horse riding ranch, seasonal harvest (strawberries, apples), hunting and fishing.

Fargo has a ton to offer unless you want beaches, mild weather, or professional sports.

I can't comment on the mid-20s dating scene as I moved here while 30 and married, but I absolutely believe you.

**I would appreciate recommendations for neighborhood in Fargo, to live and raise family. I have 3 daughters (14, 8 and a newborn). So, public High School and Elementary need to be well considered. I would also appreciate recommendation for schools.** 

I would concur w/ the endorsements of the Clara Barton/Hawthone neighborhood and also w/ Lincoln. There are many very nice large, newer homes in the Centennial elementary neighborhood, but it is a very large (800+ kids) elementary. Bennett and Kennedy are quite new schools, so there isn't necessarily an established reputation for those. On the north side Longfellow has the reputation of being a very good school. There will be a big shift in the coming years--the Fargo Public Schools are building a 3rd high school--Judge Davies High School in far SW Fargo. Centennial, Bennett, and Kennedy will feed into Discovery Middle School which will feed Davies. Honestly, that does encompass many affluent areas of town. How all the attendance demographics are going to shake out through the coming years is unknown. Though many times, it's the staff that can make all the difference. How many and which teachers from South High will opt to transfer to Davies is also an unknown. Also there are many areas w/in the Fargo city limits which are part of the West Fargo school district. According to newspaper reports, there are morale/administrative issues within that district currently. That may or may not impact what happens in the classroom so that may or may not be an issue for you. Even though commutes are relatively short in comparison w/ major metropolitan areas, you may really want to look at where your job is and choose a neighborhood accordingly. Even though I've lived here 20 years now, in winter I much prefer my 5 minute commute rather than living in what could be a perfectly lovely neighborhood that is 25 minutes from my work (on a good day--not counting winter or our other season of the year--construction season).



**Everyday life in Fargo?**

I just moved here about 5-6 months ago and I'm actually very impressed with the amount of activities there are to do in Fargo even during covid. For sure, there's a lot less content out there-- and a lot of restrictions for businesses, but heck even I have found stuff to do without relying on university activities.

I believe right now there's still ceramics classes, the art museum is open, art galleries, plenty of tiny little shops to explore, an excessive amount of food options, local zoom yoga, the new skate rink, the traditional arcade, replay arcade, etc.

I found that the biggest downside for finding something to do is that there's not a lot of places to enjoy yourself indoors during the winter, but maybe I just haven't looked hard enough? I find myself looking for nice warm environments to work on papers or read, but coffee shops and the library are closed. Drinking seems more fun in the winter now that it's colder and there is less to do outside, and there's plenty of different types of specialized alcohol to try out.

In the summertime there were plenty of parks, the pool, the farmers market and other activities even amongst covid restrictions. But anyways, my point is if I can find stuff to do now, I can't WAIT till the restrictions are lifted. My boyfriend who has lived here for about 6 years now is always sharing memorable experiences in Fargo that were pre-covid.

IMO if someone thinks there's "nothing to do but drink" here then they're just not actively looking for fun stuff to do. I'm always bobbing around the bulletin boards of downtown businesses, picking up random fliers and checking online for stuff to do. It usually gets me out pretty frequently or marking something in my mental calendar to try out.

I can comment for the dating scene as a 21y/o I had a ton of pleasant options that were in their 20s for both males & females. It is a huge college community after all, so there's a lot of single 18-29 y/os in school (I can't really comment on experiences for those who are older) I hear dating as a young male is far more difficult though!

**What is it like to live in Fargo, ND?**

It is different for everybody. I had a pretty positive experience. People are forthright, caring, and supportive. They are also nosy. Many are open minded but not all. I was one of the few Jews in town and some folks always let me know it. Still the source of many of my life long friends. The weather is terrible. Dreadful cold in the winter, hot, humid with lots of nasty insects in the summer. I think things have changed quite a bit since I let in 1971. Certainly much bigger and more racially diverse.

Fargo, North Dakota

Geez

Looklyloo Score: 80

We're on it!