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 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. 

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.

Education + Healthcare

LookyLOO Review of 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. 

To see what locals get up to for fun in Fargo, check out the [calendar of events](https://www.fargomoorhead.org/events/). 

We highly recommend visiting Fargo and staying in the community in a [VRBO](https://vrbo.com/affiliate/p4JS4ZC) rather than a hotel to get a feel for what it's like to live among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our [partnership with Expedia](expedia.com/affiliate/9NZ8LBQ) as well.


Lifestyle 

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?

**SirGlass**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

Basically this for me too. I do not want to live in a big metro and deal with traffic and huge commutes and expensive housing

I also don't want to live in a small town where there is not much to do

Fargo is the sweet spot between big metro and small town. Still small enough you can drive anywhere in 15 min, traffic isn't usually an issue out side of the 10 min rush hour. Low crime, housing is still somewhat affordable .

However it is big enough there is still a lot of things to do, obviously not as much as a big city but more then enough to do so you do not get bored .

For more reviews of what living in Fargo is like from locals, check out [The Reviews](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/fargo/reviews).

Growth

Reviews of Fargo from Locals

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

**SirGlass**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

Basically this for me too. I do not want to live in a big metro and deal with traffic and huge commutes and expensive housing

I also don't want to live in a small town where there is not much to do

Fargo is the sweet spot between big metro and small town. Still small enough you can drive anywhere in 15 min, traffic isn't usually an issue out side of the 10 min rush hour. Low crime, housing is still somewhat affordable .

However it is big enough there is still a lot of things to do, obviously not as much as a big city but more then enough to do so you do not get bored .

**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).



TwoBeansShort
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

It's cheap. It has good amenities, good and available health care, good schools with a good student/teacher ratio. There are good after school opportunities and fun indoor gyms here. It's pretty. The parks district and city planning have redone a good portion of downtown and it's been changed into an outdoor gathering place with festivals regularly. Even winter ones, although infrequent. The lakes are 45 minutes away. There is salsa/swing/bachata/tango/ballroom/line dancing and a strong arts scene. The variety of restaurants keeps my palate entertained. There are regular performances from the symphony and concerts. And I guess some people really get into the Bisons football 🏈🤷 who knows about those people 😆

**ElementalDud**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

Fargo is great for a medium size city. It's big enough to support a variety of things to do, public amenities, healthy local economy, and a somewhat urban feel downtown. Yet, it's also small enough that it avoids some of the pitfalls of big cities like high cost of living, endless traffic, (some) of the social issues that typically plague places like Minneapolis. Basically, Fargo is a nice middle ground, it does well at most things, but isn't the best at anything.

Fargo, North Dakota

Geez

Looklyloo Score: 88