Duluth: a small city surrounded by forests, hills, streams and lakes … and bands

Nice Homegrown plug.

I'm a total TBT geek but I have to say I prefer the Motion City Soundtrack version of "Wait So Long" to the flipside Turtle cover of the MCS tune.  Regardless, I think it was a really cool idea.

San Francisco Bay Area is too expensive for starving artists. Great weather, but more happening here, by far, grassroots arts and culture-wise. Too bad TBT aren't playing when we will be there ... boo. That would have been fun.

San Francisco, isn't that the Duluth of the West?

Baci:  Exactly!!

It's a lot like San Francisco, other than the good weather, thriving economy and vibrant culture.

C'mon Jerome, San Francisco's weather, economy and culture aren't that bad.

Seattle reminds me more of Duluth than does San Francisco.

Duluth beats both SF and Seattle on unemployment and (in my humble opinion) vibrant culture. Since one bedroom apartments aren't $3000 a month in Duluth, our economy is "different."

I have a lot of friends who live in the SF Bay Area. They are all stressed out. TimK ain't kidding: the cost of living there is **high!** And, yeah, paradise does get boring, because the creative class can't afford to live there.

I did the Seattle thing from 90-95, with occasional forays into Tacoma and Bellingham.

The cost of living in terms of housing was, back then, outrageous. I was giving up close to a grand for a small (albeit fairly posh) studio apt near the PSC (Pacific Science Center). 

The food was another story. The Pike Market provided me with anything I needed for eats. Coffee and beer were plentiful ... unfortunately so was the competition for jobs. If you didn't pull down some serious coin, a housemate situation was pretty much your only option.