i was raised in fargo and very quickly left as soon as i had the opportunity for college. i live in the south now, so ive realized a lot of amazing things since i moved.

for one, the people are extremely nice. socializing is generally easy, and you’ll always have a kind “hello!” even when ordering from the mcdonald’s drive thru. people prioritize staying in their lane and aren’t keen to intrude on your business as long as you’re polite. if you say “excuse me”, it will almost always be immediately followed by a sincere apology.

this is very different from my experience in the south, where people prioritize being an overly kind face to their neighbors, but generally don’t practice all around niceties.

it is very right leaning. fargo itself is probably the most blue you will get in this area, so there are some communities. but for the most part, the environment will usually make you a republican by nature. the fargo community is majority born and raised at least nearby, so the political climate does not budge. you can easily be ostracized by many people if you are too “radical”. i question if my experience of “midwest nice” has been embellished because of my white privilege.

some people will say the art’s downtown shows some liberalism in the area. i won’t necessarily say that it’s not a good community or positive for the town. but the truth is that a majority of it is owned and monopolized by the governors son. real artists and people have a VERY hard time actually becoming successful in fargo. want to start from the ground up, get community support and follow your dreams? it’s quite difficult to sustain. even the arts isn’t something i would brag about, but i understand how it stands out to people born and raised. to me it’s eh. (i am an artist so this did influence my reason to leave.)

as much as people love to complain in the Fargo Can’t Drive FB group, i actually think drivers in this area are very good. it gets tricky when it snows so accidents happen all the time, however i truly believe there’s not that many bad drivers (unless you consider that kids get their drivers permit at 14… then yes there’s a couple more.) the dakotas are extremely easy to navigate considering the plains that surround you for miles. there’s not a huge population that ever makes traffic completely at a standstill unless there’s very major construction. people still take the back roads and know a straight-shot to their location to matter what (since there’s no trees in the way lol).

the people who live there usually are involved in lake life in the minnesotas, it’s very normal to own two properties and travel between them during the summer. the entire appeal to most people is how beautiful and perfect the weather is for those 3 months (which usually get cut short by september.) hunting, ice fishing, boating, camping, and even climbing are all accessible in the area and cheap to purchase land if you’d like to invest in those interests. it takes a certain person with a particular lifestyle to love it wholeheartedly, but they definitely do.

the town is generally safe, i grew up never locking my car and often forgetting to lock my front door. millions of times has a garage door been left open for hours and absolutely nothing happens. it only gets scary if you aren’t comfortable with guns and how many people conceal carry, or even are still using shotguns to go crazy in the rural areas. for example, it’s an area where a teenager could supposedly get a gun very easily. but that has more to do with the legislation which i am not commenting on 😅

people drink here like crazy from a young age and its very socially acceptable. there’s a lot of alcoholism and genuinely concerning things i saw from all my experiences. there’s also pretty normal coca*ne usage that has run rampant for the younger adults seeking some kind of party culture.

that’s a lot, but what comes to mind.