During my three-week vacation, I stayed in Duluth and was awestruck. It is perhaps the greatest city in the Midwest- the location, Lake Superior, the nightlife (bolstered by three universities), the culture, the incredible revitalization (without any of the yuppieness you find in most cities), the gigantic harbor complex, the 1000-foot coal freighters from Toledo, etc.

 

I have never been more surprised by a city. Duluth blows every city in Ohio clear out of the water. All this is in a city of just 85,0000 with a metro of about 275,000 (not much bigger than Lima). Duluth is living proof that size DOESN'T MATTER, not even a bit. It had better nightlife than Columbus, Toledo, or Cleveland. It had better waterfront access than anything else I've seen in the Midwest. Its downtown had better retail than anything in Ohio. AND, did I mention it has managed to stick to its working class, Great Lakes roots? It's great to see Toledo (similar harbor/riverfront) and Cleveland (similar lakefront, but with FAR less public access) revitalizing their downtowns, but there is still something lacking if you ask me. IMO, Duluth has the major Great Lakes cities handily beat, and it is geographically gorgeous- imagine the hills of Cincinnati colliding with the harbor and irregular coastline of North Toledo. Duluth also has all the friendliness of a Canadian city with little to no sprawl. There just isn't anything else quite like it. If I didin't hate winter, I'd move to Duluth in a second.

 

And just to clarify, I visited Duluth on a Wednesday night. I took a lot of photos (on film), so God knows when I'll have time to scan and post them. In the meantime, here are some webfinds:

 

Talk about quality of life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most these photos can be found on http://northernimages.com/lakesuperior/index.php

Yeah, Duluth is quite impressive, but I haven't seen enough to say it blows all Ohio cities out of the water. Thanks for the pics.

I went to Duluth in 2002 (part of my "truck driving days").  It was a very nice town; reminded me of a larger Traverse City with more student life.  But I wouldn't say it beats ANY of the larger Ohio cities (though for its size, per capita, it does damn well).  I did find the downtown a bit boring, the hills were impressive, the architecture typical Great Lakes (meaning, a few Victorians on that one bluff, but generally nothing noteworthy), and the harbor being very used.

 

Perhaps Sandusky needs to take notes?

Perhaps Sandusky needs to take notes?

 

perhaps EVERY Great Lakes city (large and small) should take note.

 

Sadly, if you visited in 2002, most the revitalization hadn't happened yet. Most of what I saw was completed within the last year or two. Things are really blowing up out there, and the rest of the Midwest should take note...

 

Duluth is still a pretty poor city, but has managed to pull off an incredible comeback in recent years. It not only proves size doesn't matter, but also money doesn't matter. Duluthians are very supportive of their urban core on a scale I just haven't seen in Ohio yet.

 

Keep in mind, Duluth is a hub city in the middle of nowhere (meaning, the closest city is Minneapolis and Jesus that's a long drive).  So of course it's going to be very vibrant, hopping, etc.  Think of Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, and such for reference.

It looks pretty nice but I would never live anywhere that small and secluded no matter how much people went downtown.

Fly high, Deluth.

Duluth is a cool city, thanks for the peek.  However, you didn't mention the only drawback that would truly stop me from living there - the brutal winter:

Average monthly highs, Duluth vs. Cincinnati:

Nov - 35 vs. 54

Dec - 22 vs. 43

Jan - 18 vs. 38

Feb - 25 vs. 44

Mar - 34 vs. 55

My dad had a girlfreind in Superior.

 

 

My friend has an aunt and uncle in Iron River, Wisconsin (not too far from Duluth) and tries to visit them every other year or so............if you get him on the subject of Duluth, northern Minnesota and northen Wisconsin....he won't shut up about how free-spirited, open-minded, and great that place is :)

 

Makes me wanna visit :) seriously!!!!!

Interesting post to me since I grew up an hour north of Duluth, in an area known as the Iron Range, an iron mining area which thrived with the help of Duluth's shipping industry.  I now live in Cleveland.  I completely agree with the above posts noting that there is very little sprawl in Duluth, as most of it's population lives in the city limits.  It is most definitely a destination city for all of northern MN in addition to Ontario.  Go to the mall there and see how many Canadian license plates there are.  The only drawback is that the area is so secluded as noted above, and there are few major entertainment options (concerts, shows, pro sports etc.).  You have to travel to Minneapolis for this type of thing.  You get used to dealing with the weather.  It does get bitterly cold, weeks of a time at -20 F over night with temps touching -40 F occasionally.  My brother still lives in Duluth so I could post some pics from my next visit.

well, i noticed someone said before duluth is still pretty poor and isn't sprawl technically a sign of prosperity-esp. in the US.  Thus, no economic prosperity and thus no sprawl. 

y friend has an aunt and uncle in Iron River, Wisconsin (not too far from Duluth) and tries to visit them every other year or so............if you get him on the subject of Duluth, northern Minnesota and northen Wisconsin....he won't shut up about how free-spirited, open-minded, and great that place is

 

I you sure it wasnt Ironwood, Michigan?  That town is closer to Duluth.  Iron River, Michigan, is further to the east. 

 

There is an Ironwood, Iron River, and Iron Mountain.  They are all old mining towns.  That whole area up there is sort of a northwoods version of Appalachia, except its iron and copper rather than coal.

 

Ironwood was somewhat famous in the northwoods for its neighboring town across the state line in Wisconsin, Hurley.  Hurley was "wide open"...sort of what Newport used to be like in the old days. 

 

Anyway, Duluth has that sister city across the bay, Superior, which was a shipyard town.  The Duluth/Superior metro area was also the nearest big city for a lot of northern Wisconsin, though Ashland, another ore port on Lake Superior, did provide some competition.

 

 

 

 

 

y friend has an aunt and uncle in Iron River, Wisconsin (not too far from Duluth) and tries to visit them every other year or so............if you get him on the subject of Duluth, northern Minnesota and northen Wisconsin....he won't shut up about how free-spirited, open-minded, and great that place is

 

I you sure it wasnt Ironwood, Michigan?  That town is closer to Duluth.   Iron River, Michigan, is further to the east. 

 

 

Iron River, Wisconsin (not Michigan) :D

 

Iron River, Wisconsin is some tiny little town in Bayfield County between Ashland and Duluth I looked at a map)

 

...............all in all, the scenery looks gorgeous!

Great thread, CDawg.  I've never been to Duluth... but have always been curious... and I am not suprised by your observations.  Big populations and lots of money DO NOT buy great functional urban cores.  Many of the biggest, richest areas in the US are some of the crappiest and most suburban.  I'll take a vibrant, walkable, functional small urban core over the usual major American city wasteland any day.

 

y friend has an aunt and uncle in Iron River, Wisconsin (not too far from Duluth) and tries to visit them every other year or so............if you get him on the subject of Duluth, northern Minnesota and northen Wisconsin....he won't shut up about how free-spirited, open-minded, and great that place is

 

I you sure it wasnt Ironwood, Michigan?  That town is closer to Duluth.  Iron River, Michigan, is further to the east. 

 

Dude... he said Iron River, WISCONSIN.  I'd like to hear more about Hurley though.  I have a co-worker from Ironwood, MI.

I don't know much about Hurley other than its reputation as that was more my dads and grandads time (they lived in northern Wisconsin, but further south).

 

The neat area up there is the Apostle Islands, up around Bayfield. Bayfield is a very upscale little resort town on Lake Superior.  Sort of preppy/L L Bean style.  Madeline Island, offshore, is supposed to be pretty nice, but I never made it on that island.  That is the largest and inhabited Apostle Island..the rest are a national lakeshore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks pretty nice but I would never live anywhere that small and secluded no matter how much people went downtown.

 

It really doesn't feel small and secluded once you're there (which was what I was expecting). That's what is so amazing about it. This city of 85,000 feels like most American cities of 800,000.

 

That's exactly how I felt about Granada, Spain. Only 235,000 people in that city, which only constitutes a fraction of Columbus' population, but judging by the number of people out and about you'd think it was the other way around. Reason being all those bloscks of 10 story residential buildings surrounding the city. There is not a single street in Columbus that has such density, not even in our urban neighborhoods. Well, W 11th on south campus is close, but you have to imagine the other side of the street lined with tall dorms.

 

The correlation of wealth and bustling city is very interesting. Of course, Spain isn't the richest country in Europe and their unemployment rate used to be rather high, now it's around 7.5%. Go to just about any largish city in Spain and you're basically guaranteed a great time. And while there is sprawl there, it's in the form of high-density residential ensuring that plenty of people are closer to the city. So might we say that Ohio's large cities would be better off if they had been poorer? Without people being able to move to the suburbs, I wonder what they would look like today.

 

Oh, and I'd like to visit Duluth and Minneapolis/St. Paul too. The Great Lakes states have a lot to offer, as we all know.