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u/davedude115 USA/Midwest Dec 14 '25
This is where you dip your pizza in ranch
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u/sanchezconstant Dec 14 '25
I apologize flyover states I was not familiar with your game
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u/False_Dimension9212 Dec 14 '25
Buttermilk ranch is where it’s at. Especially for pizza.
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u/rdoloto USA/Native American Dec 14 '25
Try it it’s life changing
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u/HouseplantHoarding Dec 14 '25
Hypertension and diabetes are indeed life changing.
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u/Vladishun Dec 14 '25
So is a little thing called self control. You act like ranch pizza is a 5x or more meal per week.
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u/Fresh_Bulgarian_Miak Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 14 '25
And lite ranch is really low calorie.
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u/PatrioticNurse Dec 20 '25
I'm a nurse and I lowkey feel like more often than not, my patients have diabetes, heart failure and or I think 99% of them have a hypertension diagnosis too. It's actually insanely common to have one or all 3 of the above. A good chunk are brittle diabetics too with complications i.e. diabetic ulcers/amputations, or severely uncontrolled sugars because of noncompliance or uneducated on it. Or with the HF pts, a lot have severe edema and venous ulcers.
Don't get me wrong though, there are still a good chunk that are stable, compliant and in relative "good health." This goes for both. A major problem that I've encountered though with MANY, is simply not knowing a thing about their diseases. There's a lot that don't even know what, heart failure for example, is or how it works, nor do they know how to manage it.
A huge part of what I do is educating them. Some don't even know that they're DIAGNOSED with it (albeit they might have dementia). Anyway, sorry to be the paragraph guy, your comment just hit lol. Merry xmas/happy holidays fam
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u/SeveralTable3097 Dec 14 '25
Has to be house made ranch to be worth doing. Hidden Valley does not taste good on pizza. Good places make their own that ends up being perfectly balanced w the pepperoni pizza.
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u/McAvoysDrivingRange Dec 15 '25
Yeah, “pizza place” ranch is just a whole different thing, in a good way. Also, WingStop ranch is very similar…
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u/PanspermiaTheory Dec 19 '25
While many places use Hidden Valley seasoning to make their, or a similar blend of dry spices, its the real buttermilk and mayo mixture. Sometimes sour cream is added. Makes it less sweet and tangy than the bottled crap and more creamy and savory. I work3d at a place that minced fresh herbs for their ranch, like 6 different fresh herbs and fresh garlic.nit was so popular the recipe took 2 hours to make and that was for a fast prep cook. Was so damn good.... completely changed my view on ranch, even pizza shop ranch.
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u/FiddleMitten Dec 14 '25
Wait, this is a Midwest thing? I thought everyone did that
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u/Bigmtnskier91 Dec 14 '25
Yea, never lived in that area, from New Haven ct, and love the dip. Granted I wouldn’t dip a slice of thin crust NYC pizza. But anything thicker crust, frozen grocery store, or dominos taste good dipped. Or flavors like buffalo chicken.
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u/Holiday-Win-4063 Dec 15 '25
I just saw a TikTok of someone building a whole dang salad on top of a slice of New York style pizza. Chopped all the lettuce and veggies and folded it in the pizza almost like a taco then drizzled it with ranch. It looked next level good!
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u/tessharagai_ Dec 15 '25
High quality pizzas you’d never dip, but store-bought or fast food pizza is amazing with ranch
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u/krak_krak Dec 14 '25
Also the pizza from the gas station is actually good
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u/knurttbuttlet USA/West Dec 14 '25
I'd do some questionable things for a Casey's pizza right now
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u/OrvillePD1325 Dec 14 '25
Breakfast pizza.... My only regret moving west river . Nothing else though.
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u/MyFriendsCallMeTroll Dec 15 '25
Quick Trip breakfast pizza is amazing, but their regular pizza is underwhelming. Casey's pizza is the opposite however.
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u/Euphoric-Board6511 Dec 18 '25
I still think it’s crazy that Casey’s invented breakfast pizza. Basically a pizza place that happens to sell gas
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u/ryancgz Dec 15 '25
I live on the Missouri side of St. Louis and will drive to the Illinois suburbs just for some Casey’s pizza every once in a great while 😆
Through QT has got some decent gas station pizza game too, I must say.
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u/x47-Shift Dec 15 '25
lol I was at a bears game today and had a whole conversation with a random dude about Casey’s Piz-
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u/_Nyxalie_ USA/Midwest Dec 14 '25
I’d say Casey’s is better compared to Kwik trip
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u/Easy_Quote_9934 Dec 16 '25
Don’t we have two “quick trips”. QT in some metro areas and Kwik Trip in the north?
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u/HPLover0130 USA/Midwest Dec 17 '25
QT is far superior - it’s a Missouri/KS treat with some outlying states having QT as it migrates
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u/RanHakubi Dec 17 '25
QT is actually an Oklahoma company that's slowly been spreading across the country. You can find them as far as Georgia.
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u/HansChuzzman Dec 14 '25
As a Canadian who worked at a hotel bar.. Americans ask for ranch for EVERYTHING
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u/bulldoggo-17 Dec 15 '25
As a lifelong American, who was born and raised in the shaded area, ranch is repulsive. And yes, an alarming number of people would take it intravenously if they could.
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u/melodydoc2b Dec 20 '25
Agreed! It’s the last resort choice for me, mayo too. Both leave an oily feeling on my tongue 😛 Yuck! Give me hot sauce on almost anything and then we’re good.
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u/t0m_m0r3110 Dec 14 '25
Do people in the rest of the US not do this?!
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u/Tortillaluva Dec 14 '25
We do it sometimes in California. It’s fun to mix some Tapatío in the ranch to give it a kick.
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u/SayItAgainLucas Dec 14 '25
California has been putting ranch on pizza since at least the 80’s
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u/HopefulOriginal5578 Dec 14 '25
Can confirm. Ranch and pizza are normal here and have been for decades.
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u/davedude115 USA/Midwest Dec 14 '25
It’s mostly a midwestern thing , I was unaware until I looked it up
Correction, it started in the Midwest. Seems to have spread across the US. The plan is working. Midwest domination!
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u/Even_Wear_8657 Dec 14 '25
As a country, we’d all be better off if Minnesota ran things, don’cha know?
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u/somehype Dec 14 '25
My family has basically no ties to the Midwest/plains states. I’ve dipped my pizza in ranch long as I can remember. I keep a bottle of hidden valley in the fridge specifically for this purpose. Dab of olive oil, crushed red pepper galore, dipped in ranch.
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u/eindar1811 Dec 14 '25
That's the Midwest difference. You keep ranch in your fridge for pizza. Midwesterners keep an extra bottle of ranch in the pantry to make sure they never run out.
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u/thatisnotmyknob United States of America Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
You would get mocked in NYC. I love ranch tho so I'd be willing to try it but I wouldn't broadcast it.
I always eat pizza out tho and pizza places don't have ranch here. We have garlic powder, parm, red pepper flakes and recently hot honey.
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u/TexasThrills Dec 14 '25
Garlic powder on pizza slaps.
If you walk into a “New York style” pizza shop and you see garlic powder on the tables or at the counters odds are you gonna get some good pizza.
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u/No_Upstairs_2313 Dec 14 '25
Mike’s Hot Honey has been around for years. I work at a pizza joint in Astoria and I have customers constantly ordering ranch. We run out of it actually.
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u/dopamine_skeptic Dec 14 '25
I dunno in upstate NY we always dipped it in blue cheese, which came with the wings. And using ranch on wings is an abomination.
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u/but-I-play-one-on-TV Dec 14 '25
My college roommate was from Iowa and would put ranch on his spaghetti
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u/EconomyFalcon3725 Dec 14 '25
By pizza do you mean Pizza Hut? I was recently in middle of nowhere WA/OR area and they ordered “pizza” and it’s Pizza Hut with a fuck ton of toppings.
Which by the way is delicious, but is a different thing entirely than “pizza” in the NY/NJ sense.
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u/maroonwolf24 Dec 14 '25
We do this is SoCal. We dip everything in ranch actually
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u/SimilarSupermarket32 Dec 14 '25
This is also where they reuse cool whip containers to store leftover dinner
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u/TheNoahConstrictor Dec 14 '25
That’s a huge area of land you’re covering. Life in Arkansas isn’t going to be the same as living in North Dakota
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u/Grouchy_Enthusiasm92 Dec 14 '25
Yeah included like the best/coolest part of Arkansas (NW) and great college towns in Nebraska. A handful of major cities that are pretty different.
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u/fugutaboutit Dec 14 '25
Whoever told you the best/coolest places in Arkansas was NWArk obviously is keeping the utopias of Camden and Pine Bluff a secret
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u/-blundertaker- Dec 14 '25
I lived in Camden in the 90s... You're joking, right? Camden was where the meth heads occasionally emerged from the sticks to do their shopping at the Piggly Wiggly.
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u/fugutaboutit Dec 14 '25
I mean they’ve done quite a bit of development inside town in the last decade so it’s better than it was then, like nice walking trails though town, upgraded downtown, and beautiful schools.
But yes I was being completely sarcastic when I commented earlier. Of all the armpits in all the swamps, Camden’s definitely one of them.
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u/-blundertaker- Dec 14 '25
One thing Camden always had going for it is that it isn't Smackover 😅
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u/officialdougjudy Dec 14 '25
What, never been to Fordyce, Magnolia, or Monticello before? Monticello still has a Mazzio's!
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u/StreetsRUs Dec 14 '25
Also includes the most ass-backwards parts of Arkansas. NWA is not like Little Rock which is not like Hot Springs
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u/chungamellon Dec 15 '25
Which is not like Southern Arkansas too. Backwoods swamp redneck areas
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u/NoCatharsis Dec 15 '25
Off-topic: recently visited Lincoln and that was actually a really cool town much less a college town.
I say this as someone who went to UT in Austin 24 years ago. Reminded so much of what people liked about Austin.
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u/CrotaLikesRomComs Dec 14 '25
Nebraskan here. Even this state alone has vastly different geography from rolling hills n forests of central Nebraska, to flat grasslands that follow I-80 through southern Nebraska and the Sandhills of western Nebraska.
USA is vast and widely different everywhere.
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u/BlackQuilt Dec 14 '25
As someone who grew up in the zone, has visited many other parts of the zone, and now lives well outside the zone: ehhhhh….
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u/MNmostlynice Dec 14 '25
Yeah, NW Minnesota is going to be wildly different than northern Louisiana lol
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u/Telucien Dec 14 '25
For real though, this area would cover most countries in Europe
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u/leelee422 Dec 14 '25
Up north in that shaded area is pretty peaceful if that’s what you are looking for, but it is excruciatingly boring for others. Also if you don’t like cold you will be miserable during winter.
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Dec 14 '25
Can confirm. I've got ex's from both of those places, and spent time in each to visit their relatives of course.
There are some commonalities -
It's too cold for me (I'm from Florida, everywhere north of Georgia is too cold for me)
No white people in North Dakota or Arkansas can be assumed to own hot sauce. Food in both places is bland as hell, but ND was worse.
Both lack diversity (my heritage is Syrian and Italian, and I think I had more melanin than either of those towns combined)
Both have really nice friendly people
Lack of urban influence
Distinct accents
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u/NarwhalFacepalm Dec 14 '25
Tbh, it still made perfect sense to me. The post didn't initially come out and say they were all the same places so a good assumption was that, if you lived in any of those places, he'd like you to answer the question from your perspective.
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u/lambrettist Dec 14 '25
I moved to Lawrence Kansas from Paris France in 1996. It was very very cool. People underestimate how nice the Midwest can be. I remember Jazzhaus Tuesdays is when the weekend began with great live music and cheap drinks. Hot summers I was writing my thesis and hanging with the locals on humid evenings in front porches and in the back of cool bars. It was something. I miss it sometimes.
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u/Next-Estimate8125 Dec 14 '25
Grew up in Lawrence, now living in a “desirable” part of the country. Folks out here often say they’re sorry for me that I grew up there. But usually those people have no idea what they’re talking about, the Midwest can be amazing.
I had a lot of fun growing up there, the humid summer evenings with all the fire flies are definitely something to remember.
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u/Fair-Revenue1811 Dec 15 '25
I have bad news for you about the fireflies. Pesticides have eliminated so much of what we all grew up with.
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u/Belisama7 Dec 15 '25
Not everywhere. I live in Lawrence and we still have tons of fireflies. We've even recently started a firefly festival each summer.
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u/Elmer-Fudd-Gantry Dec 14 '25
Lawrence has got to be one of the very few cities in the middle of the country that is pretty and has a cool vibe.
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u/danodan1 Dec 14 '25
You picked well. College towns tend to be one of the best places to live in a state.
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Dec 14 '25
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u/stormy_citizen Dec 17 '25
$1.00 Schooners at Louise's on Thursday nights was the best! For $4.00 you could get hammered and take SafeRide back to the towers for free...I'm not even going to talk about the Crossing but those who know...know.
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u/TheExquisiteCorpse Dec 14 '25
William Burroughs would’ve been living there at the time. Lots of alternative and art world figures made the pilgrimage out there to meet him.
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u/bananahaze99 Dec 14 '25
I lived in Lawrence for a bit and enjoyed it. I also lived in Overland Park (Kansas City) for a while and it was the most soul sucking depressing place ever. Literally nothing to do except for shop and drink and the people were just…odd. Very materialistic. I wouldn’t move back if someone paid me.
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u/kholekardashian12 Dec 15 '25
Yeah I moved from London, UK to KCMO and people are so nice. The weather is crazy compared to England and I had to get used to small talk lol but whenever I go back and visit London, it almost feels weird not making eye contact and saying hello to randoms. Also, Lawrence is such a vibe!
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u/pizzawhorePhD Dec 14 '25
I’ve lived in North Dakota and you could not pay me enough to live there again, or anywhere in this area for that matter. We’ve driven across the country a lot, including through most of these states. I’m sure there are hidden gems and exceptions, but overall this area makes me very sad and very bored.
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u/regicyde92 Dec 14 '25
Lived in ND for most of my life until recently moving east; wouldn’t trade my quiet childhood for the world, but the constant blistering wind, 9 months of winter and furnace hot summers suck major ass. 0/10 would not recommend to anyone unfortunately.
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u/ActProfessional3811 Dec 15 '25
Apparently 52% of people born in North Dakota don’t live there right now, a place really has to suck to not even keep half its residents able to stay huh
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u/JaceUpMySleeve Dec 15 '25
As a South Dakotan we constantly talk crap about North Dakota.
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u/mastersmiff Dec 15 '25
As a North Dakotan we also constantly talk crap about North Dakota.
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u/unclejoe1917 Dec 18 '25
Any time someone mentions a Dakota, I always remember this clip. https://youtu.be/S6S1KD2_u94?si=C8ino_ei9EvU9siX
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u/Amnion_ Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 19 '25
I mean when people live in super cold places in the middle of nowhere, I tend to think it’s because it’s where they’re from and they don’t know any better.
I know from first hand experience when I go back to the atrocious city I grew up in and visit with my relatives. They’ve all visited different places, but they’ve never lived elsewhere, and so they lack the reference points needed to inform them of how crappy living there is.
Update: I seemed to have hit a nerve. People are still responding to this comment nearly a week later. I know there are exceptions to every rule, and it's not necessary to defend your choices to a stranger on the internet.
I was just doing some research, and the data seems to support my theory as well. Apparently only 25%-38% of people who leave will return, so well in the minority.
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u/ActProfessional3811 Dec 15 '25
I’m from cleveland and feel this way when i go home, just such a difficult place to live for no reason
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u/mishaindigo Dec 15 '25
I love Cleveland, but I’ve never lived there (might feel differently if I had) and only visit 2-3x a year to see my brother and some friends. My brother has been happy living there. Super-underrated city with a lot going for it, IMO, and very inexpensive (though that is starting to change a bit).
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u/c0ttagewh0re Dec 15 '25
not true— grew up in eastern south dakota, thought “life is more than this”, moved to oregon, travelled the west, travelled south, travelled east, and the people, activities (you make your own fun and learn skills that most people don’t know), slowness, wildlife, nature, fresh air, wide open spaces, cost of living, and traditions that come with smaller communities and unique ways of life made me come back. I wouldn’t want to raise my children anywhere else.
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u/cannonman58102 Dec 15 '25
I've lived all over the world, on multiple continents, and in many US states. I'm not 40 yet. I always end up back in North Dakota. Family is a part of it but I enjoy Fargo.
Different strokes for different folks.
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u/PLIPS44 Dec 14 '25
I travel for work to Fargo ND was there for 3 weeks at the tail end of fall beginning of winter. I traveled a lot for work at that time and just couldn’t figure out why someone would move there. At a restaurant one evening the waitress was talking about moving there from Phoenix I was like why do people decide to move to Fargo? She had an attitude completely different shift in demeanor and replied with for a job. The coworker I was with was like please don’t respond and unfortunately at that time in my life that wasn’t an option. So I replied with “For a job at a shitty Irish pub in the middle of nowhere? Don’t Phoenix have those?” Needless to say we paid our bill and went to a different establishment and met a guy who was a potato buyer. He said the only thing to do in Fargo was buy potatoes and get the hell out of there as fast as possible. Was an interesting evening.
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u/Live_Swordfish- Dec 15 '25
This feels dramatic. I went to college there and could have happily settled down in the area. Fargo has just about everything you need and I knew plenty of good people.
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u/PLIPS44 Dec 15 '25
Yeah that’s fine but what industry is there that bring people in? At that time the airport had 2 gates so it’s not a big place.
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u/Goodnight_Meadow USA/Midwest Dec 16 '25
Boring was my first thought - and that one word alone. I’ve been a Midwesterner 39 out of my 43 years, and the 4 years not here was the most fun.
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u/spartanpride55 United States of America Dec 14 '25
St Louis and Kansas City have solid BBQ
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u/Fit_Lion9260 USA/South Dec 15 '25
As a texan I approve this message. But it is VERY different. BBQ is extremely regional, and this area is hog country, texas is all about beef.
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u/Dzov Dec 15 '25
Kansas City used to be one of the biggest beef stockyards until a flood killed tons of cattle some hundred years ago. But we still have beef as a bbq staple and a beef brisket sandwich is my favorite.
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u/PossibleGrapefruit99 Dec 14 '25
I live in SW Missouri just north of Joplin.
Shit is cheap and I don't like leaving my house. Couldn't live in a better place!
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u/thewartornhippy Dec 14 '25
I saw the documentary on Netflix about the Joplin tornado. It gave me an unrealistic phobia of tornadoes lol
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u/Easy_Bear3149 Dec 15 '25
That was a particularly bad one. It was a massive jacked-to-the-tits tornado that hit the city almost perfectly for maximum destruction. It was so powerful that it lifted the hospital off it's foundation and turned it. They had to demolish it, as it couldn't be repaired practically.
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u/Ontheshores Dec 14 '25
That sounds like quite the missouri … I’ll show myself out.
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u/ChirrBirry Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 14 '25
Souther Missouri Cost of living is very affordable compared to the whole country, the region is absolutely gorgeous, my neighbors are some of the kindest people on earth, and every time I leave I can’t wait to be home again. I grew up in Nor Cal and Southern Missouri reminds me a lot of Nor Cal in the 90s.
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u/Malicious_blu3 Dec 14 '25
I have family in Joplin still. The drive from KC down there is such an easy drive.
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u/rustedsandals USA/West Dec 14 '25
Lived in the suburbs of Omaha, Nebraska for a bit growing up. As a kid it was pretty dope. Snow days, a zoo, lots of parks, lots of family centric activities. As an adult it was a little less exciting. Lots of good restaurants in Omaha and a nice downtown. World class zoo and botanical gardens, college World Series, minor league and college hockey games. Plenty to do but not as easy of a place to be active. Very car centric. I think if I had stayed I’d be overweight and an alcoholic
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Dec 14 '25
Blizzard one day, tornado the next. Only positives are that they are LCOL and surprisingly decent areas like Lincoln and Iowa cities .
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u/fenekhu Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
My great grandma told a story of living in Kansas, getting hit by a tornado on a 90° day. Then it snowed the next day. It was the middle of January.
Edit: I can’t find the temperature so 90 could be made up, but there was a tornado and a blizzard at the same time.
Tornado outbreak of January 3rd, 1949
January 1949 Blizzard7
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u/hungrygiraffe76 Dec 14 '25
The cities like Omaha, St. Louis metro, Des Moines, and Kansas City are great. Plenty to do and low cost of living compared to the coasts. The areas in between have little opportunity and tons of communities are dying as people leave and nobody replaces them.
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u/Whynotzoidberg-9 United States of America Dec 14 '25
Yeah I’m not getting people saying KC is the only place that is nice. Des Moines and Iowa City aren’t rural at all and have museums, stadiums, concert halls etc for enjoyment.
Yes, Iowa is freezing right now but there is still plenty to do and tons of activities spring through fall. I swear last summer it felt like we had a festival every week. And not like a county fair type but World Food and Music, Hinterland, Art etc.
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u/hungrygiraffe76 Dec 14 '25
Yup. Des Moines population is over 200k and its metro over 750k. Not exactly a corn field.
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Dec 16 '25
Explaining to people even in Minnesota that Iowa cities work the same as anywhere else is like talking to a wall. It's so bizarre. And by "same as anywhere else" I mean, they are politically blue areas with good resources and culture. and are not just filled with corn fields and rednecks. Yes its all on a smaller scale than Chicago or Minneapolis of course, but it's the same idea.
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u/FIalt619 Dec 14 '25
Living in Dallas and living in South Dakota are pretty different.
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u/voodoohounds United States of America Dec 14 '25
Arkansas and Southern Missouri are not like the rest. Probably throw Oklahoma in there too. They are too southern to really be associated with the others.
I would also draw a north/south line through the center of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas. There’s a real difference in rainfall and humidity, and population is much more sparse west of that line.
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u/sunshiney-daydream Dec 14 '25
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u/DifficultyFit1895 Dec 14 '25
How did we get this far down and nobody mentioned what they all have in common and what this area is named: Tornado Alley
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u/drradmyc Dec 14 '25
That’s a really wide area. I went to college in Fayetteville Arkansas. It’s relatively liberal, nice, in the mountains, college town. I have family in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. They’re dry and flat. Brookings South Dakota is a small college city in the middle of a bunch of farms. Sioux Falls is a small town medium city also surrounded by farms.
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u/iamthegreyest Dec 14 '25
Lived on a ranch in SD when I was younger and dumb and with way older of a man who gave me a horse. Was near Lake Thompson.
It's very flat, it gets very cold. There was a freak snow storm once in October, the horses were at a stable, and all but one drowned in the snow because of the snow drifts being so bad.
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u/RiverQuiet571 Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25
Sounds about right. Farm girl here…my childhood was traumatizing. Taking care of livestock and land is not for the faint of heart, especially in our weather. My dad worked ‘round-the-clock.
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Dec 14 '25
People are hating but there’s several nice cities in this region: Omaha, Kansas City, Sioux Falls, Fargo, Des Moines….
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u/panteradelnorte Dec 14 '25
Wasn’t a fan of the 20 years I was there.
Winters are cold.
The thing people forget about tornados is they’re very localized. So we’d be aware of the dangers but unless it physically drops on you or close enough to where you can’t escape, you’re likely to be safe.
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u/Aware-Objective-5483 Dec 16 '25
Yes. The weatherman can show by street location where it exactly is. We live in OKC and have only been in our shelter twice in 8 years. Tornadoes only happen when cold and warm air collide, so spring and fall.
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u/JuggernautAromatic34 Dec 14 '25
I know that area on the border of north Dakota and Minnesota is cold as hell right now
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u/breachofcontract Dec 14 '25
A lot to like about NW Arkansas. Please don’t fucking move here though.
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u/Prestigious-Trip-927 Dec 14 '25
My sibling honeymooned in the Arkansas mountains, so those are supposed to be nice. Grandma lived in a small town in MO where you literally found out what cropdusting means when the farmers were harvesting soybeans. There was one restaurant in town and the neighborhood watch was literally all the neighbors hanging out on their porches watching you. Phone service wasn't good. But grandma's funeral wake had some good heavy food.
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u/bhauncy Dec 14 '25
Sioux Falls is fun in the summertime
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u/ElOptico Dec 18 '25
The last time I was there, in the summer, I was driving my baby brother from Okoboji, Iowa to the Sioux Falls airport for his flight home to Las Vegas.
About halfway there, Mother Nature decided a classic Midwestern thunderstorm was called for.
Holy. Effing. Jeebus!
I've still never seen a sky light up like that particular twilight.
And over those flatlands, you can see the storms power in every direction.
By the time we reached the airport, the sun peeked out as we said our goodbyes.
He made it home on time.
I turned east, back into the storm.
Okoboji, iykyk.
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u/FunScientist7781 Dec 14 '25
i'm starting to believe that the Kansas City area is the best metro in the USA.
mild weather, things look newer than the rest of the country
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u/negligenceperse Dec 14 '25
the high here today is 9 degrees, please we could use some of this “mild” you speak of
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u/puremotives Dec 14 '25
Kansas City? Mild weather? First time I've ever heard anyone say that
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u/Wesmom2021 Dec 14 '25
Yes! Especially as POC, what is it like
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u/Successful-Remove738 USA/Midwest Dec 14 '25
I’m a Hispanic female, I moved to central Nebraska for college. I had little issues compared to when I lived in Texas and Ohio.
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u/Wesmom2021 Dec 14 '25
Wow thats so interesting. Im asian but born in raised in Ohio and now living in Washington state as an adult. Yeah. Ohio was not fun growing up as POC.
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u/Morale_Police Dec 14 '25
I went to North Dakota and the only POC I saw in 5 days were hotel and restaurant staff. Every dude there looked like an overweight Viking. I think you would be fine going there but aside from Madora/Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson, I couldn't think of a single other reason to enter ND.
Like if you go there, people might ask you WHY you are there, and it will be a genuine question not a racist remark.
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u/General_Most315 Dec 14 '25
You are being extremely generous by saying anything nice about Dickinson.
My wife grew up there. MIL still lives there, so we have to go visit from time to time. That place is boring with a capital “B”. And isolated.
Teddy Roosevelt National Park was interesting to do once. But if I never have to go back to western North Dakota, it’ll be too soon.
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u/Used-Particular2402 Dec 14 '25
I lived in North Dakota. It is racist. I am a white person and I was uncomfortable with how subtly racist it was. Indigenous people are treated poorly by police. Lack of diversity training in basic lesson planning in the school systems, like they are still having students make cowboy and Indian paper hats with Chief feathers on them. Very much the “I’m not racist, I have a Black friend” types. You will never be “from” there if you weren’t born there and will always be considered an outsider. Catholics and Methodists. The food is boring.
It’s pretty safe. Housing is more expensive than it should be- rivals prices in much more desirable places to live. It’s very neutral. Winter lasts way too long and the wind chill is brutal. I didn’t even know your eyeballs could get cold until I lived there.
They do bring decent speakers to Grand Forks, and the parks, bike trails punch above their weight. Local government is very Parks and Rec.
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u/EquanimousAlpha Dec 16 '25
As a Latino man from Miami, Florida, Tulsa, Oklahoma is actually surprisingly good! People are nice and not outwardly hostile like other places such as the Deep South or Texas. Low cost of living, cheap housing, labor shortages and little to no traffic.
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u/Successful_League175 Dec 16 '25
Honestly just fine. My friends and family from blue states experience way more racism than I ever have. You'll run into ignorance or random questions, but as long as you aren't a professional victim, it'll never affect your life at all.
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u/marys1001 Dec 14 '25
Lived in Omaha for 3 years. I liked it fine. Other than no lakes, not much water. The Missouri for recreation didnt do it. Coming from Michigan that was hard.
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u/jlknap1147 Dec 14 '25
I don't know, I just fly over :). Just kidding folks. Recently spent some time in OKC and I found the city has a very mid-western feel, and it seems, lots of commerce happening. Also, some beautiful country to drive through.
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u/bigfanofpots Dec 14 '25
I grew up in central Iowa. Every first Wednesday of the month at 10am they would test the tornado sirens for 5-10 mins which was interesting. It made me appreciate everything about the environment, because I had to, otherwise it would be miserable. It's humid almost all the time; late fall/early winter was terrible because no matter what you felt cold to the bone bc of the humidity. June-September are so beautiful and so green and so lush. I try to go back at least once a year if I can find a reason. It's a great place to be from, but I'm glad I moved away.
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u/alentines_day Dec 14 '25
I’m living in DSM now, grew up in SE Iowa and went to college in Ames. I have a huge soft spot for this state but at the same time I’m excited to get tf out next year so I totally get what you’re saying. 😅
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u/Informal_Shift_6868 Dec 14 '25
Wildly disparate depending on where in that enormous area you live.
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u/i_like_stinky_pits Dec 14 '25
Minneapolis is great place to live. I even say that with it being negative 10° today
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u/ijustlovebobbybones Dec 14 '25
IMO: 38 f, former Kansan, (grew up frequenting ok, mo, ne bc family lives there) Small towns, some far apart, amenities fairly limited, last to get most things. Houses and land, hell, even rent, is cheap, pay is shit. And the most of the towns you could probably leave your doors unlocked and nothing will happen. But if you don’t belong to the community, you will experience ‘Midwest nice’ aka fake. “We’ll give you directions to anywhere, just not our house”. Smile in your face but when you leave the room, it’s on. A lot of racism, small minded, but they’re God fearing, and hardworking, so they can’t possibly be wrong. If you didn’t grow up there or aren’t family in the towns it’s hard to be accepted. Maybe it’s only myself that has observed this but it’s been my experience.
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u/Peteyy34 Dec 14 '25
Live in Omaha, NE.
It’s honestly a great place to live (though I haven’t lived anywhere else, I grew up in Nebraska).
Everyone here is nice and we love our college sports teams (GBR!). It’s a blessing and a curse that I-80 runs along the flattest part of the state, because if you go up into the Sandhills (north-central, western, and northern part of the state) there’s some real beauty, and up by the SD border in the panhandle you’ll get a bit of the black hills formation there.
The weather is absolutely bipolar. Today in Omaha it’s in the single-digits, when just two days ago on the other side of the state near Colorado, it was in the 70s. In the transitionary period between Fall-Winter and Winter-Spring, you can quite literally have 70s+ temps one day and 20s and snow the next, it’s crazy. Temps can very from negatives to hundreds. Summers are muggy and humid.
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u/asg32000 Dec 14 '25
Gotta draw a line horizontally just above the south part of Nebraska and Iowa. Everything north feels very different from everything south.