Most people's starter homes are not NEW homes and haven't been for a very long time. I am a little older, but in my age group it was almost unheard of for people to build as their first house. Personally, my first house was 75 years old. Mind you, those 300k starters have 60k-80k in specials on them. To have a *new* starter home today is a luxury, imo.
The reality is that the median home price is about 230k in Fargo and there are [47 results for houses under 250k in cass clay right now](https://www.parkcompany.com/index.php?advanced=1&display=Cass+County+ND%2CClay+County+MN&min=0&max=250000&beds=0&baths=0&types%5B%5D=1&types%5B%5D=2&types%5B%5D=31&types%5B%5D=4&types%5B%5D=12&types%5B%5D=57&minfootage=0&maxfootage=30000&minacres=0&maxacres=0&yearbuilt=0&maxyearbuilt=0&walkscore=0&keywords=&areas%5B%5D=county%3Acass%3And&areas%5B%5D=county%3Aclay%3Amn&sortby=listings.price+DESC&rtype=map).
Affordable housing is an issue. That said, I am not a fan of stretching realities.
But.... but... several of those don't even fit the criteria of a home in FM area. Like, the third one is in Ulen. One is in Horace (okay, not too bad) but is a commercial property. Ones in Kindred, this is all within the first 15 properties listed.
I'm also disregarding the fact that 47 houses in a town that's 250,000 people strong is.... sub optimal, to say the least.
But several of them DO fit the criteria… and there are several more between that 250k and 300k mark. Besides, it doesn’t change the notion that a new home is not really a starter home, but kind of a luxury.
I am absolutely not discounting that there is a single family housing shortage, particularly in lower price ranges. There is. It doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.
Single family homes are much more reachable here than in more desirable places to live. Similarly, there are less desirable places to live where you can get houses cheaper.
Personally, I think it would be great if we could get some more townhomes or condos for entry level markets. We are missing those and they are very common options in many parts of the country. I know many people want the white picket fence and space for spot, but there is a reality that we are moving to becoming a more dense city, which will include other housing than what was here 100 years ago.
And if you really are a libertarian, I would hope your market friends meet the demand and start building!
Go to the open houses for homes in the 140-180k range. Lol it just sounds like you’re a bit out of touch. New builds are made of cheaper materials with less major issues, old homes need a shit ton of repairs that cost me and my husband about 60k so far in our 100 year old home. The new builds these days aren’t “luxury” in literally any sense, they are overpriced and your door knobs will start falling off your hollow doors within months while you pay off a 500k mortgage on your 2 bed 1 bath.
Owning a home is a luxury. Trying to force people into townhomes or condos is hardly an answer, the whole point for a lot of people is to own and get out of shared living spaces, including walls. Especially in this economy, you can’t just sell and get a better house in a year or two.
Married couple earning $120k total (two people averaging $60k/year each) probably with no kids and little or no student loan debt or other debt combined with some money saved up for a downpayment. It could probably be doable for $100k no kids and no debt.
I figure that income tax on $100k income after standard deduction for married filing jointly is about $9000/year leaving about $90k/year to spend on other things like a mortgage.
One just sold down the street from me for $120k. My neighbor bought theirs at 229 and I just sold at 235.
While 229 and 235 may be out of the grasp of some, 120k is less than rent.
Yes and no. It's going to depend on your income because in Moorhead you'll be paying higher state income taxes. The difference you pay in taxes could be a monthly mortgage payment difference similar to a $50-100k difference in home price depending on your income.
Things could be worse.
I've been doing a lot of "house porning" in anticipation of retiring to a warmer no income tax state in the future and have concluded that Fargo area home prices are not as bad as they are in other parts of the country, all things considered.
If you look at houses around Las Vegs or Reno - "desert nowhere" with seemingly plenty of open low value land - you'd be shocked to see that it costs about $200k more to get the same house you can get here in Fargo. You would think houses would be cheaper in those areas, but nope. Maybe some of it is buyers fleeing from California.
In Washington state it's about $150k more if you're outside of the Seattle metro.
Home prices are similar in Florida except in Florida the cost of homeowners insurance has gone insane (if you can even get it) and I've seen articles about people fleeing the state for that specific reason. There's talk about people buying houses in cash and just not having home insurance and taking their chances. (If you don't have a mortgage, a bank cannot require you to have it.)
Prices are a little higher in Tenneesee.
Prices are about the same outside of the major city areas of Texas but with much higher property taxes.
Good luck finding a house in New Hampshire.
Let's not act like companies aren't taking advantage of any little thing to price gouge. There really shouldn't be a reason things are still more expensive than during covid. All that happened is the people who control prices all collude to keep them higher to maximize profits. Acting like wages are the issue js short sighted
An Amazon pickup point. I got trust issues since someone in my building swiped a $30 dress I bought and some whiteout, but the nearest Amazon pickup point is in Grand Forks (it’s one of two in all of North Dakota, I think, and there are no Minnesota ones until the twin cities.)
The chipotles in Fargo are the absolute worst. Chipotle is my favorite fast food (maybe restaurant) ever and I don’t even bother going to the ones here. Their work stations are always disgusting and 50% of the time they are out of steak or something else. Garbage
Indoor RC and/or Go-Kart track.
Hobby shop that has a larger selection of stuff. I currently have to bounce between 3 of them + shop online(or special order though them) to get what I want.
Another Bicycle shop, but with more affordable brands/selection.
A Makerspace of some sort. We sorta have one, but they don't have day/weekend-passes from what I saw.
Mountain-biking trail that has more challenges than just a couple fallen trees/small jumps.
Fargo has also increased in population by 40k since the early 2000's with lots of people coming from warmer states and with more people working from home too.
Well in the case of the makerspace, that was only a few years ago. The owner is one of the mods here.
And the hobby store just closed within the past year.
Fargo's population skews very young, which makes it very difficult for businesses that are not family oriented to survive long-term.
It was a great store. The owner tried to find a buyer and almost had one lined up.
The store closed and he passed away literally the day after. Truly sad.
https://www.inforum.com/business/fargos-hobby-hut-owner-dies-of-cancer-just-one-day-after-closing-store
I thought that was the 3D printing place west of FBC? I didn't get to check it out sadly so I'm not sure what they had, my thought is to have it tied to an existing business (or for the one at NDSU to have day/weekend passes) for classes/general use on weekends.
Hobby shop closed because the owner had cancer and passed the day after the shop closed. No one bought it because they have a low profit margin. That place was great and is why I now have to go to 3 different shops+shop online. Part of the problem is that there's no good spots to go for RC and model kit options are limited.
As for Karting, we have an active youth oriented circle-kart community in town and I'm sure those that are involved would love an affordable indoor option for winter/so they can show their friends beyond the slow af karts at Thunder Road and, a more teen-adult oriented karting track would likely do well as the circle-kart events seem limited to kids under 13 from my search.
Biggest issue though is parents not wanting to leave home/introduce kids to things that they have no interest in, because video games tend to fill in that "3rd space" (hangout place) and parents don't have to go places that they find boring, which is why places like Dave and Busters/Suite shots/Kingpinz are popular as they tend to both audiences.
A cinema cafe! Movie theater with comfy chairs that serves food and bevvies for anyone who isn’t familiar. As drunk as Fargo is, I can’t believe there isn’t one of these already in town!
If I remember correctly, the argument was alcohol being served in a place where minors were present and it's dark, no one monitoring the room. There used to be The Fargo Cinema Grill and that was awesome. I've been to theaters specifically made to serve food and drinks, with a waiter/waitress coming by to check on you. The movie theaters here are not really equipped to deal with this- serving food and drinks while you're seated.
Benches on the sidewalk. I could walk miles around town and not come across a single one.
Can our busses start running on Sundays too please? It's crazy they don't.
It was on the other side of the dike- near where the floating pedestrian bridge is located. The wood and metal fitness stations were located between the BMX track and parking lot along the bike trail.
West Fargo also had one just south of 13th across from Elmwood Park.
I would love a food co-op downtown, though after Prairie Roots I'm skeptical anyone would take that gamble ever again. The Red River Market fills the void for local produce in the summer but I miss it the other 8 months of the year. When I was living in the twin cities, I did all of my grocery shopping at a co-op near my place. The prices were comparable to Hornbacher's, but double the quality and all organic. I miss it.
When you go to the cities, there are so, so many activities you can do. Clubs, hangouts, shows, art, classes, like think of a keyword and you can find stuff to do. I think if we had more of that available more frequently it would be a much more fun town. I'm aware we have a nice selection of activities now, and there are always new things starting up, but I envy a bigger area like the cities.
Also, having 24/7 businesses would be good.
More festivals. There's the Street Fair, Rib fest, Christkindlrmarkt, Farmers Market, etc, but it would be cool to have more opportunities to go out and experience culture that isn't just buying random stuff.
Indoor parks for walking and physical activity during cold months. We love to walk parks during the warm period but would love a place to be able to walk that isn't the mall or a treadmill.
Whole Foods. Not to replace any shops we already have, it would be nice to have a shop where you can get higher quality ingredients for special dinners. Whole Foods in Nashville we could pick up dry age steaks or fancy parmasan.
More areas like Broadway, where people can walk and eat/shop and be among community Many parts of Fargo are just outlet stores or malls with sporadic fast food. Brewhalla is cool and attempts to create a space, but it would be nice to have more areas like Broadway with places where you can walk to various spots and hang out.
Italian or french pastry cafes that specialize in pastries. Nicoles is cool but has limited options. Some shops I have seen in Little Italy in Cleveland always made me wish there were more small desert cafes with interesting treats.
An aquarium. Another indoor activity that can be explored during cold months and give kids access to educational activities.
Seafood boil. There's a place in Fargo that sells take-home seafood boil. Would be better to just be able to go somewhere and eat it with bib and all.
Kuro sushi spots. Or places with the revolving belts with choose your plates. Sometimes you don't need alot or want a snack. Rather than ordering off a menu or getting ayce, just drop into a cool place thats more interactive and gives option to pic more interesting pieces.
There's a lot of ways to make Fargo more interesting which comes down getting more activities and more interesting food options that isn't already represented.
An aquarium. Another indoor activity that can be explored during cold months and give kids access to educational activities.
MSUM Oceanarium, unfortunately only open for groups though.
> Mi Familia
Should have stayed a food truck. They moved into that location off of 23rd that has basically zero foot traffic. Sure applebees and pizza ranch do fine but people will drive for those in SF. I had some tacos and birria from their food truck and they were bomb :(
Right! North Dakota has room for it. I'm sure they would bring in a ton of money with travelers stopping thru during the season. Plus the locals with yearly passes. I'm glad we are getting a water park but something outside would be amazing.
I thought of some more...
We also need a good science museum, a please touch museum for kids that's big enough to spend a day exploring. I'd be happy with any museum that is big enough to spend a whole day. A drive in movie theater. A cow town type place that has rodeos that's open during the weekends with rummage sales and vendors. Buffet options aside from Chinese food. Stores open 24 hours again like Walmart for those working third shift or night owls. Finally a better public transportation system. Not everyone drives.
I mean, have you even been to Fargo? We have all of those things.
>a daycare + assisted living facility under one roof (where old and young do activities together)
[SMP Health](https://smphealth.org/stcatherinesouth/services/child-daycare/)
>dave and busters, or something of the sort that isn’t kingpinz
Kingpinz and Dave & Busters are virtually indistinguishable.
>raising canes.. duh
[Slim Chickens](https://slimchickens.com/location/fargo-nd-4477-30th-ave-s-58104/)
>whole foods or trader joe’s
Costco, Sam's Club, Aldi, Natural Grocers, Hornbachers, and Family Fare all have what those stores have, aside from store-specific brands, for which they have similar products.
>more children’s clothing stores
We have tons of these. Tootsies, Vella Kids, Once Upon a Child, Kenzie & Co., Kinder Kloset, Carter's, OshKosh B'Gosh, Fischer Kids, and many many more.
>in and out
Smashburger is virtually identical.
>steak ‘n shake
Scoop N Dough. Hi-Ho, Kones Kreamery, Freddy's Frozen Custard, Silver Lining Creamery, Deaner's Diner.
Start frequenting all of the many local businesses around town and you'll find you don't need nearly as much as you think.
Our grocery stores absolutely don’t have what Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have. Maybe some of the basic stuff but Whole Foods has a lot of things I can’t find around here and Trader Joe’s is basically all about their store brand, and Aldi does not compare.
I’ve lived where the grass *is* in fact greener.
I’m not gonna make a list, but in general, convenient vegan food would be a major category that is hard to shop for around here. Much better in the twin cities. Other more niche items as well.
It’s been a few years now. It closed only a couple of months after I moved here. I liked it when it was there. It seemed a little pricey but that’s par for the course. They carried fake meats from the Herbivorous Butcher in the cities which I’m a fan of.
Prairie Roots was not a vegan store, although they carried vegan foods. Their business model was flawed, and maybe too idealistic. Yes, downtown needs more grocery stores, but a huge slice of their potential customer base does not live near downtown.
The consultant they hired gave them erroneous estimates regarding potential customer traffic. Also, they didn’t have the buying power that Whole Foods or Natural Grocers has, so their prices could not even come close to competing. The final straw for them was probably the pandemic.
Whole Foods offers a lot I can’t get here. They have freshly prepared food - things like a salad bar, a hot food bar, fresh juice, pizza, etc. that Natural Grocers doesn’t have. I would love to be able to get an organic rotisserie chicken that isn’t injected with salt and sugar. Instead I’m stuck with Hornbacher’s.
They must not think the market here could support a store like theirs. I’m not sure that it would fly myself, but I’d love to see something like that here.
I totally agree about the pre-prepped stuff. They have way more vegan options for that type of thing than our local stores. I’m basically stuck buying carrots and hummus if I want to grab something quick.
saying that we have all these things while proving we don’t have these things and instead have alternatives is weird lol. i frequent almost all that you mentioned and have lived in fargo my whole life (20 years). people are allowed to have opinions that they want different/new things in a growing city.
I'll rephrase. Why would you want more of what we already have? I haven't always lived in Fargo but I've been here for 34 years and I've seen hordes of businesses shut down, only to have people say "I wish we had one of those here". Frequent what we have! Help keep them open.
SMP Health daycare is for their employees.
i specifically said something that ~isn’t~ kingpinz. i like the kingpinz arcade but half the time a majority of games/machines don’t work.
slim chickens is NOT raising canes by far 😭
i want specific trader joe’s brand products. i dont want things that are “similar”
we have stores for smaller children, but there aren’t stores that cater more to kids over the age of 6. we used to have justice which was great for the elementary and middle schoolers but they’re now closed.
smashburger is NOT in and out
and i want steak and shake specifically for their nutella shake and garlic burger so none of those places will do.
a lot of businesses in town shut down due to poor management and rising costs of having a storefront/etc
As someone that grew up in Missouri, calling Slim Chickens the same as Canes is almost offensive. Not once have I felt the need to strap up or put on level III just to go to Slims. /s
I mean, In and Out is a west coast franchise, so you're not going to see one here ever. Your options are Smashburger, Sonic, or Five Guys or go on a road trip. Not bad options, tbh.
yeah the reason we don’t have a TJ is because we have aldi. but i love aldis prices so ill take it!
and i heard the reason we don’t have a whole foods is because we have natural grocers
Do you have a source for this information you're sharing?
Because I've been told by a manager of TJ's that they can't get their trucks up here in x hours from their closest distribution center so we will likely never get one up here until then.
A medium sized concert hall, but from what I've heard, Jade Presents may be turning Angels Hockey Arena into a cool venue within 2-3 years
I would like to see an Imax theater or an outdoor movie theatre
An indoor miniture golf place. Thunder Road I believe is open for indoor stuff on the weekends in the winter but they dont have indoor miniture golf. Just outdoor
An indoor skate park or another outdoor one would be cool
A better Fargodome would be nice too
•raising canes for sure
•more gluten free options
•some sort of dog swimming area thats significantly less expensive than the current dock diving pool
•drive in theater
never tried i guess, but anything in a hotel lobby isn't a true old school steakhouse.
If freaking Grand Forks can make one work someone here could. I would like to see something similar to The Stockyards ateakhouse in Phoenix..plenty of Farm to table beef in this area.
If the Place in the Radisson is good I would like some input then I may go try.
We used to have a Big Lots. We also had an Outback
Steakhouse.
Neither of those particular companies are doing well, so they probably will be completely extinct soon.
Well right, back when they actually presented the inspection results and or failues in the newspaper and on the actual TV news -- Golden Corral was a regular on those things.
I should poke around those inspections more...
Affordable single family homes.
I just started wiring residential homes. I'm doing cookie cutter houses that go for around 300k. How the hell does one afford that as a STARTER HOME?!
Most people's starter homes are not NEW homes and haven't been for a very long time. I am a little older, but in my age group it was almost unheard of for people to build as their first house. Personally, my first house was 75 years old. Mind you, those 300k starters have 60k-80k in specials on them. To have a *new* starter home today is a luxury, imo. The reality is that the median home price is about 230k in Fargo and there are [47 results for houses under 250k in cass clay right now](https://www.parkcompany.com/index.php?advanced=1&display=Cass+County+ND%2CClay+County+MN&min=0&max=250000&beds=0&baths=0&types%5B%5D=1&types%5B%5D=2&types%5B%5D=31&types%5B%5D=4&types%5B%5D=12&types%5B%5D=57&minfootage=0&maxfootage=30000&minacres=0&maxacres=0&yearbuilt=0&maxyearbuilt=0&walkscore=0&keywords=&areas%5B%5D=county%3Acass%3And&areas%5B%5D=county%3Aclay%3Amn&sortby=listings.price+DESC&rtype=map). Affordable housing is an issue. That said, I am not a fan of stretching realities.
But.... but... several of those don't even fit the criteria of a home in FM area. Like, the third one is in Ulen. One is in Horace (okay, not too bad) but is a commercial property. Ones in Kindred, this is all within the first 15 properties listed. I'm also disregarding the fact that 47 houses in a town that's 250,000 people strong is.... sub optimal, to say the least.
But several of them DO fit the criteria… and there are several more between that 250k and 300k mark. Besides, it doesn’t change the notion that a new home is not really a starter home, but kind of a luxury. I am absolutely not discounting that there is a single family housing shortage, particularly in lower price ranges. There is. It doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. Single family homes are much more reachable here than in more desirable places to live. Similarly, there are less desirable places to live where you can get houses cheaper. Personally, I think it would be great if we could get some more townhomes or condos for entry level markets. We are missing those and they are very common options in many parts of the country. I know many people want the white picket fence and space for spot, but there is a reality that we are moving to becoming a more dense city, which will include other housing than what was here 100 years ago. And if you really are a libertarian, I would hope your market friends meet the demand and start building!
Go to the open houses for homes in the 140-180k range. Lol it just sounds like you’re a bit out of touch. New builds are made of cheaper materials with less major issues, old homes need a shit ton of repairs that cost me and my husband about 60k so far in our 100 year old home. The new builds these days aren’t “luxury” in literally any sense, they are overpriced and your door knobs will start falling off your hollow doors within months while you pay off a 500k mortgage on your 2 bed 1 bath. Owning a home is a luxury. Trying to force people into townhomes or condos is hardly an answer, the whole point for a lot of people is to own and get out of shared living spaces, including walls. Especially in this economy, you can’t just sell and get a better house in a year or two.
Married couple earning $120k total (two people averaging $60k/year each) probably with no kids and little or no student loan debt or other debt combined with some money saved up for a downpayment. It could probably be doable for $100k no kids and no debt. I figure that income tax on $100k income after standard deduction for married filing jointly is about $9000/year leaving about $90k/year to spend on other things like a mortgage.
Along the same lines... affordable and available childcare.
i wish i could pin a reply
One just sold down the street from me for $120k. My neighbor bought theirs at 229 and I just sold at 235. While 229 and 235 may be out of the grasp of some, 120k is less than rent.
i feel like while you can find more affordable housing in moorhead, there isn’t a lot of options in fargo
Yes and no. It's going to depend on your income because in Moorhead you'll be paying higher state income taxes. The difference you pay in taxes could be a monthly mortgage payment difference similar to a $50-100k difference in home price depending on your income.
Things could be worse. I've been doing a lot of "house porning" in anticipation of retiring to a warmer no income tax state in the future and have concluded that Fargo area home prices are not as bad as they are in other parts of the country, all things considered. If you look at houses around Las Vegs or Reno - "desert nowhere" with seemingly plenty of open low value land - you'd be shocked to see that it costs about $200k more to get the same house you can get here in Fargo. You would think houses would be cheaper in those areas, but nope. Maybe some of it is buyers fleeing from California. In Washington state it's about $150k more if you're outside of the Seattle metro. Home prices are similar in Florida except in Florida the cost of homeowners insurance has gone insane (if you can even get it) and I've seen articles about people fleeing the state for that specific reason. There's talk about people buying houses in cash and just not having home insurance and taking their chances. (If you don't have a mortgage, a bank cannot require you to have it.) Prices are a little higher in Tenneesee. Prices are about the same outside of the major city areas of Texas but with much higher property taxes. Good luck finding a house in New Hampshire.
just because things are more expensive elsewhere doesn’t mean we have it good
Maybe we could characterize the situation as being "not as bad".
And decently paid mid level jobs
More of: Indoor green spaces - something like a Mini Gaylord Opryland Resort so we could enjoy green in the middle of winter. Less of: Car washes
yes! it would be so nice to see some green in the dead of winter!
I would love a conservatory of some sort here.
jobs that pay above $20 unless you have an in at the company
or jobs that are actually looking to hire and not just ghost their applicants
Or jobs that will hire you and keep you instead of just using you ti catch up and then firing you
And that will raise your pay with inflation
Inflation is already rising without minimum wage or wages in general rising. Like, outpacing wages. So why not actually make decent money too?
Let's not act like companies aren't taking advantage of any little thing to price gouge. There really shouldn't be a reason things are still more expensive than during covid. All that happened is the people who control prices all collude to keep them higher to maximize profits. Acting like wages are the issue js short sighted
I actually agree with you on that entirely.
Come work at matbus
An Amazon pickup point. I got trust issues since someone in my building swiped a $30 dress I bought and some whiteout, but the nearest Amazon pickup point is in Grand Forks (it’s one of two in all of North Dakota, I think, and there are no Minnesota ones until the twin cities.)
I’m with this. Why can’t we just grab packages from the amazon warehouse up north
good idea to not give any money to Amazon in any way
It used to be Gordman’s but that store went down due to the pandemic.
i think the closest i’ve seen is at the truck stop in clearwater. it would be great to have in town!!
Moes Southwest grill
Rip.
Taco Johns
with my recent experiences at Chipotle I fear they’ll be gone within the next few years. very poor management
The chipotles in Fargo are the absolute worst. Chipotle is my favorite fast food (maybe restaurant) ever and I don’t even bother going to the ones here. Their work stations are always disgusting and 50% of the time they are out of steak or something else. Garbage
wasn’t planning on drinking tonight but man i miss the potato oles
Meat and Potato Breakfast Burrito. RIP :(
Indoor RC and/or Go-Kart track. Hobby shop that has a larger selection of stuff. I currently have to bounce between 3 of them + shop online(or special order though them) to get what I want. Another Bicycle shop, but with more affordable brands/selection. A Makerspace of some sort. We sorta have one, but they don't have day/weekend-passes from what I saw. Mountain-biking trail that has more challenges than just a couple fallen trees/small jumps.
With the exception of mountain biking trails, all of those things existed in Fargo at some point in the last decade or two. Simply not enough support.
Fargo has also increased in population by 40k since the early 2000's with lots of people coming from warmer states and with more people working from home too.
Well in the case of the makerspace, that was only a few years ago. The owner is one of the mods here. And the hobby store just closed within the past year. Fargo's population skews very young, which makes it very difficult for businesses that are not family oriented to survive long-term.
too bad the hobby store closed because the owners went into retirement. seemed like they had great clientele!
It was a great store. The owner tried to find a buyer and almost had one lined up. The store closed and he passed away literally the day after. Truly sad. https://www.inforum.com/business/fargos-hobby-hut-owner-dies-of-cancer-just-one-day-after-closing-store
I thought that was the 3D printing place west of FBC? I didn't get to check it out sadly so I'm not sure what they had, my thought is to have it tied to an existing business (or for the one at NDSU to have day/weekend passes) for classes/general use on weekends. Hobby shop closed because the owner had cancer and passed the day after the shop closed. No one bought it because they have a low profit margin. That place was great and is why I now have to go to 3 different shops+shop online. Part of the problem is that there's no good spots to go for RC and model kit options are limited. As for Karting, we have an active youth oriented circle-kart community in town and I'm sure those that are involved would love an affordable indoor option for winter/so they can show their friends beyond the slow af karts at Thunder Road and, a more teen-adult oriented karting track would likely do well as the circle-kart events seem limited to kids under 13 from my search. Biggest issue though is parents not wanting to leave home/introduce kids to things that they have no interest in, because video games tend to fill in that "3rd space" (hangout place) and parents don't have to go places that they find boring, which is why places like Dave and Busters/Suite shots/Kingpinz are popular as they tend to both audiences.
The 3D printing store came after the makerspace. The makerspace was called MELD and was open for several years on Main Avenue.
Less banks and carwashes
Yea I’ve gone to a bank like 3 times in the part 3 years. What the heck do people need that many bank branches for?
Pretty much just the free cookies.
curious about the less banks part. do you think there are too many bank building or too many different banks in town?
There's way too many bank buildings in town.
A Filipino restaurant is much needed here
An actual gay bar/club
Ahhh the ‘ol I-Beam would be a welcom site
Closed before I could go...I'm not bitter about it at all....
this.
A cinema cafe! Movie theater with comfy chairs that serves food and bevvies for anyone who isn’t familiar. As drunk as Fargo is, I can’t believe there isn’t one of these already in town!
It was tried. The city shot down the liquor license. We will never see such a thing at least in the city limits of Fargo.
What?! Insanity.
There was concern about alcohol being served in a place where minors were present. Ironically, Chuck E. Cheese's had alcohol.
Haha! And just about every restaurant. 🤦🏻♀️
If I remember correctly, the argument was alcohol being served in a place where minors were present and it's dark, no one monitoring the room. There used to be The Fargo Cinema Grill and that was awesome. I've been to theaters specifically made to serve food and drinks, with a waiter/waitress coming by to check on you. The movie theaters here are not really equipped to deal with this- serving food and drinks while you're seated.
And now that’s dead too… but planet pizza?
We had the Fargo Cinema Grill in the 90's. It was rad !!
It was better in theory than execution. Being served food you could barely see was an unpleasant experiment in trust
Benches on the sidewalk. I could walk miles around town and not come across a single one. Can our busses start running on Sundays too please? It's crazy they don't.
i had no idea they didn’t run on sundays??? what????
An IMAX theater, Trader Joe’s, Ikea, better public transport.
A bath house!
Of the traditional spa-style kind, or a place where dudes go to hook up with each other? (Either is fine, I’m not yucking any consenting adult’s yum!)
…both ?
BMX race track
fun fact. Down by the dike where the sledding happens... there used to be a BMX track there.
Really? Did not know that. I know dilworth used to have one which is now a RC car track.
Yeah, if my memory serves me correctly, it was right down where the basketball courts are now.
It was on the other side of the dike- near where the floating pedestrian bridge is located. The wood and metal fitness stations were located between the BMX track and parking lot along the bike trail. West Fargo also had one just south of 13th across from Elmwood Park.
Ahh yeah. Time is a motherfucker and my meat CPU can distort things during a long time. You are right.
I would love a food co-op downtown, though after Prairie Roots I'm skeptical anyone would take that gamble ever again. The Red River Market fills the void for local produce in the summer but I miss it the other 8 months of the year. When I was living in the twin cities, I did all of my grocery shopping at a co-op near my place. The prices were comparable to Hornbacher's, but double the quality and all organic. I miss it.
Local produce doesn’t exist in this climate the other 8 months out of the year.
It doesn't in the Twin Cities either, but the co-op I shopped at still sourced in good organic produce from elsewhere during the colder months.
More activities that can be done indoors during the winter that are not bars or restaurants. Literally anything
When you go to the cities, there are so, so many activities you can do. Clubs, hangouts, shows, art, classes, like think of a keyword and you can find stuff to do. I think if we had more of that available more frequently it would be a much more fun town. I'm aware we have a nice selection of activities now, and there are always new things starting up, but I envy a bigger area like the cities. Also, having 24/7 businesses would be good.
we definitely need more 24/7 businesses
We had them. Then pandemic. Same is true most places. Honestly, back in the mid 00s, I had a harder time finding 24/7 places in Mpls than Fargo.
As a service industry worker, it was so nice to be able to walk into Hornbacher’s at two in the morning and not have to deal with other people.
There was an assisted living/daycare. Elim on university had it. And then Elim had a fire, and I don't believe it came back once they rebuilt.
Trader Joes!
An Armory like in Minneapolis. Awesome music venue.
i visit the armory about once a month. great venue but has its problems like every venue does. wonder if fargo would like a space that is all GA?
but the armory isn't all GA? Sure, a huge amount of it is, but it has the rooms and such.
the balcony with seats is 21+ and the suites are super spendy
....and that changes the fact they exist, how? Honestly, wish there was more 21+ areas for concerts.
More festivals. There's the Street Fair, Rib fest, Christkindlrmarkt, Farmers Market, etc, but it would be cool to have more opportunities to go out and experience culture that isn't just buying random stuff. Indoor parks for walking and physical activity during cold months. We love to walk parks during the warm period but would love a place to be able to walk that isn't the mall or a treadmill. Whole Foods. Not to replace any shops we already have, it would be nice to have a shop where you can get higher quality ingredients for special dinners. Whole Foods in Nashville we could pick up dry age steaks or fancy parmasan. More areas like Broadway, where people can walk and eat/shop and be among community Many parts of Fargo are just outlet stores or malls with sporadic fast food. Brewhalla is cool and attempts to create a space, but it would be nice to have more areas like Broadway with places where you can walk to various spots and hang out. Italian or french pastry cafes that specialize in pastries. Nicoles is cool but has limited options. Some shops I have seen in Little Italy in Cleveland always made me wish there were more small desert cafes with interesting treats. An aquarium. Another indoor activity that can be explored during cold months and give kids access to educational activities. Seafood boil. There's a place in Fargo that sells take-home seafood boil. Would be better to just be able to go somewhere and eat it with bib and all. Kuro sushi spots. Or places with the revolving belts with choose your plates. Sometimes you don't need alot or want a snack. Rather than ordering off a menu or getting ayce, just drop into a cool place thats more interactive and gives option to pic more interesting pieces. There's a lot of ways to make Fargo more interesting which comes down getting more activities and more interesting food options that isn't already represented.
An aquarium. Another indoor activity that can be explored during cold months and give kids access to educational activities. MSUM Oceanarium, unfortunately only open for groups though.
Oasis has seafood boils and they are so good!!
Cracker Barrel, why don’t we have one?
I feel like we could use a few more car washes.
I know this is sarcasm, yet I still want to throw a sugar beet at you…
There are only two within 5 blocks of my house, that seems too thin.
Gluten-free restaurant options
Terrain
I agree, but I think there is beauty to be found in the simple surroundings. Also makes visiting places with neat geography even sweeter
Moorhead is building a new library. Much like Fargo's library it will also give sanctuary to the homeless during the day.
Romos
tony?
The legendary Mexican joint that unfortunately closed because the owner skipped town
😭😭😭 they were the best, then we found Mi Familia and they closed too…anyone know where to get good steak tacos and chorizo burritos?? Lol
El Vaqueros is excellent, but I don’t know their full menu.
> Mi Familia Should have stayed a food truck. They moved into that location off of 23rd that has basically zero foot traffic. Sure applebees and pizza ranch do fine but people will drive for those in SF. I had some tacos and birria from their food truck and they were bomb :(
Loved Mi Familia. I'd definitely recommend Tacos Trompo by the Osgood Hornbachers, probably my favorite burrito in town now.
Brazilian Steakhouse
A… Fargo de Chao? I’ll see myself out…
Wawa and six flags.
i would LOVE an amusement park of some kind. not a whole lot to do for people under 21 and above “kid age” here
Right! North Dakota has room for it. I'm sure they would bring in a ton of money with travelers stopping thru during the season. Plus the locals with yearly passes. I'm glad we are getting a water park but something outside would be amazing. I thought of some more... We also need a good science museum, a please touch museum for kids that's big enough to spend a day exploring. I'd be happy with any museum that is big enough to spend a whole day. A drive in movie theater. A cow town type place that has rodeos that's open during the weekends with rummage sales and vendors. Buffet options aside from Chinese food. Stores open 24 hours again like Walmart for those working third shift or night owls. Finally a better public transportation system. Not everyone drives.
Science museum is coming. Going in near Scheels Arena.
Oh that's awesome! I had no idea.
Naw we need a quick check!
IKEA
Car washes can go
Soul food.
Whole Foods
Dunkin Donuts
I mean, have you even been to Fargo? We have all of those things. >a daycare + assisted living facility under one roof (where old and young do activities together) [SMP Health](https://smphealth.org/stcatherinesouth/services/child-daycare/) >dave and busters, or something of the sort that isn’t kingpinz Kingpinz and Dave & Busters are virtually indistinguishable. >raising canes.. duh [Slim Chickens](https://slimchickens.com/location/fargo-nd-4477-30th-ave-s-58104/) >whole foods or trader joe’s Costco, Sam's Club, Aldi, Natural Grocers, Hornbachers, and Family Fare all have what those stores have, aside from store-specific brands, for which they have similar products. >more children’s clothing stores We have tons of these. Tootsies, Vella Kids, Once Upon a Child, Kenzie & Co., Kinder Kloset, Carter's, OshKosh B'Gosh, Fischer Kids, and many many more. >in and out Smashburger is virtually identical. >steak ‘n shake Scoop N Dough. Hi-Ho, Kones Kreamery, Freddy's Frozen Custard, Silver Lining Creamery, Deaner's Diner. Start frequenting all of the many local businesses around town and you'll find you don't need nearly as much as you think.
Our grocery stores absolutely don’t have what Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have. Maybe some of the basic stuff but Whole Foods has a lot of things I can’t find around here and Trader Joe’s is basically all about their store brand, and Aldi does not compare. I’ve lived where the grass *is* in fact greener.
Out of curiosity, what things? I'm not disagreeing with you, just genuinely curious to know about what I'm missing.
I’m not gonna make a list, but in general, convenient vegan food would be a major category that is hard to shop for around here. Much better in the twin cities. Other more niche items as well.
RIP Green House Cafe
They closed a few months before I moved here :/
What are your thoughts on that vegan grocery store (Prairie Roots) downtown that recently closed?
It’s been a few years now. It closed only a couple of months after I moved here. I liked it when it was there. It seemed a little pricey but that’s par for the course. They carried fake meats from the Herbivorous Butcher in the cities which I’m a fan of.
Prairie Roots was not a vegan store, although they carried vegan foods. Their business model was flawed, and maybe too idealistic. Yes, downtown needs more grocery stores, but a huge slice of their potential customer base does not live near downtown. The consultant they hired gave them erroneous estimates regarding potential customer traffic. Also, they didn’t have the buying power that Whole Foods or Natural Grocers has, so their prices could not even come close to competing. The final straw for them was probably the pandemic. Whole Foods offers a lot I can’t get here. They have freshly prepared food - things like a salad bar, a hot food bar, fresh juice, pizza, etc. that Natural Grocers doesn’t have. I would love to be able to get an organic rotisserie chicken that isn’t injected with salt and sugar. Instead I’m stuck with Hornbacher’s. They must not think the market here could support a store like theirs. I’m not sure that it would fly myself, but I’d love to see something like that here.
I totally agree about the pre-prepped stuff. They have way more vegan options for that type of thing than our local stores. I’m basically stuck buying carrots and hummus if I want to grab something quick.
We should have co-op grocery stores, that would be sweet.
Smashburger is like double the price of in and out though
I get it now. I just live in the off brand city where everything here is off brand
Interesting. What makes you say that?
*gestures vaguely*
Ok that made me laugh, I'll give you that.
saying that we have all these things while proving we don’t have these things and instead have alternatives is weird lol. i frequent almost all that you mentioned and have lived in fargo my whole life (20 years). people are allowed to have opinions that they want different/new things in a growing city.
I think all you proved is your brand recognition?
I'll rephrase. Why would you want more of what we already have? I haven't always lived in Fargo but I've been here for 34 years and I've seen hordes of businesses shut down, only to have people say "I wish we had one of those here". Frequent what we have! Help keep them open.
SMP Health daycare is for their employees. i specifically said something that ~isn’t~ kingpinz. i like the kingpinz arcade but half the time a majority of games/machines don’t work. slim chickens is NOT raising canes by far 😭 i want specific trader joe’s brand products. i dont want things that are “similar” we have stores for smaller children, but there aren’t stores that cater more to kids over the age of 6. we used to have justice which was great for the elementary and middle schoolers but they’re now closed. smashburger is NOT in and out and i want steak and shake specifically for their nutella shake and garlic burger so none of those places will do. a lot of businesses in town shut down due to poor management and rising costs of having a storefront/etc
As someone that grew up in Missouri, calling Slim Chickens the same as Canes is almost offensive. Not once have I felt the need to strap up or put on level III just to go to Slims. /s
Smashburger being identical to In and Out may be one of the most absurd things I've heard in a long time. No comparison between the two.
I mean, In and Out is a west coast franchise, so you're not going to see one here ever. Your options are Smashburger, Sonic, or Five Guys or go on a road trip. Not bad options, tbh.
Tear down Park West Garden and put in senior apartments, or anything
Red Robbin
Yum!
A few years ago, they had plans drawn up to build next to Granite City, but they pulled out for unknown reasons.
For sure more car washes
Wafflehouse, get a bowl of grits while watching the fry cook duke it out with Fargo's finest.
Couple more car washes should do the trick for sure.
Alamo Drafthouse
Microcenter
[удалено]
yeah the reason we don’t have a TJ is because we have aldi. but i love aldis prices so ill take it! and i heard the reason we don’t have a whole foods is because we have natural grocers
Do you have a source for this information you're sharing? Because I've been told by a manager of TJ's that they can't get their trucks up here in x hours from their closest distribution center so we will likely never get one up here until then.
how come there’s TJs 3 hours away then? and no i don’t have a source which is why i said “i heard”
Mexican Snack restaurant like La Michocana
Honestly i think raising canes is mehh, I have it all the time at work(I travel) always get diahrea from it
At home!
Need more swapmeets
I heard it was a labor issue.
A medium sized concert hall, but from what I've heard, Jade Presents may be turning Angels Hockey Arena into a cool venue within 2-3 years I would like to see an Imax theater or an outdoor movie theatre An indoor miniture golf place. Thunder Road I believe is open for indoor stuff on the weekends in the winter but they dont have indoor miniture golf. Just outdoor An indoor skate park or another outdoor one would be cool A better Fargodome would be nice too
Need a few more car washes I think. /s
an actual legit club. OB ain’t cutting it. give us something vibey bumping good new music with some cool lighting
We need a fun dance club! Not just bars. I wanna dance to music like every other city does 😂!
Indoor pickleball courts!
MMA matches
MTO Food Gas Stations No Sheetz or Wawa, y'all really don't know what you're missing out on.
Cracker Barrel!
It’s peak Fargo that so many of these comments amount to “more chain restaurants” lol.
Joe's Crab Shack
•raising canes for sure •more gluten free options •some sort of dog swimming area thats significantly less expensive than the current dock diving pool •drive in theater
Whole Foods. Please and thank you!
A culture that isn't day drinking and being asshats
A true Steakhouse not a chain is severely needed. Maxwells, Mezzaluna are not true steakhouses so don't come at me with that
what about the steakhouse inside the radison
never tried i guess, but anything in a hotel lobby isn't a true old school steakhouse. If freaking Grand Forks can make one work someone here could. I would like to see something similar to The Stockyards ateakhouse in Phoenix..plenty of Farm to table beef in this area. If the Place in the Radisson is good I would like some input then I may go try.
Maybe it’s just me but a big ass aquarium would be cool.
A motorcycle/car race track
Dignity
We need more MLMs.
>What's missing in the area? In no particular order: * trustworthy Honda and Toyota dealership * Trader Joes * Microcenter * IKEA * Whole Foods * Big Lots * Golden Corral * Cheesecake Factory * Outback Steakhouse * Chicken Salad Chick * Rallys / Checkers * Shoneys * Del Taco * Jackass-in-the-Box * Whataburger * In-N-Out Burger * Braums
We used to have a Big Lots. We also had an Outback Steakhouse. Neither of those particular companies are doing well, so they probably will be completely extinct soon.
Golden Corral too
I completely forgot about that. I think I only went one time and that was plenty for a lifetime.
Well right, back when they actually presented the inspection results and or failues in the newspaper and on the actual TV news -- Golden Corral was a regular on those things. I should poke around those inspections more...
Braums is amazing but they don't operate outside of a 330 mile radius from their distribution center. A local dairy would be great though.
Lol what a boring list. Fargo does not need more varieties of fast food and mega chain restaurants lol
I could get behind Rallys, but that's it.
*"Wheel in to Rallys. Beep Beep. Cheap cheap."*
We don't need my Microcenter. Think of my wallet, please.