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Life After College

A one-stop shop for all Bennies and Johnnies need to know once they graduate CSB+SJU.

If you're here, you have moved or are thinking about moving someplace new!

Exciting!

I've been there, and I learned a few things along the way.

A few tips:

  • If possible, visit your new city to see if you can picture yourself living there!
  • Calculate the cost-of-living - is it comparable to living in Minnesota? More? Less?
  • Determine where you're going to live (i.e. research your new city's different neighborhoods).
  • Avoid the touristy spots and think like a local! Including the types of places that you frequent most often. (think: the grocery store, parks, and coffee shops).
  • Make a "bucket list" of restaurants you want to try, events you want to attend, sites you want to visit, and day trips you want to take.
  • Follow local influencers and accounts on social media to get a feel for the place. Tourism accounts and travel bloggers are great follows!

A Video to Watch

Apps & Websites to Check Out

Livability

Livability explores what makes small-to-medium sized cities great places to live. Through proprietary research studies, engaging articles, and original photography and video, the site examines topics related to community amenities, education, sustainability, transportation, housing, and the economy.

AreaVibes

AreaVibes helps its users find the best place to live in the U.S. and Canada. The site accomplishes this by creating a Livability Score out of 100 for each city, neighborhood, address or zip/postal code. Each city's score is created from a an algorithm that evaluates multiple factors: amenities, commute, cost of living, crime rates, employment, health and safety, schools, and user ratings. The higher the score, the better the area.

NeighborhoodScout

NeighborhoodScout uses patented methodologies to build neighborhood profiles that allow individuals or businesses to instantly find the best neighborhood. This approach uses a large database of neighborhood statistics and characteristics, and converts the data into neighborhood profile matches customized to that specific individual.

HomeSnacks

HomeSnacks presents recent data from the Census, FBI, OpenStreetMaps, and dozens of other sources into presentable rankings to help you understand what it's like to live in communities across the country. The site has been professionally ranking neighborhoods, counties, and states in the U.S. since 2015.

StreetAdvisor

In 2007, Adam and Jason - StreetAdvisor's founders - found themselves struggling to "fit in" in the neighborhood they called home. Thus, StreetAdvisor was born. The site allows its users to talk about the good, the bad, and the "everything in between" about their hometown. People can research the very best neighborhood based off their own specific unique needs, and even talk directly to the locals in the area.

Yelp

Yelp features user reviews and recommendations for best restaurants, shopping, nightlife, food, entertainment, things to do, and services for numerous cities around the U.S.

Eater

Eater is a digital media brand dedicated to all things food and dining. The Eater brand comprises a national site covering food and dining culture, 23 city sites tracking local dining scenes across hundreds of maps, a robust YouTube channel featuring documentary-style video about the inner workings of restaurants, a variety of social channels, all run by a diverse team of writers, editors, producers, and contributors.