Magazine Names Cloquet As The Worst Place To Live In Minnesota
Moneywise magazine reported on the worst cities in each state as chosen by the site 24/7 Wall St.but I must say they missed the mark with the city they chose for Minnesota. Of course, I have no opinion on any other cities that they picked but this town is very close to the Twin Ports so we all know it pretty well.
So what criteria did they use? The most recent data from the FBI, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Census Bureau. They also only picked cities with at least 8,000 residents.
So here we go, for Minnesota, they picked the city of Cloquet. I say what? Cloquet is known as "Wood City" from back in the day when it was known as a hub for the lumber industry. Apparently, back in 1918, some dry tinder caused a massive fire that destroyed most of the town. For many years Cloquet was home to many factories including a matchstick factory, ceiling tile factory, and the paper mill.
The matchstick factory closed in 2017 and paper mill jobs have declined by over 20% throughout the state causing a loss of a lot of jobs in the area. Apparently, some residents have said that job opportunities in Cloquet are hard to find and there is not much to do except explore nature.
In defense of Cloquet, it is only 20 miles from Duluth and I know a few people who live in Cloquet and work in Duluth. This survey is so flawed and acts like Cloquet is in the middle of nowhere and without the aforementioned factories, the city is some kind of a ghost town because of it. Keep your chin up residents of Cloquet, these National surveys are rarely accurate and you are far from the worst place to live in the state.