Whoever zoned this city were likely some of the most incompetent of people.
First they decide to make the University into a huge rectangle right next to a train yard with nothing but houses surrounding it. This cuts it off from the "downtown" area shops and somewhat nicer areas of Grand Forks (like along the river) adding to the completely disjointed feel of the city and total lack of involvement in the community. Then they decide that putting some of the worst smelling factories right in the city is somehow conducive to increasing their resident's standard of living. I mean, almost everyone dreams of being a potato fryer at Simplot for the rest of their lives, RIGHT, RIGHT?
I mean North Dakota sucks, but Grand Forks could be a lot nicer if they actually tried to encourage diversity and wouldn't pass up certain opportunities...according to my Anthropology teacher, Cirrus originally wanted to build their headquarters in GFK, but the city didn't want it since it meant scary outsider peoples invading their town! Of course, that only lasted until they decided to just go to Duluth, then they sort of realized the missed opportunity.
