Three Families, Three Stories

3 families,3 stories

Finding home on the North Shore

BY RAE POYNTER

Their love for the outdoors prompted the Korwin-Kuczynski family to move from North Dakota to Duluth. | SUBMITTED

For many visitors to the North Shore, the thought of what it would be like to move to such a beautiful area is an enticing question. And for some, that question is so enticing that it becomes a reality. Three different families who recently moved to the North Shore share what their journeys have been like, including the challenges and unexpected joys along the way.

One such family is Brady and Ellie Korwin-Kuczynski, a young couple who moved from North Dakota to Duluth in 2019. For both of them, a passion for the outdoors and a desire to be close to nature were key factors in their decision to permanently settle in the area. Brady, who grew up in Brainerd, and Ellie, originally from northcentral Wisconsin, both developed a love for nature through their upbringings. Their individual journeys took them to Fargo, where they met. Though they appreciated the adventure of living in Fargo, they both began to feel a deep desire to move back to a place that felt more like home and that would enable them to grow in their passion for the outdoors.

“I really missed the hills and woods,” Ellie said, “and Brady missed being around lakes. We had been to the same few parks near Fargo multiple times and were really looking for something more.”

While they wanted to be near wilderness, it also was not practical for them to live somewhere too remote since Brady’s work as a civil engineer necessitated being somewhere with a larger population.

“We wanted to live somewhere close enough to visit our parents, which really narrowed down our choices to Minneapolis or Duluth,” said Brady. “And from there it wasn’t much of a choice—Duluth really felt like the right place for us.”

And so in the spring of 2019, the Korwin-Kuczynskis made the move to Duluth with their two young children. One of the things they most enjoy about Duluth is how easy it has been to connect and build friendships with others who are interested in the outdoors. Ellie joined a mom’s group that gets together for outdoor adventures with their kids. The opportunity to raise their children with an appreciation for the outdoors is one of the things they love about the community.

“It was very refreshing to come here and find people who wanted to go camping with us, or who would tell us about mountain bike trails or places to go fishing. We found a lot of people who like to do the outdoor things that we like doing, and who were happy to help us figure out how to do that with kids,” Brady said.

One challenge they faced was finding affordable housing. With an extremely competitive housing market and more expensive rent than in Fargo, the Korwin-Kuczynskis rented a small apartment as they began the search for a home.

“Brady started his job that May and then we house shopped all summer, which was challenging since things were going so quickly,” Ellie said.

But after many months of house hunting the search paid off, and the Korwin-Kucynskis bought their first home. Happy to have found a city that feels like the right fit for them, they plan to keep exploring more of the area and taking on bigger adventures.

Like the Korwin-Kuczynski family, Lesa and Mike Hofer of Grand Marais were drawn to living on the North Shore because of a deep love for the outdoors. Both were familiar with the area