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I can agree that KC holds its own in most of those categories (clearly beats the Twin Cities in weather), but how exactly does it win in museums? And how does it win in food for anything but BBQ? This should be good...
I've stated over and over that MSP is a totally different league than KC now and the gap is only widening.
However, I do think that KC may actually exceed MSP in the museums and at least rival MSP in the theater/performing arts area.
The WWI museum alone puts KC in a pretty high tier. If the WWI museum were in Washington DC, it would be one of the top attractions in the city as it's actually better than most museums in DC. The Nelson, the new Nelson Bloch addition, the Kemper Modern Art museum, the American Jazz Museum and Negro Leagues Museum, Steamboat Arabia, College Basketball Experience, Truman Museum etc are all very well done museums that would be great assets to any first or second tier city. And KC has some amazing historic architecture such as Union Station, the Plaza, the art deco skyscrapers and the Nelson that seem to compliment the modern structures (performing arts center, sprint center, modern towers) so perfectly.
The Kauffman Performing Arts Center also puts KC in high cultural tier. That structure could easily be in almost any city in the world, but since it's in KC, the world generally doesn't know it exists. That along with other venues such as the Midland, Music Hall, Starlight Theater and having one of the world's busiest concert arenas helps KC punch way above its belt for live theater, concerts and performing arts.
Other attractions such as Science City, Airline History Museum, the KC Zoo, Worlds/Oceans of Fun etc are not quite first tier but still solid cultural attractions. And despite the terrible locations for the MLS and MLB stadiums, KC's sports venues including Kauffman Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium, Sporting Park, KS Speedway and Sprint Center along with smaller suburban minor league venues, KC has a great sports scene even though they are lacking NHL/NBA.
KC also has many thriving urban districts (plaza, westport, crown center, crossroads, river market etc).
The problem is all the different districts tend to exist independent of one another due to the lack of connection to each other and well developed areas between them and the fact that the biggest district in KC (downtown) is still one of the smallest and deadest downtowns out of all major cities with over a million people. It's coming together and the infill will eventually start to change things, but even with as much as KC has changed, they have an extremely quiet and almost ghost town of a downtown for a major city. This lack of bustle, transit activity, sidewalk activity, even automobile traffic in KC really makes KC feel dead or slow paced. Again it's getting better, but for every step KC takes forward, MSP, Denver etc are taking ten steps forward.
But for the most part KC is at least equal to MSP as far as performing arts and museums and even food. (KC has a very good food scene that is far more than BBQ).
Sports. KC does pretty well for the size of the city. The city most of the most popular leagues and some really great venues.
Weather is debatable. Depends on what you like. Both have pluses and minuses.
The negatives where it's not even close:
KC has a terrible airport that has turned into a "commute to a hub" airport that has a terminal that is completely miserable if you have to spend more than five minutes there. People in KC are brainwashed and actually think KCI is a decent airport. Most Amtrak and bus terminals are nicer and are more comfortable and user friendly than KCI is. MSP have a large modern hub airport and its connected to city via light rail. KC doesn't need a hub, but they do need a post 1960 terminal.
For a bigger city, KC has terrible recreation infrastructure, especially when compared to MSP and especially in urban areas. The rivers and river walks are ignored, the larger parks are generally empty. There is almost no bike infrastructure (although they do have a nice bike share system) and there is just not a lot of people outside doing outside stuff. I really think KC comes in dead last out of every large city in the united states except Detroit (if you don't include the Canada side). I'm hoping KC improves this area a lot over the next decade and I think they will, but they will never come close to catching up with MSP.
Transit. It's not even close. MSP has built a nice light rail system, has a very well used and comprehensive region wide bus system (local and commuter), has commuter rail etc. It's great that KC is building a streetcar however, I hope they can get it expanded to the plaza because it will not be well used consistently along its starter route. Extending the streetcar should be a super top priority for KC right now. And there are some nice BRT systems now across the country and KC "thinks" they have a BRT, but they don't. It would be nice if KC actually upgraded MAX to BRT. Even with the streetcar connecting Downtown to the plaza, KC will not compare to MSP though. Plus KC has major issues with multiple systems, lack of regional or state funding and not being able to easily cross state line.
KC lacks major corporations and most of those it does have have almost no interest in the urban core or simply lack civic pride in the city.
KC does not have a major urban university presence like many large metros such as MSP. Lawrence is part of the region and feeds many new grads to the area, but not having a major urban college(s) in the actual city really hurts KC. UMKC is getting better, but it's nothing like having the University of MN around the corner from downtown.
It's just a smaller metro. It's not really fair to KC in the first place as MSP has two major urban cores, has over a million more people.
Finally, MSP is THE metropolis of the state. KC on the other hand actually comes in THIRD in Missouri, behind both metro St Louis and combined outstate MO because the MO side economy alone is not enough politically to get anything done in Jeff City that benefits KC. KC always gets what's left over after St Louis and whatever Columbia/Springfield/Branson/Rural Missouri get/want.
And while it's actually the biggest metro in Kansas, that state basically only uses KCMO as a place to poach jobs from and is only interested in propping up the KS side suburbs often at the expense of KCMO rather than working with the metro area to create a better "region". So KS treats KC as if the MO side of the metro was a 1000 miles away. May as well call it the KCK/Overland Park metro area as far as they are concerned and since that state has a terrible economy that nobody or no company wants to move to, they have to literally destroy the MO side of KC to grow the KS side.
So KCMO is basically getting screwed by two states while the MSP area has the state of Minnesota wrapped around their fingers. Same deal with Seattle, Denver etc. KC can't compete with that.
What have I said, ever, that was sexist on these forums? It would literally be impossible for that to happen, because I don't have a sexist bone in my body.
The problem is with you - you would prefer pleasant falsehoods to reality. I'm sorry, but no matter the topic, I'm interested in the truth and not brownie points or back-pats.
The truth is that women, in general, are much shorter and have far less muscle-mass than men. We're talking both quickness/speed (quick-twitch muscles) and strength. Women have different balance/center of gravity than men. It's purely genetics, and you can look up these differences to educate yourself about the world, or you can live in ignorance, it doesn't concern me either way. But I will not stand for inaccurate and insulting labels!
The first woman's college basketball slam dunk happened in 1984; only 14 have been recorded in the entire history of the WNBA. You can see more than that in every NBA game and many men's college basketball games. It speaks to the differences in height, size, power and athleticism even at the very top of the men's and women's games, let alone the considerable depth advantage in the men's game. Women would play in the NBA if they could, why wouldn't they? Your head is willfully in the sand.
the main reason that women would have a hard time competing against men is that their hand are so much smaller, this lady (if she wasn't a great swimmer) could easily play for an NBA team,
I'm not sure that it can "surpass" the TC when it comes to museums, but I generally hear about the Nelson Atkins AT LEAST as much, if not even more than I hear nationally about the reputation of the MIA or the Walker. Generally, I hear of Nelson Atkins being one of the 10 largest comprehensive museums.
Nelson Atkins states (on their very own website, no less) that their permanent collection includes 35,000 works. MIA's is 100,000+.
Nelson Atkins is a great museum, but it is not of the same scale as the MIA, and the fact that you hear about it more frequently than you do the MIA reveals more about you than it does about either museum's cache (not in a bad way).
As for the Walker, it is one of the "Big 5" modern art institutions in the country, along with the Guggenheim, MoMA, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn. You know? THAT Hirshhorn? The Smithsonian one? KC doesn't have any art museum of that type of repute.
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Also, KC has the WWI, Negro Leagues, Arabia Steamboat, a National Archives and College Basketball Experience museums. Now, those could actually be really awesome, or they could be just average. But the unique appeal in them is that they are sorta unique destination spots for people who are interested in those areas. I've been to the WWII Museum in New Orleans, and if the WWI in Kansas City is even half as good as that, it's a big feather in the city's cap. Also, the Harry S. Truman NPS site is just outside of KC, people can argue about his record, but at the same time, it's still a president, which is a big unique interest among historians, and not something that can be found everywhere. Granted, Minneapolis has some famous people, I won't lie (Pillsbury, Mars, Getty, Gilruth, Dylan, Schulz!!), but at the same I'm not sure whether there is a legacy spot for any of those people within MSP (Mill Ruins Park, perhaps?), and I think the man who was in charge of country thru the end of WWII and post is more of a household name than anyone from MSP.
James J. Hill House, perhaps? But you're right, Harry S. Truman is more of a household name than Hill, or probably anybody else from the Twin Cities.
At any rate, MSP has the Science Museum of Minnesota (one of the most visited museums of any type or kind in the country), the Minnesota Historical Society and Museum (one of the largest historical societies in the country), the Children's Museum (the first of its kind in the country), the Museum of Russian Art (which has the largest collection of its kind in the country), the Weisman, Mill City Museum, The Sculpture Garden (another first of its kind), the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the State Capitol building, a cathedral and a basilica which are both available to tour, Hennepin County Historical Society, the Minnesota Museum of African-American heritage, the Bell Museum, two zoos (one of which is very large and reputable), the Bakken, the Plavek, an aquarium...we can split hairs on this and name even the smallest cultural institutions as assets in either city, and MSP is still going to come out on top. MSP has numerous galleries, arts festivals, studio spaces. It has the third largest theater district in North America, more live theater seats per capita than anywhere outside of NYC. It has the second-largest dance theater economy, after NYC. Two chamber orchestras (the only US metro with more than one). The Fitzgerald theater and significant contributions to public radio. The Loft Literary Center (highly regarded nationally). One of the largest arts economies in gross terms, not per capita, in the entire country. This is more for kcmo than it is for you, but there is really no comparison.
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As far as food, I think you named it. A big thing, at least IMO, about eating, is atmosphere/culture. Is there a KC BBQ place somewhere in MSP that is probably pretty dang good? Probably. But, that's just the essence of it, KC BBQ. Eating at Arthur Bryant's is an iconic American experience, because, it is, THE Arthur Bryant's. I think that Minneapolis has some thing known as a Juicy Lucy? But, I don't think that's as known nationally as KC BBQ. Isn't it just a burger with the cheese melted inside of it? Or am I wrong? KC doesn't appear to have as many walkable hoods or burbs as Minneapolis, which is a point to Minny since those places tend to have more mom/pops. But, it does have City Market, which appears to be an old school/old world food hall/dense hood that I'm not sure whether or not Minny has. Also, Country Club Plaza, while it appears to be somewhat filled with chains, is the oldest shopping center set up primarily for the automobile, and is designed to look like Seville, Spain (sorta kinda), and so I'm guessing it has some older school places mixed in there as well.
I'm not going to argue with you much on this. Food is so subjective. Personally, I don't even like KC BBQ (much prefer the Memphis or Carolina variation). There's not really much good barbecue in the Twin Cities, if any at all, for the record.
If your pleasure is Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Ethiopian, Somali, Afghani, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish or Greek, however, the Twin Cities is likely a better fit than KC.
We lack a signature cuisine (unless the Juicy Lucy counts, or one of St. Paul's "imported" sandwiches, like the Banh Mi or the Hot ****). We have nothing that screams MSP the way that BBQ screams Kansas City.
We probably have more restaurants, total, as well as more bars, breweries, distilleries, and specialty groceries. Take from that what you will.
I've stated over and over that MSP is a totally different league than KC now and the gap is only widening.
However, I do think that KC may actually exceed MSP in the museums and at least rival MSP in the theater/performing arts area.
The WWI museum alone puts KC in a pretty high tier. If the WWI museum were in Washington DC, it would be one of the top attractions in the city as it's actually better than most museums in DC. The Nelson, the new Nelson Bloch addition, the Kemper Modern Art museum, the American Jazz Museum and Negro Leagues Museum, Steamboat Arabia, College Basketball Experience, Truman Museum etc are all very well done museums that would be great assets to any first or second tier city.
I won't argue against that. KC is certainly underrated in regards to its museums. But it can't reasonably compete with MSP, taking both as a whole, let alone beat them. I've already provided plenty of examples to Clevelander. We could split hairs, too, but you would be hard-pressed to convince most people that KC can come out on top against MSP in terms of museums, or cultural amenities in general.
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And KC has some amazing historic architecture such as Union Station, the Plaza, the art deco skyscrapers and the Nelson that seem to compliment the modern structures (performing arts center, sprint center, modern towers) so perfectly.
KC has amazing art-deco architecture in its core, and has preserved much of its history much better than Minneapolis has, although St. Paul has done a better job.
Minneapolis does do a better job on modern and contemporary architecture, however. That's not a knock. It's just tough to beat Minneapolis in that regard, unless you are NYC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, maybe Philadelphia and Seattle.
Nelson Atkins states (on their very own website, no less) that their permanent collection includes 35,000 works. MIA's is 100,000+.
Nelson Atkins is a great museum, but it is not of the same scale as the MIA, and the fact that you hear about it more frequently than you do the MIA reveals more about you than it does about either museum's cache (not in a bad way).
As for the Walker, it is one of the "Big 5" modern art institutions in the country, along with the Guggenheim, MoMA, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn. You know? THAT Hirshhorn? The Smithsonian one? KC doesn't have any art museum of that type of repute.
James J. Hill House, perhaps? But you're right, Harry S. Truman is more of a household name than Hill, or probably anybody else from the Twin Cities.
At any rate, MSP has the Science Museum of Minnesota (one of the most visited museums of any type or kind in the country), the Minnesota Historical Society and Museum (one of the largest historical societies in the country), the Children's Museum (the first of its kind in the country), the Museum of Russian Art (which has the largest collection of its kind in the country), the Weisman, Mill City Museum, The Sculpture Garden (another first of its kind), the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the State Capitol building, a cathedral and a basilica which are both available to tour, Hennepin County Historical Society, the Minnesota Museum of African-American heritage, the Bell Museum, two zoos (one of which is very large and reputable), the Bakken, the Plavek, an aquarium...we can split hairs on this and name even the smallest cultural institutions as assets in either city, and MSP is still going to come out on top. MSP has numerous galleries, arts festivals, studio spaces. It has the third largest theater district in North America, more live theater seats per capita than anywhere outside of NYC. It has the second-largest dance theater economy, after NYC. Two chamber orchestras (the only US metro with more than one). The Fitzgerald theater and significant contributions to public radio. The Loft Literary Center (highly regarded nationally). One of the largest arts economies in gross terms, not per capita, in the entire country. This is more for kcmo than it is for you, but there is really no comparison.
I'm not going to argue with you much on this. Food is so subjective. Personally, I don't even like KC BBQ (much prefer the Memphis or Carolina variation). There's not really much good barbecue in the Twin Cities, if any at all, for the record.
If your pleasure is Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Ethiopian, Somali, Afghani, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish or Greek, however, the Twin Cities is likely a better fit than KC.
We lack a signature cuisine (unless the Juicy Lucy counts, or one of St. Paul's "imported" sandwiches, like the Banh Mi or the Hot ****). We have nothing that screams MSP the way that BBQ screams Kansas City.
We probably have more restaurants, total, as well as more bars, breweries, distilleries, and specialty groceries. Take from that what you will.
Time magazine ranked the museum's new Bloch Building number one on its list of "The 10 Best (New and Upcoming) Architectural Marvels" which considered candidates from around the globe. This is really the main area from which I had heard about it, as I'm certainly not an expert. I think it is at about 375,000 sq. feet, which, when compared to MIA (470,000, I wanna say?), isn't completely outclassed. As far as collection size, that can be somewhat of a guide, but certainly not a confirmation metric. For example, the California Palace Legion of Honor has an admirable collection size at 124,000, however, many aren't seeing most of those works, ever, and I don't think their overall collections are as good as some museums smaller than them, whereas the Barnes Foundation or Isabella Stewart Garden have miniscule collections that are considered to be absolutely incredible. I won't disagree with you about the Walker surpassing the Kemper, though even at a measly 23,000 feat, the Kemper does seem to have a somewhat impressive building and collection. Overall, Minny wins on arts.
That list... LOL. I don't even have a dog in this fight, and so if I could go more in depth and name other places in KC, I wouldn't. Clearly, Minneapolis has more overall options, probably Detroit or Cleveland would be a more interesting matchup, still though, I think that the cache of KC's 'destination museums' can't be taken lightly. One that you didn't mention, that I have to admit I was slightly offended by (jk!) was the American Swedish Institute, given my Scandinavian Heritage. Is there a similar Finnish attraction in town, because if so, that definitely gives me an even bigger reason to book a trip! I've been meaning to check Minny out anyways.
Here's what I'll say, based on the limited knowledge I have. I'll agree with you that Minny has more museum options, but, at the same time, with the thought that there are soso many options in KC, and that is even compared to other much larger cities, that I don't think "Lack of Museums or Culture" would be a reason that I'd decide to choose Minny over KC (though I would say that for other cities).
As for food, you're right, it is very subjective. I think I'd enjoy food in both spots, frankly, and perhaps this is wrong for some areas, but I think that with how global our world is, if you are in a first world city, you should be able to find high class cuisine of just about every ethnic group or palette on earth. I mean, come on, I live in Orlando right now, which pretty much everyone seems to think is chain central (it's becoming not that way), and I still wouldn't have a problem doing that.
One more thing I'll add, is that KC likely the coolest modern library design I've ever seen (It's books!)
Time magazine ranked the museum's new Bloch Building number one on its list of "The 10 Best (New and Upcoming) Architectural Marvels" which considered candidates from around the globe.
Minneapolis has numerous buildings that have received similar accolades, both from industry sources and in the mass media. The New Walker, New Guthrie, New Minneapolis Central Library, and MIA addition all come to mind. The Mill City Museum, I believe, has received accolades for adaptive reuse.
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This is really the main area from which I had heard about it, as I'm certainly not an expert. I think it is at about 375,000 sq. feet, which, when compared to MIA (470,000, I wanna say?), isn't completely outclassed. As far as collection size, that can be somewhat of a guide, but certainly not a confirmation metric. For example, the California Palace Legion of Honor has an admirable collection size at 124,000, however, many aren't seeing most of those works, ever, and I don't think their overall collections are as good as some museums smaller than them, whereas the Barnes Foundation or Isabella Stewart Garden have miniscule collections that are considered to be absolutely incredible.
I don't know what the MIA's square footage is, and (not to be a jerk) I don't really care. You are right that the MIA is unable to display everything that it has at any given time, but this is a challenge at almost any museum. I am sure that Nelson Atkins is not able to display all of its collection, due to space constraints.
As far as the quality of the collection goes, it is subjective, but it is generally agreed that the MIA has one of the better ones around. Their East Asian imperial art is almost unmatched (a strength at Nelson Atkins, as well). They have a wealth of ancient Egyptian art, folk art, African folk art, photography, woodcarving, impressionist and post-impressionist painting, pop art, Bauhaus....the list just goes on. It beats anything Kansas City has, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. That's not a huge dig on Kansas City, mind you....the MIA beats a *lot* of encyclopedic art museums.
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[That list... LOL. I don't even have a dog in this fight, and so if I could go more in depth and name other places in KC, I wouldn't. Clearly, Minneapolis has more overall options, probably Detroit or Cleveland would be a more interesting matchup, still though, I think that the cache of KC's 'destination museums' can't be taken lightly. One that you didn't mention, that I have to admit I was slightly offended by (jk!) was the American Swedish Institute, given my Scandinavian Heritage. Is there a similar Finnish attraction in town, because if so, that definitely gives me an even bigger reason to book a trip! I've been meaning to check Minny out anyways.
The list is more for KCmo than for you, since KCmo mentioned zoos and some other attractions.
The American Swedish Institute is cool, although I have not been in some time. They recently completed a large expansion. There is no comparable Finnish institution in the Twin Cities, that I am aware of. There is the German American Institute, but they are more into community advocacy and events than about displaying anything German within their property (sort of a German rotary club).
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Here's what I'll say, based on the limited knowledge I have. I'll agree with you that Minny has more museum options, but, at the same time, with the thought that there are soso many options in KC, and that is even compared to other much larger cities, that I don't think "Lack of Museums or Culture" would be a reason that I'd decide to choose Minny over KC (though I would say that for other cities).
Well, I wouldn't say that KC lacks museums or culture, either. Here's what I will say: in Chicago, you can go to the CAI, where there is a permanent collection of I believe 400,000 pieces, and more space to display them. It is an elite institution that surpasses anything either Minneapolis or Kansas City has to offer in terms of encyclopedic art collections.
However, if you are driving, it may take you half-an-hour+ to get there, each way, depending on where you live in the Chicago metro. Then you pay for parking. Conservatively that is $20, but the ramps beneath Jackson are more. Then there is admission to the museum ($8, I think the last time I went, which is actually very reasonable). If you take the train, I believe the CTA sells roundtrip tickets for around $15, probably depending on where you are coming from.
Where my parents live in suburban Minneapolis, you can get to the MIA in fifteen minutes by car, park on the street for free, and the museum itself is free and open to the public every day, Tuesday through Saturday.
If the potential of seeing 4X as much art justifies the cost and the hassle to you, then Chicago is a better fit than Minneapolis. And, for some people, that truly is a quality of life issue. I respect that opinion, although I do not share it.
Comparing two cities, apples to apples, one always has more art than the other. It doesn't mean that the other city is some uncultured wasteland, it just means that the other city does it better. The Twin Cities do it better than Kansas City, and I think that that is ok.
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As for food, you're right, it is very subjective. I think I'd enjoy food in both spots, frankly, and perhaps this is wrong for some areas, but I think that with how global our world is, if you are in a first world city, you should be able to find high class cuisine of just about every ethnic group or palette on earth. I mean, come on, I live in Orlando right now, which pretty much everyone seems to think is chain central (it's becoming not that way), and I still wouldn't have a problem doing that.
One more thing I'll add, is that KC likely the coolest modern library design I've ever seen (It's books!)
Again, in Chicago, one could probably eat at a "good restaurant" (depending on how you define that) every weekend for a year, and never repeat a restaurant. By the end of the year, that person still would not be done, because new places will have opened up.
That is not feasible in Minneapolis. You run out of restaurants sooner, or have to repeat sooner. Same deal with Kansas City. If being able to eat at a new restaurant every weekend and never go back to one for a year or longer is important to you, then Chicago is for you, not Minneapolis or St. Paul or Kansas City.
The Twin Cities was largely a steak and potato, 15% tip (I call that a "farmer's tip") town until relatively recently, with a few notable, stand-out institutional places. In the 90's and early 2000's, immigration boomed, and so there was a proliferation of small, low-rent, but quality ethnic restaurants. Within the past five years, I would argue that there has been a "trickle up" effect with "upscale" restaurants proliferating. Of course, it is a highly volatile industry, and many of them close within a year or two. But even more open up.
I imagine that Kansas City's dining options would have beat the Twin Cities' dining options hands down as recently as 15 years ago. Kansas City closer to the source of high quality steak, for one thing, and of course have legacy BBQ places. Now, I imagine we have Kansas City in that category in terms of variety of options, number of restaurants, and quality of options (however you attempt to measure such a thing). The one thing I am not sure about is Mexican food. Kansas City certainly has a large enough Mexican-American population to support a lot of good restaurants. The Twin Cities does, too, but I believe our community there is smaller.
The point remains, you will be able to find restaurants you like in either city, unless you are extremely picky. That doesn't negate the fact that the Twin Cities are better on that front, overall.
So KCMO is basically getting screwed by two states while the MSP area has the state of Minnesota wrapped around their fingers. Same deal with Seattle, Denver etc. KC can't compete with that.
I hate to start a new side-discussion, but that's really not fair. For one thing, there is almost always animosity towards MSP coming from out-state legislators during session.
But more importantly, the way that the Minnesota state constitution reads makes it extraordinarily difficult to get large projects done in the Twin Cities that require competing county and civic interests, especially when the Met Council jumps on board. Cities and counties in Minnesota, for instance, are not able to levy new taxes without the approval of the state legislature. I am not sure how Missouri or Kansas work, but when I lived in Pittsburgh, it was basically if Allegheny county wanted to get sh*t done, Allegheny county just levied a new tax and did it; Harrisburg didn't even come into play.
The way we have to negotiate county, city, state and Met Council interests makes it hard to pay for anything. Also, occasionally Wisconsin gets involved (re: new bridge in Stillwater). Why do you think all of our transit projects end up delayed, and then when they finally do get build, come in over budget?
We are a bi-polar metro in a state that does not legally facilitate expeditious growth or development very well. No two ways about it
...and not having to deal with endless rush of tourists or traffic or any other headaches.. You hit the nail on the head. Minny (and KC) sound more like my kind of city than Chicago. Another point worth noting: while Chicago's collection of paintings is incredible and certainly larger, unless I am wrong, doesn't their collection only go back to about 1500? I think in a technical sense, the AIC isn't a comprehensive museum. It seems like MIA is more of the variety I am used to in Cleveland (which has been listed among the Big 5 comprehensive museums, and one that you can park on street and enter for free), and the MIA appears to be a one stop shop for basically observing human expression throughout recorded history (in a sense, almost a global museum of anthropology). Now, Chicago does have the Oriental Institue Museum on the UC campus, though I don't know how good that is, and I think there's a charm in a singular building that has everything.
Can't disagree with you on that, though I would say that if one were had primary interests of sports and geopolitics, regardless of whether or not they were concerned with the arts, having NLBM, WWI, Truman and CBE would be big (and even as a fun fact, reasonable day trip from Eisenhower, Churchill and Brown vs. BOE site. Those additions are mainly meant to inform if you're ever vacationing that way though, not to compare) That's what even makes museums a somewhat subjective category, even if one city has more options than another, as you pointed out with Chicago, yet id still prefer Minny or KC (btw, I heard AIC is actually 25$ now. The Field is like $30!).
What would be the one museum you'd recommend to someone visiting Minny? I'd say I have the most interest in Mill City, but I don't really know.
For a bigger city, KC has terrible recreation infrastructure, especially when compared to MSP and especially in urban areas. The rivers and river walks are ignored, the larger parks are generally empty. There is almost no bike infrastructure (although they do have a nice bike share system) and there is just not a lot of people outside doing outside stuff. I really think KC comes in dead last out of every large city in the united states except Detroit (if you don't include the Canada side). I'm hoping KC improves this area a lot over the next decade and I think they will, but they will never come close to catching up with MSP.[/b]
Way, way off topic, although Detroit doesn't have much in natural beauty or interesting topography, we do have a decent amount of recreation infrastructure, such as:
Belle Isle Park
credit detroitbolthole
The Riverwalk, about 3 miles are complete
credit CEO update
The Dequindre Cut Greenway (1.35 miles completed, 1 mile extension under construction currently)
credit railstotrails.org
Other large parks in the city include Palmer Park (296 acres) and River Rouge Park (1190 acres)
Outside of the core, there is:
Hines Drive, a 17-mile long greenway that runs from the far west side of Detroit through 5 suburban communities
as well a network of MetroParks...
... and the northwest/north central suburbs have a plethora of inland lakes and state, metro, and county parks
credit googlemaps
And speaking of Canada, how about these PHENOMENAL VIEWS 42 miles from downtown Detroit.
Last edited by usroute10; 09-03-2015 at 06:55 AM..
Very impressive pics, usroute10. I'm imagining living in a world where one could ride up the Detroit Riverwalk, then over the ambassador bridge, then along the Windsor Riverwalk, then back through the tunnel. THAT would be sweet. I'm planning a visit up to Detroit next year and at least plan on checking out Hines Drive, etc. are there any particular 'high points/hills' from the parks at which you might be able to look down on the landscape? Kensington perhaps?
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