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Two excellent states. My opinion:
Minnesota wins
- more water-related activities
- better winters with great snow and xc skiing
- more diversified economy
- better for agriculture
- fewer wildfires
Colorado wins
- lower taxes
- better summer weather (less humid)
- both mountains and plains
- better airlines (United+Frontier vs. Delta+SunCountry)
Nothing wrong with Colorado, but I prefer Minnesota in every category I think (including scenery). I LOVE mountains but I'd rather look at a lake or river out of my window than a mountain (just me). Even the climate I prefer in MN: I can't stand dry weather and Colorado is super arid, while MN can be arid in the winter but the rest of the year it's mild or even humid at times. The cold doesn't bother me, nor the heat -- and I don't know which is worse, 90+ dry degrees or 85+ humid degrees in the summertime.....I need my sunshine, but not 300 days a year (I think the sun would make my mind crazy). We had a stretch of 10+ days lately without rain and I damn near did a rain dance to make it come, I missed it that much! I can't imagine living in a desert or semi-desert with no rain (or a rain forest or the Pacific NW). Minneapolis feels more like a real city to me than Denver, but I find Denver to be pretty nice. There is no way on God's green Earth that Denver has better parks than Minneapolis though, sorry.....just no chance. METRO maybe, but not city. In terms of diversity both kinda lack it and yet both kinda are diverse. Minneapolis seems a little more multi-cultural, while Denver is clearly more Hispanic and has that Southwestern flavor/culture. Since I wasn't raised in a SW culture I don't really associate with it much, but the Midwestern culture in MN suits me very well and I prefer it, personally.
Colorado is the peoples' choice and I expect 8 out of 10 people to vote for it (even if they haven't experienced both places), but that's one of the last little things I like about MN -- that nobody really takes it seriously and it'll NEVER be trendy or the "flavor of the month".
I haven't been to many parks in Minneapolis so can't really say if this statement is true or not. However, I don't think Denver lacks nice parks at all. Sloan Lake Park, City park, & Cheesman Park are amazing to me!
I actually think people take Minnesota very seriously. Probably not the weather, but other aspects, such as...Education, Art, Recreassion...etc.
They aren't even the best in the rockies. But those are awesome photos none the less.
-Cities: There's no doubt that Denver is on the up and up but I would still take Minneapolis. The city of Denver itself is brown and just a little too boring for my taste, not that I am trying to bash Denver by any means. I also agree with the previous poster in that Duluth > Colorado Springs.
-Education: This is the only category where I think the two states are really on fairly even ground. Both Colorado Boulder and U of M Twin Cities are excellent universities.
-Scenery: Colorado takes this category pretty easily. The forested north woods of Minnesota are beautiful but really can't compare to the pure awesomeness and rugged beauty that come with large, high mountains like the rockies. Again, i'm not trying to bash Minnesota and this category is the most subjective of them imho.
-Climate(s): Both get snow, but its on the ground for at least 5 months of the year in Minnesota. The cloudiness of Minneapolis during the winter doesn't bother me (i'm from the Seattle area) so much as the cold does. I do realize Minnesota is not as cold as some people would like you to believe but some of the coldspells it can get are just downright nasty. I also realize that Colorado can get cold too, but not so much so in the major population centers.
-Diversity: There aren't really many ways about it. Minnesota is just not diverse. Colorado is not the most diverse state either, but is moreso than Minnesota. Yes, a large part of Minneapolis' population is non-white, but that is just a remnant of white-flight.
-Anything else you can think of: The ethnic food is definitely better in Colorado, and although I love the water (which Colorado is devoid of), I still would choose it over Minnesota, although not by a huge margin.
Location: Cleveland bound with MPLS in the rear-view
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mezter
I haven't been to many parks in Minneapolis so can't really say if this statement is true or not. However, I don't think Denver lacks nice parks at all. Sloan Lake Park, City park, & Cheesman Park are amazing to me!
I actually think people take Minnesota very seriously. Probably not the weather, but other aspects, such as...Education, Art, Recreassion...etc.
I'm mostly referencing the Chain of Lakes by that statement, moreso than I am stating that Denver lacks in the parks area (I'm sure it doesn't).
As far as diversity is concerned, my take is that Denver is more non-white/Hispanic than Minneapolis, but Minneapolis is more diverse (has more cultures/races/ethnicities). Feel free to challenge that.
I never realized that people really thought the city of Denver was Ugly. I knew I was bias (since I spent most of my life here), but I always found the cities "Brown landscape" not to be that bad. You don't even realize its brown until your on the outside of Denver.
To West336, Though I don't actually think Denver is more diverse, I think the two cities are diverse in different ways!
Denver=Mainly White & Hispanic
Minneapolis=White & Black
I'm mostly referencing the Chain of Lakes by that statement, moreso than I am stating that Denver lacks in the parks area (I'm sure it doesn't).
As far as diversity is concerned, my take is that Denver is more non-white/Hispanic than Minneapolis, but Minneapolis is more diverse (has more cultures/races/ethnicities). Feel free to challenge that.
It depends on whether or not you are talking about the cities themselves or the metro areas. As far as the metro areas are concerned, neither have particularly large asian populations, although Minneapolis is more dominated by one group than Denver is, Minneapolis has a larger black population, and Denver has a much larger hispanic population dominated by Mexicans. Non-whites constitute a higher percentage of Denver's population than they do in Minneapolis, although not by a huge margin. It seems that the Twin Cities immigrant population is largely dominated by Hmongs and Somalis.
I haven't been to many parks in Minneapolis so can't really say if this statement is true or not. However, I don't think Denver lacks nice parks at all. Sloan Lake Park, City park, & Cheesman Park are amazing to me!
I actually think people take Minnesota very seriously. Probably not the weather, but other aspects, such as...Education, Art, Recreassion...etc.
Minneapolis has great parks that are generally centered on the lakes. Lakes of the Isles is a great one if you ever go. People take Minnesota seriously, but Minnesotans are very active as well; seeing people wakeboarding, boating, sailling, among other water sports is a common site in the summer.
Minneapolis has great parks that are generally centered on the lakes. Lakes of the Isles is a great one if you ever go. People take Minnesota seriously, but Minnesotans are very active as well; seeing people wakeboarding, boating, sailling, among other water sports is a common site in the summer.
Thanks for the info! Next time I'm there, i'm gonna have to check out there park system.
Thanks for the info! Next time I'm there, i'm gonna have to check out there park system.
No problem!
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