Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well regardless if Seattle looks Minneapolis' way, it SHOULD. Few cities are more similar in many of the major indicators (population, density, GDP, diversity (or lack thereof), GDP/capita, income, education, employment/unemployment, etc.). They even look a lot alike (architecturally) and grew up primarily during the same eras (late 1800's/early 1900's).
Important!! It doesn't make one lick of difference what people actually do. Public awareness doesn't have any effect on the OVERWHELMING similarities between Seattle and Minneapolis. It is completely irrelevant. 100%. 150%. It's not a real thing. People put far too much stock in media visibility, which only makes cities like Seattle and New York and LA more over-represented and cities like Minneapolis and Austin and Cincinnati (and even Chicago to an extent) more under-represented.
Regarding Scandinavian heritage...I was in Seattle for the first time earlier this year and as I always do when traveling, read up on local history. I was surprised to learn about Seattle's Scandinavian roots. I agree that the two cities/metros, virtually the same size with similar successful economies are easily comparable on may metrics.
Here's an interesting map of the percentage of population that are Scandivanian descent...ptty obvious which two areas stick out. Or three of you throw in the Blondish Mormons of Utah.
All I can say in regards to this topic is this.. When I moved to Minneapolis from San Francisco, I thought I was taking a big step back in terms of living in a real city. I was actually pleasantly surprised with Minneapolis and lived there happily for 3 years. Easily the most vibrant, affordable, and of course underrated, city in the US.
All I can say in regards to this topic is this.. When I moved to Minneapolis from San Francisco, I thought I was taking a big step back in terms of living in a real city. I was actually pleasantly surprised with Minneapolis and lived there happily for 3 years. Easily the most vibrant, affordable, and of course underrated, city in the US.
I'm guessing you weren't around for the MTM show in the 70's....how could you not watch the intro and not KNOW how fabulous Minneapolis is?
We are from the South originally and were in a similar situation about 5 years ago and when it came down to it MSP won out because of a matching high salary (same as Seattle), and multiple things to do vs COL. We had to make a similar decision again this year but instead it was the Bay Area. However for us life is pretty comfortable here, and our dollar travels soo much farther it was really hard to justify a move. If the Bay suddenly becomes cheaper then we will have to make the move
MSP is a great city and punches well above it's weight nationally in the same way that Seattle does. However it doesn't get the national credit because it's Midwestern, and the belief is if it's Midwestern its supposed to be on its death bed kissing all of it's California and Colorado grand children goodbye. Also there seems a visceral dislike of the Midwest, not as bad as the South but it is quite palpable. However if there was a way to magically sprinkle a mountain range about an 30 minutes to an hour away then MSP would receive it's earned accolades.
This is the exact same vibe I get when this topic comes up. No one seems to be able to differentiate between the cities on metrics, so the conversation always devolves into natural beauty (which is subjective) and all of a sudden Seattle is "way ahead".
This is the exact same vibe I get when this topic comes up. No one seems to be able to differentiate between the cities on metrics, so the conversation always devolves into natural beauty (which is subjective) and all of a sudden Seattle is "way ahead".
According to the latest GDP results discussion, Seattle has exploded out of the gates lately and is now well outside Minneapolis' reach, at ~$308B. I don't know exactly why (Amazon? Construction?), but it seems to have grown by like $50B since the last metric I remember seeing, which was also a good $25B higher than the metric previous to that!
Maybe it's safer to say the two cities WERE (as recently as 5 years ago) very similar, but now Seattle is becoming the bigger mecca (for better or for worse)..
According to the latest GDP results discussion, Seattle has exploded out of the gates lately and is now well outside Minneapolis' reach, at ~$308B. I don't know exactly why (Amazon? Construction?), but it seems to have grown by like $50B since the last metric I remember seeing, which was also a good $25B higher than the metric previous to that!
Maybe it's safer to say the two cities WERE (as recently as 5 years ago) very similar, but now Seattle is becoming the bigger mecca (for better or for worse)..
Seattle has a massive tech industry. It has a much stronger economy than Minneapolis. Though with an oppressive cost of living to go with it.
Seattle just seems to have more of that niche economy vibe going on. That plus the west coast setting puts Seattle above any midwest city not called Chicago.
Seattle has a massive tech industry. It has a much stronger economy than Minneapolis. Though with an oppressive cost of living to go with it.
Seattle just seems to have more of that niche economy vibe going on. That plus the west coast setting puts Seattle above any midwest city not called Chicago.
Barf, it is ignorant comments like this that make the rest of Californians look bad.
Two, outside of Chicago there is not really a midwest city on Seattle's level.
Maybe Detroit in 1950, but those days are long gone.
I'm glad you were born in the midwest, i'm sure that gives you all the street cred you need to belittle it.....Outside of Chicago of course. I'm not going to argue Seattle's greatness, I am not of the opinion that "MSP is even better than Seattle."
Quote:
Seattle has a massive tech industry. It has a much stronger economy than Minneapolis.
This is what annoys me. Unemployment Rates for Metropolitan Areas Seattle has a bigger GDP, but to claim it has a MUCH BETTER economy than MPLS is flat out misinformed. The link posted is to, the July 2014 labor statistics for unemployment. Minneapolis unemployment figure is a full percentage point lower than Seattle.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...reas.html?_r=0 This is a link showing the 2012 rankings for educational attainment, The two cities are virtually tied, Minneapolis has almost a full percentage point higher of adults with bachelors degrees.
Cities Hosting the Most Fortune 500 Companies This is a list of metropolitan areas ranked by number of Fortune500 companies by metropolitan area. Minneapolis has 18, Seattle has 9.
Now it's clear you can deal in hyperbole, but outside of weather these cities have a lot in common. I can absolutely see the case being made for Minneapolis over Seattle. Claiming that Seattles economy is MUCH BETTER is ignorant. Minneapolis has a service based economy that is among the most stable in the country. Please get your facts straight before using terms like "MUCH BETTER".
Last edited by mjlo; 09-17-2014 at 07:02 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
