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I can speak for the twin cities. they are fairly flat with some rolling hills, but since the minnesota and the mississippi rivers flow through them there are some decent sized river bluffs that keep it a little interesting.
Just thought I'd throw this out there, because for the most part people make the Midwest out to be as flat and open as the Great Plains. While some states meet this criteria, particularly most of Illinois and Indiana, I know there are areas of the Midwest that are far from flat. Some examples would be the Missouri Ozarks, The Porcupine Mountains of Michigan, and Northern Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota, as well as the area in Northwest Illinois, Northeastern Iowa, Southeastern Minnesota, and Southwestern Wisconsin that escaped glaciation, in addition to Appalachian Ohio. While I know that certain cities in the Midwest like Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis are pretty level in terrain, there are other cities I have found that are not...St. Louis has its flat areas but also has big rolling hills too...the same with Kansas City, Cincinnati, and parts of Cleveland. I guess I was curious if Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis are really as flat as people make them out to be...what is the terrain of Milwaukee and the Twin Cities like? I know the Midwest can be flat in a lot of areas, but I know in other areas it has rolling hills too.
For the most part Indianapolis is flat except some rolling hills on the North-Northeast and Southwest sides of town. Southern Indiana can get pretty hilly. Bloomington has alot of hills in town and outside of town.
Des Moines, Kansas City, Sioux City, Quad Cities, St. Louis, Columbia (MO), Topeka, Madison (WI), LaCrosse, and Omaha. I have been to them and they are plenty of hilly areas within them. I would second the Twin Cities, they have some hilly areas, especially around the Minnesota River. The city near me, Sioux Falls has hilly areas around most parts (gently rolling hills), although the southern portions and southwestern parts are flat.
There are enough areas in the Great Plains, which I consider as part of the Midwest for regional purposes, that are hilly. Areas around major rivers tend to be hillier and some areas getting closer to the Rockies.
I can remember plenty of areas in Illinois, Indiana, and parts of Ohio as being flat and level, but there are spots in each (more so around rivers) that have hills. Driving on I-74, I have seen a lot of flat areas. Michigan has plenty of level areas with a few hills.
Are we only talking about major cities in the midwest? I could name tons of smaller cities that are very hilly, making some of San Fran's roads look easy to ascend. lol
Chicago is flat as a board. Parts of Chicagoland have small, rolling hills, especially in the Fox Valley area (about 40 miles West of Chicago). If you go even further west towards the Rock River in IL, the hills get even bigger. Head to Galena or down south in IL, and the hills get larger still.
^^^ yeah, a lot of people don't realize that while Chicago itself is flat as a pancake, if you drive a few hours away, there are plenty of hills in the region.
Omaha is very hilly. I live on a hill that people regulary get stuck on in the winter. Where my mom lives it is even more hilly. If you're dumb enough to have a rear wheel drive car in Omaha during the winter, you just shouldn't be driving period.
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