Will Minneapolis ever see 500,000 again? (St. Paul, Gary: safe, to move, public transportation)

[City eYes]

Yeah but the thing about Chicago is that the entire south side is about the size of Minneapolis. Development in DT Chicago has been serious. All Minneapolis has to do is provide the image that the city is livable and then watch the boom happen.

Originally Posted by west336

Ah yes, the revitalization of Chicago is impressive indeed -- 200,000+ people left the city in the past 10 years, while the exurbs like Elgin, Aurora, Joliet, etc. saw SUBSTANTIAL growth (they are 50 miles away from the city too).

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by City eYes

Yeah but the thing about Chicago is that the entire south side is about the size of Minneapolis. Development in DT Chicago has been serious. All Minneapolis has to do is provide the image that the city is livable and then watch the boom happen.

Crime is much lower, lower unemployment levels. Minneapolis is probably more livable than Chicago. Unfortunately, the majority of population growth is occurring in the Sun Belt region,and mainly for its warmer weather. If I mention Minneapolis to some people in Atlanta(not all, but enough people), there is a negative connotation, and the main reason is the climate. I mentioned Minneapolis to one woman. Her response: "Minneapolis is a place to be if you want to commit suicide". Her words. MPLS can't do anything about the climate, but you can' attract winter enthusiasts to Minneapolis. Another idea is to attract artists.

[west336]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Crime is much lower, lower unemployment levels. Minneapolis is probably more livable than Chicago. Unfortunately, the majority of population growth is occurring in the Sun Belt region,and mainly for its warmer weather. If I mention Minneapolis to some people in Atlanta(not all, but enough people), there is a negative connotation, and the main reason is the climate. I mentioned Minneapolis to one woman. Her response: "Minneapolis is a place to be if you want to commit suicide". Her words. MPLS can't do anything about the climate, but you can' attract winter enthusiasts to Minneapolis. Another idea is to attract artists.

Atlanta wasn't considered a weather paradise until VERY recently. Most people consider Atlanta weather as terrible up North. My point is that you can change people's perception in other, positive, ways like you mentioned.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by west336

Atlanta wasn't considered a weather paradise until VERY recently. Most people consider Atlanta weather as terrible up North. My point is that you can change people's perception in other, positive, ways like you mentioned.

Air condition was a factor. Even with the air conditioning, I don't particularly like the summers in Atlanta.

[MplsTodd]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Crime is much lower, lower unemployment levels. Minneapolis is probably more livable than Chicago. Unfortunately, the majority of population growth is occurring in the Sun Belt region,and mainly for its warmer weather. If I mention Minneapolis to some people in Atlanta(not all, but enough people), there is a negative connotation, and the main reason is the climate. I mentioned Minneapolis to one woman. Her response: "Minneapolis is a place to be if you want to commit suicide". Her words. MPLS can't do anything about the climate, but you can' attract winter enthusiasts to Minneapolis. Another idea is to attract artists.

That's a sad but very believable commentary on people's perceptions of the twin Cities nationally. Face it, we're often the focus of news whenever there's a cold front, but I doubt if they reference our weather when its mild or when its nice in the summer. Combine that with the our most memorable film appearance:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJUvPZI3Cr4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhEyH...eature=related

and you got yourself an image issue.

I think it was better in the '70s, when we had our own positive image marketing every week:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBTWF1bDPn0

[knke0204]

I always think of an Episode of Entourage.

Johnny Drama gets offered a job- a role in a new TV series CSI: Minneapolis. He gives a look like "CSI: MPLS, that isn't that bad" and then his agent goes on to say "..BUT.. it takes place in Vancouver" and he gives even more of a lost/confused look.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by MplsTodd

That's a sad but very believable commentary on people's perceptions of the twin Cities nationally. Face it, we're often the focus of news whenever there's a cold front, but I doubt if they reference our weather when its mild or when its nice in the summer. Combine that with the our most memorable film appearance:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJUvPZI3Cr4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhEyH...eature=related

and you got yourself an image issue.

I think it was better in the '70s, when we had our own positive image marketing every week:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBTWF1bDPn0

I haven't watched either, but there seems to be a snow-phobia for some people. The only Minneapolis-based film I have watched is Mighty Ducks.

When I visited Minneapolis, it was the summer, so it was warm outside. I didn't see any snow, not that I would mind. The fact is, alot of people don't want to live in place with alot of snow, or cold temperatures. Part of why Atlanta has been growing like mushrooms on a log. Alot of people like Atlanta's winter. Interestingly enough, it seems like few Minnesotans are moving to the Atlanta area.I know a few, but the majority of out of staters are from the Boswash region, Chicagoland, and Ohio, as far as northern locations go. We have Californians and Floridians here.
Minneapolis, however, is not attracting as much migration from other states as it could attract considering some of the benefits.

[queenswake]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Part of why Atlanta has been growing like mushrooms on a log. Alot of people like Atlanta's winter. Interestingly enough, it seems like few Minnesotans are moving to the Atlanta area.I know a few, but the majority of out of staters are from the Boswash region, Chicagoland, and Ohio, as far as northern locations go. We have Californians and Floridians here.
Minneapolis, however, is not attracting as much migration from other states as it could attract considering some of the benefits.

Atlanta and other southern cities have been growing partly because of a recent move by blacks back to the places where their families were rooted. I've read several articles about this. I think the reason you don't see many Minnesotans moving there is the humidity. Minnesotans weren't built in a way to handle it.

MN is just too unknown by most people to get them to even think about moving there. I think the biggest attractant might be certain jobs from some of the Fortune 500 companies. But none of that represents a major flow of people. It's not going to happen anytime soon.

[Kid Cann]

Both Minneapolis and St. Paul are unique in the sense that they are cities that are land locked. There is no room for annexation/sprawl growth so much of the city's future growth must come in new families and dense development.

I wish Minneapolis was a city of a little bit more density (even though it's already pretty dense) and with more residnets to maybe attract more national recognition.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by queenswake

Atlanta and other southern cities have been growing partly because of a recent move by blacks back to the places where their families were rooted. I've read several articles about this. I think the reason you don't see many Minnesotans moving there is the humidity. Minnesotans weren't built in a way to handle it.

MN is just too unknown by most people to get them to even think about moving there. I think the biggest attractant might be certain jobs from some of the Fortune 500 companies. But none of that represents a major flow of people. It's not going to happen anytime soon.

It's very dry in California and there are alot of Californians moving to Atlanta. I don't think humidity is the biggest issue.

BTW, I'm African-American and I can't stand the humidity in Atlanta.

And there has been a bit of a "mini-migration" of African-Americans to the Twin Cities over the last 30 years, mainly from other parts of the Midwest.

The out-of-state migration, as a whole, to Minneapolis or St. Paul isn't as large as other states though.