The truth about Minneapolis? (St. Paul, Anoka: condos, credit, movies)

[west336]

Originally Posted by repex0000

Buy a house in South Minneapolis. I'd avoid Uptown. Too many hipsters and cyclists. I'm a roaad cyclist myself and I think it's crazy that Minneapolis is up there with Seattle and Madison as being one of the most bike friendly in the US. It's quite friendly once you get to where it's friendly. Otherwise, it's very dangerous. We've had at least 4 deaths already around campus since mid April from bike accidents with cars.

But about Minneapolis? It obviously depends on who you are and what you do. I am a 31 year old entrepreneur and former Marine and buddhist monk in Burma. I hold degrees in Classics and Biochemisrty. I've travelled the world and been all over the US. I'm also a personal trainer and gym owner whose done a lot of climbing, 2 Ironman Tri's, several marathons, isolation retreats in the Amazon and the Kayes off of Belize. I'm also a published writer with a very popular blog and podcast with 1.5 million and 800k readers and listeners, respectively.

I'm a recovering addict/alcoholic sober now 4 years. I've also been homeless. Basically, I see things from a broad perspective and without contempt prior to investigation. I'm also from here.

Minneapolis is a cool city but it's repressed. I could care less about how educated we are. How are my neighbors? How do we relate with one another? Well.....we don't. We act.

We are liberal and open minded but we would rather give someone else money to do the work for issues that matter to us. We would rather "be a fan" of the issues than a player. There are a lot of cars with bumper stickers in Minneapolis.

We are friendly but it's often out of fear of confrontation. We have intimacy issues. We say we're not racist but nearly every white person's amygdala get's a bit hot when a black man is seen walking toward us on the same side of the street. We rarely make eye contact with others, stand to our side and talk about the weather until we are cartain we can move on to politics. Personal life. NO. We take medication for that. Generally speaking, we are a bunch a repressed ******* and hypocrites. But who cares.

In 2010, three major magazines, each representing a different demographic, did a survey to determine what city was the "happiest". Minneapolis came out on top with Seattle a close second. In that same year the NIH released statistics showing that Minneapolis/St.Paul had the highest per capita use of anit-depressants in the country with Seattle a close second. You can ***** me out for saying what I did prior to those these facts but.... there you have it - you can't dispute that. Look it up for yourself.

Winters suck. Especially around February. I spend each February in Carmel, CA. I can't take it.

The food is ok. I also own a restaurant. It's a small bistro and doesn't put up a front. We have good food and wine in a cozy space with original art. The price-points are fair. Unfortunately, of all the place in the world I have eaten, Minneapolis takes the cake for all show and no glow.

Our restaurants are very much like our people. A lot of effort is put into looking really cool or smart. The best restaurants in this city are humble, non intimidating, and relatively rare. Most places try so hard to be chic but have **** service, **** food, and **** prices. I can't even count the number of wannabe chic restaurants in this town. You know....the ones with the one syllable word followed by a number - or vice versa for names. For example (These are made up) "Times 5" or "The 9 Bar". lol

If you move to Minneapolis do yourself a huge favor and start a piggy bank for getting the hell out of town for at least a week in mid February. It's no joke.

All things considered, would I choose to stay here if I had more flexibility? Hell no. I'm a West Coast guy. I need the ocean and the attitude. I ran a marathon last year near Eureka, CA and had made an appointment with a masseuse afterward. When I called later to confirm she said she didn't feel like it anymore, that she had had a long day and wanted to grab a glass of wine, instead. She asked if I wanted to join her. I LOVED IT. I wasn't able to take her up on the invitation but the honesty was more refreshing than any massage I've ever had. This isn't an isolated incident. I've spent years in and out of California, Oregon, and Seattle and it's a whole different vibe.

In Minneapolis we hide. We lie. We fear. We judge. assess, and evaluate everything and everyone to the extent that we have sight of the bigger picture. We are so narrowly focused on keeping up appearances that we have forgotten about the "being" part. We even have a name for our "way" that you can find printed on everything from T Shirts to hats. It's called, "Minnesota Nice". Hope that helped.

I love your cynicism, especially since you own a restaurant. Surely you want others to view your business better than you view others, right? I'd love to see how it ranks among the "best" in the Twin Cities.

Here's my take (and I'm also a fellow recovering addict), YOU hide, YOU fear, YOU judge, YOU assess, and YOU evaluate everything and everyone, not all of "us". YOU see this so clearly because it is (drum roll).......YOU. This is how you feel and since you have seen sunshine and cloudy days you feel like you have a voice for everyone. If there is one thing you can learn from recovery, buddhism, zen, etc. is that it comes from within and it comes from all of us. Your viewpoints aren't from a gained perspective as much as they are from an envious perspective. You have a ways to go until you fully recover (and so do I).

[mod cut: personal attack]

[northsub]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Chicago, Kansas City, all lost population in the 1950s. The phenomenon isn't unique to just Minneapolis

This doesn't exactly read like a list of what are generally considered thriving cities.

For what it's worth, Minneapolis was the 15th largest city in the U.S. in 1930. It has fallen in rank every census since, and is currently 48th.

(I'm reposting this because there seemed to be some sort of problem earlier.)

[TechieGeek]

Knke- you are right, but I don't have much to say about those other cities that happened to either. St. Louis, Detroit...?? Point taken? There are reasons these cities don't grow with the suburbs like some other cities have.

Uptown-you are right I don't LIVE in the city- I frequent it, though and find downtown very similar to a few miles out of the city. Perhaps you consider Minnesotans intellectual, and while I have found them educated I haven't found many who think for themselves. When I say it is not flashy, yes I did mean the modesty I see here, but I would go so far as to call it DRAB. You are right about the weather- I have referred to Minnesota as hell on earth in the winter and utopia in the spring (which hasn't really come yet and is very short), so the weather plays a huge part.

CitynCountry, Yes I am a woman but my husband dislikes MN even more than I. He doesn't like to hunt, though..if you like to hunt you may like it here. It is a very 'country city' IMO, but based on your name you may like that I have observed MN to be a fairly indoor state due to the weather so I hope you like the indoors. I would not exactly consider this state hip as hard as it tries, though, and the sushi is def sub par not being on the coast. But there ARE sushi places that are decent, so it isn't like sushi is a foreign word here (I was SHOCKED by the number of people who had never tried sushi when I moved here, though!) If you can adapt to the weather, you will learn to love it here. I would absolutely not mind the pink shirt/ haircut thing if there were some contrast, but be warned...there isn't much here. People match. When my sister visits from CA, we sometimes wear matching clothes as a joke to see if anyone even notices. Nope.

Repex0000- the kind of honesty I don't see much here! It sounds like you have really explored a lot of places and i would love the link to your podcasts if you are willing to share. That is so awesome you don't manipulate how you see things to suit your best interests. That is what I have respect for, and that is something I haven't seen much here- my biggest dislike of the state is how people manipulate all their information to try and make themselves look better. Probably the biggest reason I don't attend many things I am invited to out here or give people too much of my time is that the air is so thick you can cut it...and I am not talking about humidity there. I am a west coast girl, though, and I would say the WC has a whole slew of problems the midwest doesn't. The society is narcissistic and entertainment run and so laid back there is not much productivity or work ethic. And that is where I can say something nice about the midwest- the work ethic is good and society looks up to other things than actors/musicians that are probably on so many drugs they can't see straight.

West336- Thanks! You reminded me of another thing I don't like here- people can't handle criticism hence the Minnesota nice and speaking behind peoples backs without the guts to say anything to their face. And they really can't handle reality. everything is just hunky dorey in minnesnowta, dont'cha know. People here have themselves so convinced that they convinced forbes. It took me a while to see it for what it is. This state will continue to lose people with this 'let's just fake it instead of trying to fix it' attitude.

[CitynCountry]

repex1000,

It helped....but, you've got to get out of town man.. You're only 31 and pissed as hell. Go west young man and look up that massage lady. Don't believe I would have turned that down. Some schedules are worth changing.

CitynCountry

[CitynCountry]

Techie Geek,

Well, I knew you were a woman cause very few men have the guts to criticize a woman's haircut. I've lived on your west coast (Seattle for 12 years) although every time I went down to California and that was often, I was never really impressed with the people. Now I don't want to stereotype the whole durn state cause that ain't fair, it was just a general feel. Never really a friendliness in any major city down there.

I did not leave Seattle because i didn't like it. I loved it as I said. I was a big hiker and a climber there. Seattle is full of people from the midwest and the east as well. I lived many years in the Southeast, i.e. Georgia, N.C. S.C, Florida and Kentucky. Good food and great bourbon in some of those places. Everywhere I go I look for open minded and engaging people. The PC **** is not of my generation and i abhor it. Let's be real. That is what I "dig". So, you are refreshing, but you do need a change do you not? Anyway, your info and your directness I have found very helpful on your posts.

CitynCountry

[knke0204]

repex1000- Clearly you have some issues from your rage-fuel post on a Forum Website. I would suggest looking for some professional help. I'm serious. I can't believe some of the things I read. It sounds like you could do youself a favor by leaving. So do it. Act on it. Don't be a 'player'.

[audadvnc]

R10,000, Heck, that's nothing. I'm 28, and have just circumnavigated the globe in a 12' titanium hulled dinghy, navigating with only my custom Breitling watch and a super-secret NSA geolocation system. I've started my own worldwide religion, and thousands of people flock to hear my pearls of wisdom - when I'm not too busy strategizing for an unnamed Latin American drug/child slavery cartel from my 169'th floor penthouse suite in the Dubai Towers. But that's just a side project. I advised the Manny's restaurant people to move to the "W", because it's more convenient for my Friday night assignations - did you know about their "Free for VIP's" Friday specials? I suppose not - why would you?

More about me - I've coached Lady Gaga and given table etiquette lessons "for dummies" to Prince William & Kate Middleton, getting them up to snuff before the big day. I redesigned Greg Lemond's bikes with my patent-pending "upsidasium" frame tubes, and have just been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

But my latest super-hot fashion model girlfriend says I'm a fake, and won't return my calls. She's a Minnesotan.

I hate Minnesota!

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by audadvnc

R10,000, Heck, that's nothing. I'm 28, and have circumnavigated the globe in a 12' titanium hulled dinghy, navigating with only my custom Breitling watch and a super-secret NSA geolocation system. I've started my own worldwide religion, and thousands of people flock to hear my pearls of wisdom, when I'm not too busy directing a Latin American drug/child slavery cartel from my 169'th floor penthouse suite in the Dubai Towers. But that's just a side project. I advised the Manny's restaurant people to move to the W, because it's more convenient for my Friday night assignations - did you know about their "Free for VIP's" Friday specials? I suppose not - why would you?

More about me - I've coached Lady Gaga and given table etiquette lessons "for dummies" to Prince William & Kate Middleton, getting them up to snuff before the big day. I redesigned Greg Lemond's bikes with my patented "upsidasium" frame tubes, and have just been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

But my last girlfriend thinks I'm a fake, and won't return my calls. She's a Minnesotan.

I hate Minnesota!

so what, lots of people get "nominated" for Nobel awards.

[audadvnc]

You calling me a fake too?

I bet you're a Minnesotan! Figures...

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by TechieGeek

Uptown-you are right I don't LIVE in the city- I frequent it, though and find downtown very similar to a few miles out of the city.

When I say it is not flashy, yes I did mean the modesty I see here, but I would go so far as to call it DRAB.

People match. When my sister visits from CA, we sometimes wear matching clothes as a joke to see if anyone even notices. Nope.

Repex0000- the kind of honesty I don't see much here!

I'm going to start out in the most Minnesotan of ways by saying - this is an inquiry, not an attack.

I'm curious what you mean by finding downtown very similar to a few miles out. Surely you don't think downtown Minneapolis somehow compares to the 'burbs? I mean, it's not dense like Manhattan or something, but I don't see how anyone could get a vibe that downtown is like Edina or Bloomington or Richfield or something.

Are people really drab? I admit, other than a short stint in North Dakota (culture capitol of the world, I tell you), I have lived in Minnesota my whole life. But I don't usually think of people as dressy drab. We're certainly not cutting-edge here - that's for you coasties to do so we can import your styles a couple of years too late ( ). But I think there are plenty of people who dress nice and really, most people in California, for instance, really don't dress much better than here.

I would certainly notice if two women walking together were matching. But it really doesn't offend me and, to be honest, what impact does it make on my life? People probably notice, but they're nice enough to just think you're two weirdos who think they have to match and so they just keep walking.

One thing I do find interesting is that you'll often find that transplants like to use the word "honesty" or other similar lingo to fit only one circumstance - when someone else talks about how much they dislike Minnesota or makes a list of the problems they've encountered. Is it not just a "honest" to say how much you love Minnesota? I admit, I love my state, but I realize it has problems. I know what people are talking about (to a limited extent) when they say they have problems breaking into social groups (we Minnesotans can experience that too ) or how brutal winter can be or whatever. But if you think that Minnesotans are all just pretending everything is so "gosh darn okay, don't'cha know", you're probably wrong. This state has a lot of problems, but most of Minnesotans are probably fairly content too. Cause after all, we need to be as stress-free as possible to put on our pretty faces for the church potluck.