Minneapolis #4 for least popular US City (St. Paul, Buffalo: 2014, headhunters, neighborhoods)

[xandrex]

I have to imagine it comes down to the weather and the old stereotype of Minnesota being a white-bread state. It's unfortunate, but at least those of us who live here know better.

[uptown_urbanist]

I think the weather is very likely the reason Minneapolis ranks so high (low?). That says nothing about whether or not it's a nice place to live, or that it's in any way declining. And when I've lived in other cities people have often told me how favorably impressed they've been with Minneapolis while visiting (it's not a big tourist destination, but seems like lots of people make it here for work or conferences), even if they didn't think they could take the winters.

[knke0204]

I find that Minneapolis gets mentioned a lot in TV shows. I have heard MPLS mentioned in the following shows:

Dexter
Entourage (CSI MPLS)
Breaking Bad (2x)
Lost
...
um yeah, and more

[EricS39]

I am an East Coaster and I enjoy visiting Minneapolis every time I've been there. I love the low key easy-going people so much I could sit on the light rail for hours.

Because of winter in Minneapolis, everyone gets bundled up and looks cute in their own way and people are treated more equally and accepted with less focus on body weight, figure, all that superficial stuff. I call it "the fun city".

Also you are never too old to ride the Mall of America carousel or climb on the sculptures of the sculpture garden. Or get really pumped on 1st ave, get a really delicious burger called a 'juicy Lucy' at Matt's Bar on Cedar Ave. Believe me I know MSP so well that if I get stuck there connecting flights I actually smile.

As for the weather, it's DRY when it's cold and it means 7 degrees in the twin cities has a real feel temperature similar to 30 degrees on the east coast.

[MplsTodd]

I'm sure its due to The weather. Minneapolis seems to be the "go to" city for references to cold weather. While there's a good reason for this--the Twin Cities are the coldest major metro in the country, obviously there are other cities that also have cold winters. Still, it sometimes seems to me that Mpls "owns" the cold weather title in that it's one of the first things people mention when i say i'm from the Twin Cities. This identity has been reinforced through Prairie Home Companion (stoic people from the cold) and The movie Fargo. I just saw an article on best cities for running, which included Mpls as being one of 10 best in the country. What photo accompanied the section on Mpls? It was a winter shot along Lake Harriet. Every other city's picture was a non-winter image.

[Grizzly Addams]

Originally Posted by Oberon476

That's only because most of the voters were from St.Paul.

Well of course. MPLS stands no chance when compared to StP.

[Radical_Car]

So like the list that mentions Minnesota as the 2nd best state is legitmiate, but whenever a list doesn't put us at or near the top it must be bogus

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

So like the list that mentions Minnesota as the 2nd best state is legitmiate, but whenever a list doesn't put us at or near the top it must be bogus

well duh-uhhhhh...that's the way it is with any place in the world or if you have a particular agenda

[atler8]

Forbes constantly has lists for this and that & I usually find them to not be worth much, other than being attention-grabbers. So, I personally don't put much stock in this survey as we all know that the Twin Cities area is very liveable overall, as is much of the upper Midwest.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

So like the list that mentions Minnesota as the 2nd best state is legitmiate, but whenever a list doesn't put us at or near the top it must be bogus

Some polls are just more legit than others. A poll that asks which city you would move to of 2000 people really is not a good "sampling" nor is it based on anything other than perception. The other poll had some data to back up the rankings and compared the cities based on that data.

I'm ok with people not thinking it's great here. Keeps the growth at a slow, steady pace and the quality of life high.