minneapolis population (St. Paul, Edina, Brooklyn Center: upper-class, neighborhoods, taxes)

[michael31681]

i was reading about how cities annex some of there suburbs to increase in size. minneapolis is barely in the top fifty in terms of most populated cities in the usa. minneapolis covers only 55 square miles with in the city limits. how can we compete. i was looking at chicago and that city covers over 200 square miles in the city limits. omaha nebraska has more people then minneapolis. will minneapolis ever do this to increase in population? im from minneapolis and im proud of its sucess but i would like to see it hang with the big time cities.

[Lillietta]

Why would you want that? The foundation of its attraction and delight of Minneapolis is its current size.

[El Rhino]

It pretty much already does. I think most people look at metro area populations when they think of a "big city", which the Minneapolis/St. Paul is somewhere in the top 20 (I believe) with several million. I don't think anyone would associate Omaha with being a bigger city than Minneapolis.

[Steve_W]

Originally Posted by michael31681

i was reading about how cities annex some of there suburbs to increase in size. minneapolis is barely in the top fifty in terms of most populated cities in the usa. minneapolis covers only 55 square miles with in the city limits. how can we compete. i was looking at chicago and that city covers over 200 square miles in the city limits. omaha nebraska has more people then minneapolis. will minneapolis ever do this to increase in population? im from minneapolis and im proud of its sucess but i would like to see it hang with the big time cities.

Yes, it does hang with other big cities. Also, from what I know Minneapolis hasn't had most of the troubles Detroit and St. Louis has had pertaining to their annexation policies.

Now, St. Paul is getting the shaft here! 287K Vs. 382K of Minneapolis and St. Paul has almost no identity outside the state.

I would be happy with Minneapolis.

[pepe1]

I always do get a kick out of the fact that Omaha, Nebraska is larger than Minneapolis. Minneapolis is not likely to begin annexing any of its suburbs. Some states (Nebraska being one) have very lax annexation laws allowing larger cities (like Omaha) to annex smaller communities. Minnesota does not have these same lax annexation laws.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Minneapolis is land-locked. It can't forcibly annex, and I don't think Edina is going to submit anytime soon. The city will (and is) growing within its current limits. The Metropolitan Council estimates that it is currently over 400,000 and will reach 430,000 by 2030. While Minneapolis may be attractive for its current size regionally; on a city level it leaves alot to be desired. The ideal urban core has much more density than Minneapolis currently does. It works well now; but it would work best with more people within The City. More support of retail, more transit use, et cetera.
Omaha has annexed land that is undeveloped. While its raw population is larger, everybody will see that for what it is. If Mpls. did the same its population would top 1 million. Kansas City is even worse.
Chicago is physically larger because its historical population is larger. It is bound by the same annexation issues as Minneapolis. Like Minneapolis; Chicago's core is growing and making it a more desireable place to live. The same cannot be said for the growth on either of these cities' periphery.
Saint Paul does get the shaft. The problem lies in downtown and the industrial areas and freeways surrounding it. In Minneapolis; the CBD is surrounded by the city's most dense neighborhoods. You have a strong downtown and people who live in walking distance to it. Saint Paul has a depressed downtown (hardly a new phenomenon in the city, it has been for 70 years). That is only compounded by the fact that it is basically an island. 35E cutoff Summit Avenue. The east side is industrial, I can't even remember what is north. For a large city, Saint Paul is alot more suburban. It is the same geographic size. Give it time. Once Minneapolis fills up, people will spill into Saint Paul. Think San Francisco-Oakland (if Oakland was safe).

[mnduck]

Metro population is really what matters most when considering the relative national reputation of cities, size-wise. For example, would anyone really say Jacksonville (the largest city in FL, by the way) is the most important city in Florida?

Annexation hasn't really been a big deal since the late 19th century, though some cities (such as Jacksonville) have pursued annexation policies over the last century. At this point I don't know if it would be politically feasible. While I could certainly see it benefiting declining inner suburbs (i.e. Brooklyn Center), and possibly the central cities, middle to upper-class suburbs would have little to gain, as they already enjoy many of the city's benefits without some of its perceived disadvantages (i.e. higher taxes, etc.). So you'd definitely get some resistance there.

While I do think that annexation would bring some positives by eliminating some metropolitan political fragmentation (such as suburbs thinking of themselves as self-contained and thus not implicated in the problems of the central city), I don't see it happening- do you think Edina would want to become southwest Minneapolis?

[sugarbeet]

I agree with mnduck. Physical size has nothing to do with influence. Manhattan is less than 23 square miles and is by many measures one of the most powerful place on earth. Jacksonville is actually the largest city in size in the US and far from influential.

Interesting question from the OP, but not sure why anyone would want Mpls to be larger.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

Omaha has annexed land that is undeveloped. While its raw population is larger, everybody will see that for what it is. If Mpls. did the same its population would top 1 million. Kansas City is even worse.

Kansas City, MO sprawls to cover over 300 square miles. The city limits also cover three counties Those counties are Jackson, Clay, and Platte.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Steve_W

Yes, it does hang with other big cities. Also, from what I know Minneapolis hasn't had most of the troubles Detroit and St. Louis has had pertaining to their annexation policies.

Now, St. Paul is getting the shaft here! 287K Vs. 382K of Minneapolis and St. Paul has almost no identity outside the state.

I would be happy with Minneapolis.

Heck, MINNESOTA has no identity outside of the state. There are a lot of posts that show up here asking about moving to MINNEAPOLIS and when we ask where their job is they say "some place called Bemidji".