How different are the Twin Cities vs. Montreal? (Minneapolis: home, high school)

[gearedtowardssalad]

echoing the previous comments about mtl being much more cosmopolitan.

[Yvanung]

If my understanding is correct, Minneapolis residents are more politically reserved than in Montreal...

Originally Posted by ellysbelly

A lot of the housing stock here is markedly similar to Montreal-- there's times that I would swear I'm in NDG or on the West Island. The suburbs here are much more sprawling and activities less city-centric than you'd find in Montreal (I would venture to guess that this is due to the much larger size of the Cities and the surrounding 'burbs AND because of the lack of decent public transportation). While Minneapolis does have the Skyway system, it pales in comparison to the Underground-- and the nightlife here doesn't seem to be even close to what Montreal has going on (again, I'm 41, so take that with a HUGE grain of salt-- I'm much more likely to be at one of my kids' sporting events on a Friday night than in a club-- in fact, I haven't been to a club in a looooong time). Restaurants and theater are excellent in both places-- and while you can't get smoked meat here (sob!)-- you CAN get poutine! But, seriously, the restaurants here are fantastic-- almost on par with Montreal, maybe totally on par, in fact.

Whittier, Marcy-Holmes would definitely feel like NDG, Lake Calhoun more like West Island.

But Parc-Extension, Villeray and La Petite-Patrie all feel different.

True, I understand that the Old Montreal has no equivalent in Minneapolis either.

[MinnesotaDrake]

Montreal has great European character, unreal nightlife, architecture and fantastic woman...

Minneapolis has none of these traits...just being honest!

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by nanabush

I can see that, but I lived in Chicagoland which is more like 400 miles of suburbs. Aside from Bloomington, I don't find the suburbs here very 'suburb-y'. To me, many Twin Cities burbs seem more like living out in the woods at the lake.



Crime, no. Potholes... yes. Minneapolis is much nicer than Winnipeg but the urban architecture, residential neighborhoods and climate are very similar.

but i guess to re-iterate on your first question: I don't think Minneapolis and Montreal are similar... at all.

While I understand that Winnipeg does not enjoy a good crime reputation among Canadian cities, you would be hard pressed to find any major Canadian city with more crime than any major American city. That includes Minneapolis.

I don't have the stats in front of me, but on my last look, violent crime and property crime rates (including homicide and forcible rape) are all higher in MPLS than in Winnipeg.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by MinnesotaDrake

Montreal has great European character, unreal nightlife, architecture and fantastic woman...

Minneapolis has none of these traits...just being honest!

One can make an argument on the architecture, however. Minneapolis has an incredible reputation for its architecture.

Women is totally subjective. Heck of a lot better here than in Pittsburgh....

European character and nightlife? No, we're not in Montreal's league there. European character we won't ever have, as we are a decidedly "new-world," American city. Montreal was a colony.

Nightlife? We are not in Montreal's league, but my guess is that we are slowly catching up. It does not help that bar close is 2 AM here...

[Yvanung]

Originally Posted by MinnesotaDrake

Montreal has great European character, unreal nightlife, architecture and fantastic woman...

Minneapolis has none of these traits...just being honest!

That's not the first time I heard that one. The primary question that is begged is: in what ways are Montreal women so different from everywhere else in North America?

Originally Posted by srsmn

One can make an argument on the architecture, however. Minneapolis has an incredible reputation for its architecture.

Women is totally subjective. Heck of a lot better here than in Pittsburgh....

I never got to see that much about the women in any US city I went to.

I went to Pittsburgh in mid-March due to Carnegie Mellon offering admits, as well as select waitlistees, for their physics PhD program (got rejected off the waitlist at CMU though), a school-sponsored visit.

As for Minneapolis, I came one week after that CMU open house, and it turned out that I was the only Canadian admit that came to Minnesota's physics PhD open house. There could have been other Canadian applicants, or admits even, but there definitely won't be another Canadian matriculant for the physics PhD at Minnesota this year.

European character and nightlife? No, we're not in Montreal's league there. European character we won't ever have, as we are a decidedly "new-world," American city. Montreal was a colony.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Conquest War (or, as taught in the US, French and Indian War) would do well to go to Pointe-à-Callière and, of course, Plains of Abraham in Quebec City.

Nightlife? We are not in Montreal's league, but my guess is that we are slowly catching up. It does not help that bar close is 2 AM here...

Montreal bars close at 3 AM; how much of a difference do moving up bar closing times one hour make?

[MinnesotaDrake]

yes woman are subjective, but in my experience the woman of Montreal (been there 5 times) look better, display friendlier attitudes, and are much more worldly. It helps that many of them have attended world class universities (McGill and Concordia) as well.

As far as nightlife, I can't even believe this is being compared. In Minneapolis, it's hard to find even a great DJ, let alone a great dance floor. Montreal boasts St. Laurent/Crescent and the old city which have many unbelievable nightlife establishments and festivals. Montreal Terrasses are celebrated like no other and offer great views of the city and the river. I've never seen Minneapolis mentioned as one of the best nightlife destinations in North America like Montreal either. I've always been surprised at how many people love country here and Toby Keith's can't even stay in business.

[ellysbelly]

Montreal women, are by and large, much more fashion conscious and fashion forward than (at least what I've observed) in Minneapolis. It's much more cosmopolitan, in my estimation, than any US city, other than (maybe) New York. Whereas my friends here and I tend to default to something akin to upscale workout wear in the summers-- I would never deign to go out in Montreal in the same, unless, of course, I was on my way to actually work out (I would say the same when I lived in NYC, I rarely dressed down-- it's just not as accepted-- then again, I lived in Manhattan in my 20s and now I'm a suburban hockey mom, so take that observation with a grain of salt)

As far as worldly and educated-- I might tend to disagree; it depends on which circles you run in. My friends here in MN have traveled more extensively AND tend to have better/more degrees and even more high powered jobs than those I know in Montreal. Montreal tends to be insular (even more so if you're a Francophone, as unless you're able to be educated in English, your options outside the confines of Quebec are highly limited, if not non-existent)-- but even of my Anglophone friends, virtually all of them stayed in Montreal for their education and most of them lived at home while attending university and continued to live at home until they got married or turned 30 or so (and this was NOT due to financial concerns, it was just cultural)-- a very, VERY different experience for most of my US friends, when virtually everyone I know went away to school and lived on their own from then on.

I would agree, as I said earlier, that the nightlife in Montreal is amazing.. but I think that the restaurant culture here in Minneapolis is excellent and though I could once party with the best of them, restaurants tend to supersede clubs as a choice destination, for most people, all too quickly-- so if your definition of nightlife means clubbing, then MN is sure to disappoint.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by Yvanung

Montreal bars close at 3 AM; how much of a difference do moving up bar closing times one hour make?

It's seven extra hours of craziness a week

In all seriousness, though, that's not the only thing (by far) that separates nightlife in Minneapolis from Montreal. But, I do think Minneapolis gets an unjustifiably bad rap for its nightlife.....the Warehouse District in Minneapolis is supposedly one of the busiest nightlife districts in the United States, and bar culture is pervasive throughout the city. I think we actually punch well above our weight for nightlife. Again, not Montreal, but not Winnipeg, either...

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by MinnesotaDrake

As far as nightlife, I can't even believe this is being compared. In Minneapolis, it's hard to find even a great DJ, let alone a great dance floor. Montreal boasts St. Laurent/Crescent and the old city which have many unbelievable nightlife establishments and festivals. Montreal Terrasses are celebrated like no other and offer great views of the city and the river. I've never seen Minneapolis mentioned as one of the best nightlife destinations in North America like Montreal either. I've always been surprised at how many people love country here and Toby Keith's can't even stay in business.

Again, we are decidedly not in Montreal's league on nightlife, but you aren't looking very hard if you can't find a great DJ or dance floor in Minneapolis.

And you say Toby Keith's closed like it's a bad thing????

I'm not going to get into the argument about women. It's totally subjective. There are articulate, worldly, and fashion-conscious women in literally every major city. Women in Minneapolis tend to be less fashion conscious, I guess....that is totally cultural. It is a laid-back, low-stress, outdoorsy town, so high fashion doesn't play as well here. Again, worldly and articulate.....change up your crowd if the women you meet aren't worldly and articulate in Minneapolis, is my advice...