Impressions of Minneapolis after 2 months

[Haver]

I'm seeing a lot of hostility here when all fashionguy did was say we're not a world class city, which of course we're not. Look at a population map and you'll see we're at the furthest western fringe, until it picks up again along the pacific coast so of course we're not going to be at the leading edge of fashion or commerce. Some people collect fashion while others collect model trains or guns. Are you going to shout at a model train collector because he's wasting money on a silly hobby?

Fashion guy: you've just encountered the legendary German/Scandinavian stubborness, my apologies. I still don't understand an obsession with $300 sweaters but hey, its your money. You have to understand our grandparents walked away from fashion-obsessed oppressive nobility in central europe so there's still a very strong levelling impulse around here (which ... DOES help if you're in reduced circumstances - people have a very strong urge to pull you up as well).

(Quick note on Holy Land: wasn't there some controversy about some remarks the owner of the place said?)

[Minnehahapolitan]

Originally Posted by Haver

I'm seeing a lot of hostility here when all fashionguy did was say we're not a world class city, which of course we're not. Look at a population map and you'll see we're at the furthest western fringe, until it picks up again along the pacific coast so of course we're not going to be at the leading edge of fashion or commerce. Some people collect fashion while others collect model trains or guns. Are you going to shout at a model train collector because he's wasting money on a silly hobby?

Fashion guy: you've just encountered the legendary German/Scandinavian stubborness, my apologies. I still don't understand an obsession with $300 sweaters but hey, its your money. You have to understand our grandparents walked away from fashion-obsessed oppressive nobility in central europe so there's still a very strong levelling impulse around here (which ... DOES help if you're in reduced circumstances - people have a very strong urge to pull you up as well).

(Quick note on Holy Land: wasn't there some controversy about some remarks the owner of the place said?)

Actually it is only technically his money. Everything works in inter-related chains, and economics is no different. The $300 sweater is not particularly different from the ARM loan or the thousand dollar model train set. If you have $300 for an article of clothing, you also must have that amount to donate to a school, a charity, the government or your neighbor. It goes to the old Indian idea of taking only what you need, and using everything you take. Nearly every decision you make has some sort of impact on me, whether you live in Mpls., Scottsdale or Beijing. This is the sort of hyper-consumerism that causes social and economic havoc. People have to begin to understand that every decision they make ultimately have ramifications beyond their immediate selves. The "leveling impulse" is the reason why Minnesota is such a stable place economically and socially. Most foreclosures here are from people not having money, which is petty compared to places like San Diego, Las Vegas and Miami where millionaires get foreclosed because they wanted multi-million dollar homes.

[knke0402]

Originally Posted by Haver

I'm seeing a lot of hostility here when all fashionguy did was say we're not a world class city, which of course we're not. Look at a population map and you'll see we're at the furthest western fringe, until it picks up again along the pacific coast so of course we're not going to be at the leading edge of fashion or commerce. Some people collect fashion while others collect model trains or guns. Are you going to shout at a model train collector because he's wasting money on a silly hobby?

Fashion guy: you've just encountered the legendary German/Scandinavian stubborness, my apologies. I still don't understand an obsession with $300 sweaters but hey, its your money. You have to understand our grandparents walked away from fashion-obsessed oppressive nobility in central europe so there's still a very strong levelling impulse around here (which ... DOES help if you're in reduced circumstances - people have a very strong urge to pull you up as well).

(Quick note on Holy Land: wasn't there some controversy about some remarks the owner of the place said?)

right. That's what I said. I said it was irrelevant. Its like saying the "grass is green" or "the sky is blue" or "its wet when it rains"...Creative comments, but don't mean anything special. It is pretty lame to judge a community, city, region, metropolous...etc, based on superficial concepts such as shopping, banking, style, nightlife, and niche entertainment.

I would rather base my judgement of a place such as the Twin Cities on things that really do matter in your life. Environment-Health of living. Is the environment stress free? Is it healthy? - in terms of health care, medical facilities, availablity of doctors, parks, gyms per capita, Co2 admissions, water treatment?...
Or how about taxes and public serivce provision? Is the tax dollars allocated for public services worth the same as the public services that are beneficial to you? Such as, if you pay a crap load of taxes, but live in an area where the roads are bad and there is crime, than thats an inefficiency in public service provision. waste of your money.
what about places to raise a family?

[SassyBelle]

Good luck on the job hunt! I hope you find a great job very soon. I have lived in the Twin Cities for the last twenty years and still love it.

[Aylalou]

I didn't read through all the posts, but the Twin Cities are great for families but may leave something lacking for singles who want a lively, long nightlife and more action. For families, it is perfect.

[Aylalou]

Originally Posted by northbound74

I don't live there, but I did recently visit the area for the first time.
Overall, I really liked it for a big city.
Traffic wasn't horrible, but there was some gridlock due to things like road construction, and the lack of left turn lanes in the older parts of town. Courteous drivers seemed to be the norm, not the exception. There are also more people that actually go the speed limit than I'm used to seeing. A lot of cities are the opposite. Where I live now is about 50/50 in that category, so it was actually quite pleasant driving through the TC's. Maybe there's more law enforcement, maybe it's the culture. Whatever it was, it was nice to see.

Virtually all of the people we encountered were pleasant and helpful. We didn't spend a lot of time there, I realize, but from my experience in other places, people aren't like that very often. Whether or not it's fake, I don't care. It was just refreshing to see. Even some places in the south, with there is supposed to be "hospitality", are absolutely rude and jaded by comparison.

The cities are clean. Someone mentioned in an earlier thread that they're that way because nobody is downtown past a certain time. A lot of places have clean downtowns, ghost town or not. What impressed me about Minneapolis is that we drove around quite a bit, and didn't see the excessive slums that plague other midwestern towns. Not to say that there isn't any slums, but usually they aren't that hard to find. For example, take away the newer, more recently annexed (last 50 years) parts of Kansas City, and you have a town that would be 2/3 slums.
Most of what I've seen in Minnesota so far has been clean and well kept... except for the streets in Duluth. They were clean, I guess, but horribly maintained. There are a few places in the rural areas where a lot of things wind up in the front yard, but that's a universal problem, I think.

A lot of what I saw was hillier than I expected. That, combined with the beautiful fall trees, made for some really nice scenery. The riverfront is also very scenic. I wasn't expecting the bluffs to be so high. Beautiful town, gorgeous setting. I'm quite jealous.
It was nice to see so many people out walking and using the parks for exercise. Where I live now, there's only a couple of places in the city where people actually do that. There's a lot of nice parks here, but only a few get used extensively. The outdoorsy atmosphere was unexpected. As someone who'd rather go for a hike than go to a nightclub, I liked it.

As far as shopping goes, it seemed okay. My wife was able to find some things that are hard to come by in most places. She was happy about that.
As far as clothing goes, I could get my threads from a thrift store for all I care. I also don't care anything about fine dining. Hole-in-the-wall places usually have the best food, anyway.

I realize that the Twin Cities aren't perfect, no place is, but they make a good first impression. I can now see why they score so high when compared to other cities.

There have been times I have contemplated moving elsewhere. After visiting these other places, I realize I have fantasized about them when in reality, they are at most, equal to but probably less than our Twin cities with our pristine parks and lakes; no urban sprawl - you can get to the country in 20 minutes - it's relatively safe - people are trusting, even if naive, and a general very comfortableness and little stress. Not much pretension here - just a lot of chilling out. So cozy to go to a restaurant or sports bar in winter and see people in their warm sweaters, having a beer and just happy with what they have and with what is.

The Twin Cities is charming because I feel it is NOT a world-class city. Few world-class cities are as beautiful and peaceful as the lifestyle here and who wants to spend time keeping up with the Joneses? We are too busy chilling, visiting, laughing, and playing - just having a good time with the simple things that truly make people happy.

[Jeanie Hoholik]

I'm from SE Michigan, too. That is...Detroit. I've lived all over the midwest and it doesn't matter where you're from. The bottom line is that people generally are the same all over. Really. It's all good. You have to really meet a ton of people and keep stats on them to say whether or not they're this or that. The reason you haven't found anything different is because it isn't. Not particularly profound, but it's just the facts. Sorry! Minneapolis is just like everywhere else. Minnesota Nice...whatever. I used to live in Rochester, NY and they deemed it as the nicest (friendliest) place to live. I got a kick out of that. I saw no evidence. Like I said, it's all good!

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by kattpar

I slid off of the freeway twice (luckily not into anything or anyone), slipped and fell on the ice hitting my head on a concrete driveway (stitches) ... I still find that I am extremely nervous driving in the snow and ice

I'm living now in the Bible belt and it is an extremely difficult transition. I have an interview in MN this week. Wish me luck!!!

This happened to me once in a snowy situation in the Midwest. I drove up to a T-intersection, fairly slowly, but applied the brakes, and kept on going past the stripes. I didn't hit anything but it emphatically told me that a cold climate is not for me. Yes, driving in snow or ice in a regular passenger car that's not chained up is pretty unnerving. It's not for me.

About the Bible Belt, depending on where you are, it's not all bad. I lived in Atlanta, coming from the West, and liked it a LOT. I would feel more at home in the Southeast than in the Midwest, where I also lived for 3 years. If I left the West, it would be for the Southeast, from VA down to FL, skipping over SC because there are no large metro areas.

Well, I'm glad you like it, but when I see the weather forecasts, I think....BRRRR....

[laosixonetwo]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

You keep trying to find competition.
If you see The Dutchess, does it matter if you see it a week later? What a snobbish thing to say. Most cities only have one or two Landmark theaters, we have three. Both the Heights and the Parkway show movies that are out of the main stream. Block E has surprising variety for a megatheater.
I don't think you have a clue how utilitarian the people are here. Nobody gives a damn if they can buy Burberry or Armani here, we can buy nice clothes from a department store or such. We didn't trick you into thinking that those options existed here.
A bank is a bank. Our stores don't accept Yen or Euros either. When you move, transfer the account. When you visit, pay the ATM fee for a week.
You seriously buy groceries at a Seven-11? Minneapolis has farmers' markets, Co-op groceries, discount grocers, Trader Joe's, Kowalski's, Lund's and Byerly's. I'm pretty sure you can feed yourself quite well here.
Downtown is not dead, it is divided by use. You won't see people on Nicollet after hours or to see a show. You won't see shoppers on Hennepin.
Asking roads to be smooth here is like asking San Diego to stop burning down.
If you insist on knowing part of the reason why Mpls. is so special you should know that it is one of the wealthiest areas in the country and still doesn't feel compelled to be ostentatious. We don't need a Diesel store to show how well dressed we are, or an IMAX to show how cultured we are. You knew all of this before you decided to come here, so there was obviously something here that appealed to you that was more important than your the problems that you pettily complain about.

Well said. I've seen many of your responses on these forums and I have to also add to all the "haters" out there, if you don't like Mpls so much, why come and breath all of my fresh air?

One more thing, I was driving down Portland going home and had a hankering for a kung-fu lesson at an athentic Shaolin temple but we didn't have one here in the good 'ole Mpls... man this city sucks...

[Midwesterns45]

the activities, people, reacrational areas, coffee shops in the Linden Hill Minneapolis neighborhood takes over the disatisfy of the traffic, cold weather etc. I LOVE MINNEAPOLIS SO MUCH AND I CALL IT MY HOME!