Does Minneapolis have what it takes to be a global city? (St. Paul: construction, maintenance)

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by mrconfusion87

Just curious what you think on this issue...

Here's a list of characteristics as defined by the Wikipedia article on Global City (Global city - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)


The characteristics sometimes chosen include

• International, first-name familiarity; whereby a city is recognized without the need for a political subdivision. For example, although there are numerous cities and other political entities with the name Paris or variations on it, one would say "Paris", not "Paris, France".
• Active influence on and participation in international events and world affairs; for example, Washington, Berlin, Brussels are major capitals of influential nations or unions.
• A fairly large population (the centre of a metropolitan area with a population of at least one million, typically several million).
• A major international airport that serves as an established hub for several international airlines.
• An advanced transportation system that includes several highways and/or a large mass transit network offering multiple modes of transportation (rapid transit, light rail, regional rail, ferry, or bus).
• In the West, several international cultures and communities (such as a Chinatown, a Little Italy, a Tehrangeles or other immigrant communities); for example, New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, São Paulo and Vancouver. In other parts of the world, cities which attract large foreign businesses and related expatriate communities; for example, Hong Kong, Moscow, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
• International financial institutions, law firms, corporate headquarters, international conglomerates, and stock exchanges (for example the World Bank, or the New York Stock Exchange) that have influence over the world economy.
• An advanced communications infrastructure on which modern trans-national corporations rely, such as fiberoptics, Wi-Fi networks, cellular phone services, and other high-speed lines of communications.
• World-renowned cultural institutions, such as museums and universities.
• A lively cultural scene, including film festivals (such as the Berlinale or the Toronto International Film Festival), premieres, a thriving music or theatre scene (for example, West End theatre and Broadway); an orchestra, an opera company, art galleries, and street performers.
• Several powerful and influential media outlets with an international reach, such as the BBC, Reuters, The New York Times, or Agence France-Presse.
• A strong sporting community, including major sports facilities, home teams in major league sports, and the ability and historical experience to host international sporting events such as the Olympic Games, Football World Cup, or Grand Slam tennis events.

Debate away!

Most of the critiria are met, but not in domminant ways. For example we are getting golf major this year, but it does not happen every year. We have the gutherie, but MIA is not exactly the louve. We are a leader of US public radio, but not international. We have direct flights to a number of international locations, but this is more likely to shrink than grow. We have some world headquaters for large firms, but not in huge numbers. Name recognition is pretty good, but still a fair number of people that would not know it in other countries.

I would say transportation system is pretty average. More or less falls in line with many of the other categories. We meet criteria in some introductory fashion with a lot of gaps to the next level.

The interesting thing about the list of requirements is that we seem to fall into bottom tier on most or all of them. That is not a negative, it just means we are not a major international metro. I would say it is pretty good that we are able to meet most of the requirements in some way considering we are very isolated and much smaller than the the major players.

[cdubs3201]

Originally Posted by Slig

If Chicago didn't exist Minneapolis/St. Paul might've had a chance a better chance.

Well if Chicago didn't exist, there's a good chance Milwaukee would be a lot bigger as well, as it's only a 45 minute drive/1 hour train ride from downtown Chicago.

[cdubs3201]

The problem with Mpls/St. Paul being a global city I think is mainly it's size, it just doesn't have the population.

An example is Chicago. Even though Chicago is the largest in the midwest by far, and the 3rd biggest in the U.S., it is only the 25th largest in the world. Minneapolis comes in about 122nd. Being from the Twin Cities I always believed Minneapolis to be a "big city". But after living in Chicago for 3 years and realizing the huge difference in lifestyle of living in Chicago and living in Minneapolis, and THEN realizing there are much bigger cities in the world, I would now consider Minneapolis to be a "small city".

There are big city type characteristics like a downtown, city buses, shopping, nightlife, sports teams, condensed neighborhoods, etc. But the size of the area and the population just don't scale to be very largeon a WORLD level comparison to even consider it a "global city" and warrant global recognition.

[waltlantz]

A city need not be HUGE to gain recongition, look at Dublin, Zurich, Geneva or Copenhagen. All are well known for either industry or culture.

Also don't put too much stock into the public trans deal, we Yanks DO need more of it, but the country evolved differently than the rest of the world.

ALSO another thing is that, America's cities outside of NYC, LA, and Miami are much more orientated towards America itself as opposed to many other global cities.

[waltlantz]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

Not sure I agree with that summation- in previous decades, Detroit industry and culture (autos and music) had a huge impact on a national/ international scale, but that hasn't been seen for quite some time now. Having spent just a little time there, I would say that Detroit's world importance now lies in its post-apocalyptic feel of being trapped in what's left of a previous era that no longer matters to the world...perhaps due to its (and/or the auto industry's) failure to 'globalize'.

With that said- Minneapolis/ St. Paul is fairly insular/ inward-looking, which I think most residents are perfectly happy with...I doubt many people here really care about MSP's ranking on the world stage, and wouldn't be caught dead being brazen enough to think that something like that really mattered. However, I think MSP's geogrpahic location more than anything (smack in the northern-middle section of the country and not next to any major bodies of water) will prevent it from ever becoming a major 'global city'.

That's a bit of a white wash confabulated with the auto industry news and Motown's bad rep. FOr all it;s bad health, with it's holding of the Big 3 alone, it is an important city (better yet AREA) globally, because the big 3 have footprints and firms all across the globe.

[uptown_urbanist]

I wouldn't call Minneapolis a "small" city (although also don't consider it a big city, at least not in the same league as Chicago), because that doesn't leave much room for acknowledge all those other smaller cities that are not in the same league as Minneapolis. I'm thinking places like Hartford, CT and Wilmington, DE - both major HQ for various industries and significant beyond their population, but yet definitely much smaller (in perception and in reality) than the Twin Cities.

I'd put Minneapolis as a medium-sized American city with a fair amount of national significance (in some areas), but not much at a global level.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by waltlantz

That's a bit of a white wash confabulated with the auto industry news and Motown's bad rep. FOr all it;s bad health, with it's holding of the Big 3 alone, it is an important city (better yet AREA) globally, because the big 3 have footprints and firms all across the globe.

I agree and point taken (and I actually pretty much agreed with your original post that I was responding to)- however, I would disagree that my statements were so much based on "the [assumedly recent] auto industry news"- for a while now the big 3 has been regularly outsourcing positions to Mexico and Canada (closing plants all over Michigan/beyond), losing ground in their sales, and, despite somewhat impressive sales figures nonetheless- they've arguably been surpassed by many of their competitors in design/ innovation in recent years. It shouldn't be hard for them to do well...perhaps somewhat ironically considering their outsourcing habits, it is a tradition if not religion in many areas of the US to buy "American-made" vehicles which is why I think they've been able to continue to hold onto significant sales figures (of course the huge rebate packages have had a big impact as well, albeit a negative impact on financial stability).

Also- I didn't know Motown even had a rep anymore, and there doesn't seem to be too many big-name artists listed on their website... unless you're in their 'classic motown' section.

[waltlantz]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

Also- I didn't know Motown even had a rep anymore, and there doesn't seem to be too many big-name artists listed on their website... unless you're in their 'classic motown' section.

I used Motown there as a reference to the city, admittedly not one you hear too much these days, i just thought calling it the Motor City again would be kinda cliche.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I wouldn't call Minneapolis a "small" city (although also don't consider it a big city, at least not in the same league as Chicago), because that doesn't leave much room for acknowledge all those other smaller cities that are not in the same league as Minneapolis. I'm thinking places like Hartford, CT and Wilmington, DE - both major HQ for various industries and significant beyond their population, but yet definitely much smaller (in perception and in reality) than the Twin Cities.

I'd put Minneapolis as a medium-sized American city with a fair amount of national significance (in some areas), but not much at a global level.

I disagree. Many, (like I have noted over 100 times in this forum) failed to realize that Minneapolis is a city with 380,000 people in over 55 sq miles. Now, many "cities" that are considered "global" have nearly double the population, and up to 5x the amount of land, thus having higher populations. Minneapolis does border St. Paul however, a city with nearly 300,000 people with the same land. I hate to 'merge' the two cities, but they are in fact together similar in land area and population to cities that often get much more respect.

Also, proximity is a huge factor. What is around Minneapolis metro area? Chicago is 6 hours away, and the next comparable city to its size is Milwaukee (6 hours) Denver (?) St. Louis (?) Detroit? Minneapolis is the biggest city from Chicago to Seattle and holds an anchor between Dallas and TC. It's also a great reason why some of the largest corps are here.

3M, Best Buy, Cargill, Target, etc, etc... we have all seen the list...

Don't forget about spillovers and metroplexes. The area in NE USA is a giant metro area if you will from Providence, RI, Boston, MA, Connecticut, NYC, NJ, Philadelphia, Delaware, DC, etc. It isnt too weird to have large populations, and I would say that QUALITY> QUANTITY... A large population doesnt mean much, it matters how intellectual, hardworking, intelligent, active, attractive, healthy, educated and employed those people actually are.. Also, MSP is the 15th largest Metro in the USA too.

[Haver]

I sometimes spend time in Second Life and because of that I often find myself talking to people from Europe, Japan, Australia, etc ... at least half that time when I say I am from Minneapolis, they have trouble placing it and know nothing about it (I end up having to describe it as a smaller English-speaking Frankfurt which is, well, sorta close in a way). Taking anecdotal evidence for what it is, and that there are probably at least a score of cities larger than us in China we've never heard of, I'd have to say "No".

What we are is a city of some distinction nationally, a place a lot of people come to mid-career to raise their families, and that people don't have to leave in order to build their lives. Isn't that good enough? World cities tend to be expensive and you either have to live in a shoebox or live 40 miles out of town...