East Metro vs West Metro (Minneapolis, St. Paul: pros and cons, wealthy, suburbs)

[MN55]

Title says it all. Obviously I'm pretty biased towards the East as I've made clear in the past. I'll chime in more after others have. Anyways, what's your take on the pros and cons of the two?

[west336]

From the "West Side" technically. NEVER went East unless we were going to a museum or something in St. Paul, and drove through there on the way to Chicago often. I synonymize the West Side with wealth and education, even though I know that isn't true at all, just some stereotype I have in my mind. I also think of the East as less planned, disorganized, dirtier and visually less interesting. East is older and the West is more modern and progressive.

All of these are stereotypes I realized I developed over the course of my residency in the Twin Cities, and I realize that very few of them are true, even in a general sense. It just goes to show that perceptions can be drilled into your subconscious.....I found this very interesting!

[northstar22]

I'm just a lowly "transplant" from Michigan (hope to lose that title soon), so I don't know if I can chime in on this topic, but:

I really don't see that big of a difference between the East Metro and West Metro. Obviously, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are vastly different, but when it comes to the suburbs, they are basically similar/the same. The East has Woodbury, and the West has Eden Prairie. The West has Crystal and the East has Maplewood. The West has Dayton and the East has Lake Elmo. Economically, there are wealthy, middle class, and working class areas on both sides. St. Paul is known for its industry, but there are industrial areas in Minneapolis as well.

As to which side I prefer? Tough question. As for the Cities themselves, I prefer Minneapolis, but I also deeply appreciate St. Paul. My overall favorite town in the Metro is Stillwater (East Side), followed closely by Dayton and Excelsior (West Side). I guess if I had to pick one, I'd pick the East Side, if only for Stillwater and the hillier topography near the river.

[Radical_Car]

Im much more familiar with the west side, and I love St. Paul a lot, but I prefer Minneapolis. Both are much better then St. Cloud though.

[Kebinminn]

I haven't spent much time in the East Side. I prefer downtown SP over Mpls but I don't know the suburbs out there at all.

[west336]

^I don't know if I've ever heard someone say they preferred DT STP over DT MPLS.....may I ask why? I'm curious if there is something about STP that I am missing.

[eastside38]

The West Side's freeways/highways are way more confusing than the East Side's.

[Globe199]

Originally Posted by eastside38

The West Side's freeways/highways are way more confusing than the East Side's.

Is there some specific area that is confusing to you? In general I think the west side has more freeways and is easier to get around by freeway. There are three big north-south routes in the west metro, though they're always jammed at rush hour. The I-394 connection to I-94 is terrible. I commuted to the UMN east bank from Shorewood/Excelsior for a short time back in 1998/1999 and it was AWFUL.

In contrast, the east side has neutered freeways -- 280 was a "freeway" for a few years, but they reinstated the stoplight at Broadway. The fact that it terminates at I-94 is frustrating because there is no north-south freeway from there to the airport/MOA area. I-35E still has the nutty 45mph speed limit. (I think the feds should withhold all federal funding of this segment until it's upgraded to better standards.) Hwy 36 is OK until it turns into a controlled highway in Maplewood.

[northstar22]

394 traffic SUCKS! It is by far the worst freeway in the cities. 100 usually isn't very bad for traffic, at least not as bad as 494 or 169.

35E is ridiculous. Why in the world does it have a 45 speed limit (no one does 45 anyway)? It should be 60.

[uptown_urbanist]

I prefer Minneapolis, but also really like St. Paul. I like the inner ring west suburbs, generally, but strongly dislike many of the outer western suburbs. I don't know as much about the eastern suburbs; I agree that my vision is that the western ones are generally more upscale and expensive than those in the east, but obviously that's not an absolute (and also a stereotype, but I tend to think of those places as the McMansionlands, which is not a positive). Places like Eden Prairie and Lakeville are among my least favorite locations in the Twin Cities, but I know that the east side has some equivalents. I guess I don't have strong opinions either way, and think there are both places I like and don't like on both sides.