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08-18-2008, 10:29 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Duluth, Minnesota area, USA
941 posts, read 692,534 times
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Best downtowns in Minnesota
What do you think are Minnesota's best downtown districts, for cities of all sizes, in terms of vibrancy, architecture, and utility (usefulness)?
I haven't been to THAT many Minnesota cities (and especially not downtowns), but I would say that Minneapolis has an active downtown area, Duluth's has great architecture, and Grand Marais, Virginia, and Moose Lake have nice small-town downtowns.
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08-19-2008, 01:03 AM
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The City of Lakes
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Join Date: Feb 2007
2,499 posts, read 2,199,204 times
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Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Duluth, Winona, Saint Cloud and Excelsior are some of my favorites.
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08-19-2008, 05:31 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Jun 2006
4,724 posts, read 4,808,121 times
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Stillwater is probably one of the busiest downtowns relative to size. Hastings has a lovely downtown area too, as does Northfield. They are more touristy downtowns though.
Most of the towns in western/southern MN have active/useful downtown areas--Willmar, Marshall, Redwood Falls, Gaylord, and many other towns around there.
New Ulm and St. Peter are other towns I can think of off hand as well.
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08-19-2008, 07:03 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2008
102 posts, read 68,436 times
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Red Wing has a lot of historic value and nice shops and cafes. I grew up there so pm me if you had and specific questions on where to go.
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08-19-2008, 09:16 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Minneapolis (Powderhorn)
2,582 posts, read 1,911,965 times
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What about downtown Anoka? Seriously though, Minneapolis and St. Paul are the only downtowns worth noting.
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08-19-2008, 09:31 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Duluth
509 posts, read 559,285 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slig
What about downtown Anoka? Seriously though, Minneapolis and St. Paul are the only downtowns worth noting.
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Why do you say that? High-rise buildings and pure size are the only things that count towards a nice downtown. There are plenty of downtowns with a lot of character throughout Minnesota. |
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08-19-2008, 10:23 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Minneapolis (Powderhorn)
2,582 posts, read 1,911,965 times
Reputation: 455
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aluminumpork
Why do you say that? High-rise buildings and pure size are the only things that count towards a nice downtown. There are plenty of downtowns with a lot of character throughout Minnesota.
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That's your opinion. I haven't been impressed with the downtown of any small towns in Minnesota. The ones that could meet the said criteria are in towns that are dying off and slowly losing businesses and amenities due to the dwindling and aging populations. I can't say much about a downtown being vibrant and having interesting architecture when your choices for eating are Dairy Queen, McDonalds and Dennys and the 3 bars in town are struggling to maintain "dive" status. |
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08-19-2008, 11:16 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Jun 2006
4,724 posts, read 4,808,121 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slig
That's your opinion. I haven't been impressed with the downtown of any small towns in Minnesota. The ones that could meet the said criteria are in towns that are dying off and slowly losing businesses and amenities due to the dwindling and aging populations. I can't say much about a downtown being vibrant and having interesting architecture when your choices for eating are Dairy Queen, McDonalds and Dennys and the 3 bars in town are struggling to maintain "dive" status.
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Then you need to get out more because there are plenty of downtowns around the state that have much more to offer then a couple bars and a DQ. |
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08-19-2008, 11:16 AM
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Senior Member
Status:
"Need more snow"
(set 15 days ago)
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Minnesota
845 posts, read 899,586 times
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None. Nothing unique without being expensive.  |
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08-19-2008, 11:19 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Jun 2006
4,724 posts, read 4,808,121 times
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Henderson has a cute downtown area too. They have some fun shops there as well.
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