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Sounds like Wizard has it out for MSP for some reason, and this is leading to inaccurate statements.
I think they are basing their statements on the general Bay Area's stereotype of the Midwest rather than from any experience of spending significant time in Minneapolis. We have all of the same stuff Portland does. Minneapolis is also a very bohemian city. The difference is that MSP is a significantly larger city so it also has more other stuff as well. It is less of a hipster monoculture, and it's bohemia tends to be locally rooted rather than coming from bourgeois hipster transplants. Most of Minneapolis' transplants tend to be non-white and poor, looking to improve their lot in life. That may not mesh with the "Wizard's" notions of yuppie influx but the facts bear it out.
I think they are basing their statements on the general Bay Area's stereotype of the Midwest rather than from any experience of spending significant time in Minneapolis. We have all of the same stuff Portland does. Minneapolis is also a very bohemian city. The difference is that MSP is a significantly larger city so it also has more other stuff as well. It is less of a hipster monoculture, and it's bohemia tends to be locally rooted rather than coming from bourgeois hipster transplants. Most of Minneapolis' transplants tend to be non-white and poor, looking to improve their lot in life. That may not mesh with the "Wizard's" notions of yuppie influx but the facts bear it out.
LoL I would agree that culturally the cities are similar. But yea, Portland feels like a more trendy, hip, and artsy place. I am not saying that is necessarily better, just it is what it is.
I never said Minneapolis is growing because of Yuppies. Just that the city feels more yuppie than Portland.
Portland outside of it's more central core actually feels very blue collar-middle class for the most part. Probably more so than the Minneapolis metro even. A lot of people think the entire metro is Portlandia, but that is really only the core of the city. Though weed is of course legal in Oregon
Portland feels like a more trendy, hip, and artsy place. I am not saying that is necessarily better, just it is what it is.
Except that Minneapolis seemed to have more of those hip, trendy types and much more art than Portland when I was there. As far as creative class types go Minneapolis is one of the best cities for advertising/ marketing in the country having nearly as many shops as Chicago.
The difference is Portland branded itself as a destination for these types of people, while in Minneapolis this is only one part of a more diversified outlook.
If I had to shoehorn Minneapolis in the same way I'd say it's a place where people stay fit or are into physical fitness.
LoL I would agree that culturally the cities are similar. But yea, Portland feels like a more trendy, hip, and artsy place. I am not saying that is necessarily better, just it is what it is.
I never said Minneapolis is growing because of Yuppies. Just that the city feels more yuppie than Portland.
Portland outside of it's more central core actually feels very blue collar-middle class for the most part. Probably more so than the Minneapolis metro even. A lot of people think the entire metro is Portlandia, but that is really only the core of the city. Though weed is of course legal in Oregon
I am curious as to which neighborhoods in Portland you feel are still blue-collar middle class. I agree only a very few areas could maybe be considered as Portlandia types but I don't think there are any very blue-collar neighborhoods any longer either.
Nothing personal but Minneapolis-St. Paul is not exactly known as a beacon of diversity either. On a metro level it really is not any better than Portland, IMO.
Metropolitan Minneapolis - St. Paul no, but the central cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are much more diverse than Portland. Keep in mind that Minneapolis and St. Paul literally border one another and the two combined in terms of land area are smaller than Portland. However, the two combined have a larger population. An apples to apples comparison would be Minneapolis, St. Paul and five of their border or inner-ring suburbs; Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Roseville, Richfield, and North St. Paul compared to Portland. As of the 2014 Census estimates, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Roseville, Richfield, and North St. Paul, which have a land area of 132.25 sq miles had a population of 796,544 whereas Portland's (133 sq miles) was 619,445.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical
Nothing personal but Minneapolis feels a lot more corporate white collar, versus Portland which feels a lot more like a creative class type of town.
Keep thinking that homie. Yes, metropolitan Minneapolis is more corporate because it is, but AGAIN, what is bad with that? The Minneapolis area has a very diverse economy with several companies headquartered there whereas Portland, well, it's a joke. Minneapolis (and St. Paul) are full of creative types too - from the local arts scene, to its music scene, to its agencies, etc... Portland peeps are just more vocal about thinking they are the first to do this or that AND are the first to pat themselves on the back for common sense type sh*t. The place is nothing special - hate to break that to you.
Most of the people who say that Minneapolis has horrible, hot, humid summers are native Minnesotans who lack the perspective of having lived in places that are worse. Minneapolis has better summers than every other major city in the eastern half of the US besides Boston. When it is hot and humid in Minneapolis you can be sure that the same weather is about to roll through the rest of the Midwest too, and then the east coast, and will be worse in the south. Minneapolis actually gets a milder version of it because it is farther north.
I lived in Pittsburgh for three years, and I 100% disagree with this. Daily highs in the summer there were a hair hotter, but I never noticed the type of humidity in the city that you get in Minneapolis (the rest of Western PA is a bit different).
My first summer there, I got two mosquito bites the entire month of June. I went back to Minneapolis for 4th of July weekend and came back to Pittsburgh with over 20 new ones.
Plus there's the rain. It rains more in an average year in Pittsburgh, but it was usually these slow drizzles in the morning that would clear up by afternoon. The torrential, green sky, 50 mph wind, horizontal rain and hale storms didn't happen nearly as often there. I remember one, maybe two. We get at least three it seems every summer, like clockwork in Minneapolis.
People rave about the summers in Minneapolis like there's something exceptional about them. Weather wise, that's just not true. The only exceptional things about Minneapolis in the summer is the urban lakes, and the fact that since people are so stir crazy after six months of freezing their behinds off that the city absolutely teems with life in the summer...
Minneapolis by contrast has had a yuppie rep for quite some time. Not so much alternative artist types tho.
What on earth are you on about? Minneapolis was hipster and alternative long before Portland was. The "yuppification" in Minneapolis is a fairly recent phenomenon...
That's nice and all, except that Minneapolis has the largest creative/arts economy of any American city outside of New York.
Uh no, that would be LA. The fact that you claim this pretty much speaks at lengths to the delusion of Minneapolis Boosters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by YIMBY
Portland peeps are just more vocal about thinking they are the first to do this or that AND are the first to pat themselves on the back for common sense type sh*t. The place is nothing special - hate to break that to you.
LOL no. Portland is insular and it is usually outsiders who are more vocal about it. Most Portland natives are low key and prefer that you not go to their city.
By contrast, Minneapolis gets indignant if you do not acknowledge them as being the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Minneapolis is a good town, certainly not rust belt. But Portland is a *west coast* state of being. It is simply a better place to exist, IMO.
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