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RE: crime, looking at the "violent crime" category, the FBI's 2015 MSA numbers show Mpls to have a slightly higher rate than Pgh: 285.2/100k inhabs for Minneapolis vs. 266.3/100k inhabs for Pittsburgh. (I didn't crunch all categories, tho)
RE: toll roads, the Minneapolis/St Paul MSA has none (except a few HOV lanes on some freeways)
Pittsburgh has twice the murder rate though, and more murders overall.
I would guess the music scenes are about evenly matched. I'm sure both cities get all the big concerts and the indie scene is going to be largely defined by personal preference.
Minneapolis will win on the live theater and (probably) comedy fronts though. Hard to beat Minneapolis there unless your name is NYC or Chicago.
I'm sure Minneapolis is nice but there's no way I could live there for 2 reasons - the cold and the location. I'll easily take Pittsburgh for a variety of other reasons (terrain, architecture, for example) but the fact that it is milder and close to a lot of other cool areas - it wins this one for me, easily. I don't think I'm being a nearby homer either. If I lived in Pittsburgh, I am 2-3 hours away from a lot of great stuff: other cities, the Allegheny mountains, amish country, whitewater rafting, skiing, old mountain towns and river towns. Then I up the radius to 5 hours and I can hit DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York state.
If you're at a point in your life where you take weekend overnight trips, give me Pittsburgh over Minneapolis.
Minneapolis. Pennsylvania is too backwards of a state for me.
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and their suburbs are extremely different from the rest of the state in nearly every way imaginable. Hell, Illinois is a backwards state but you never hear about people avoiding Chicago because it's in a backwards state.
what the hell is a backwards state? I always see this but it has no meaning. yeah states have weird laws - every single one of them. PA could definitely do better in attracting new business but backwards is a term that makes no sense.
The old urban legend was that Minneapolis had the most theater seats per capita outside of NYC. And while I think that's been firmly debunked or at the very least proven unquantifiable, there's some nugget of truth in there. The Twin Cities are very much known as theatre cities.
We have the Hennepin Theatre District lined with the Broadway show houses: The State, The Pantages, and The Orpheum. Plus Brave New Workshop and the Cowles Dance Center.
And that doesn't include the world renowned multi-stage Guthrie complex overlooking the river. The list of actors and actresses that have cut their teeth at the Guthrie for 50+ years is astounding. And Acme Comedy Club has long been considered one of the best comedy clubs in the country for standup.
We also have some very well known smaller, more experimental theaters with longevity as well like the Mixed Blood, Penumbra, the Jungle and also the Southern.
I haven't even mentioned the massive Ordway Center which houses more Broadway shows and Opera over in St. Paul (yes, it's not technically Minneapolis, but to us it's all "The Cities") or The Children's Theatre.
Even if we're not third (there's probably no objective way to determine this anyway), we're still pretty hard to beat on the theatre front.
That's not to say Pittsburgh isn't a very good theatre city. It clearly is. And though I've never seen a show there, you guys also have a dedicated district with multiple theaters as well. Always a major plus.
I would guess the music scenes are about evenly matched. I'm sure both cities get all the big concerts and the indie scene is going to be largely defined by personal preference.
There are sites like pollstar.com that would help answer this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by steelcityrising
lol! Love being asked “source” for opinionated questions. These aren’t quantifiable questions.
The old urban legend was that Minneapolis had the most theater seats per capita outside of NYC. And while I think that's been firmly debunked or at the very least proven unquantifiable, there's some nugget of truth in there. The Twin Cities are very much known as theatre cities.
We have the Hennepin Theatre District lined with the Broadway show houses: The State, The Pantages, and The Orpheum. Plus Brave New Workshop and the Cowles Dance Center.
And that doesn't include the world renowned multi-stage Guthrie complex overlooking the river. The list of actors and actresses that have cut their teeth at the Guthrie for 50+ years is astounding. And Acme Comedy Club has long been considered one of the best comedy clubs in the country for standup.
We also have some very well known smaller, more experimental theaters with longevity as well like the Mixed Blood, Penumbra, the Jungle and also the Southern.
I haven't even mentioned the massive Ordway Center which houses more Broadway shows and Opera over in St. Paul (yes, it's not technically Minneapolis, but to us it's all "The Cities") or The Children's Theatre.
Even if we're not third (there's probably no objective way to determine this anyway), we're still pretty hard to beat on the theatre front.
That's not to say Pittsburgh isn't a very good theatre city. It clearly is. And though I've never seen a show there, you guys also have a dedicated district with multiple theaters as well. Always a major plus.
As does Denver, where I live now. In fact, we have the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, a tax which supports theater (and other arts and science facilities) throughout the metro. Scientific and Cultural Facilities District
My daughter lives in St. Paul; I'm pretty familiar with that area too.
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