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Sure: you knock somebody for not providing enough statistics to back their claim and then tell them they're wrong, but then don't provide any statistics yourself to back your claim.
I agree, and just because Seattle has a higher suicide rate doesn't mean that everyone who moves there is driven to depression. That's completely ridiculous, and frankly a little offensive to people who actually suffer from clinical depression.
However I really do think that, as cold as they can get, most of the stigma around Minneapolis winters comes from people who have never lived through one. The same is probably true of Seattle winters, BUT you have to admit that Seattle's media attention puts Minneapolis at a disadvantage in the arena of public openion. Seattle is on TV, so people see Seattle regularly. This means people have better ideas about what Seattle is like apart from the weather. This means the weather is perceived as less of a big deal. This means people are more willing to move to Seattle and put up with the weather.
The same is not true of Minneapolis. For whatever reason, it has never been the media darling that Seattle is. So people don't have much of an idea of what's there apart from the weather, and ince the weather is really the only thing people know about Minneapolis, it's perceived as a huge part of life there and a very big deal, meaning people are much less willing to consider it as an option when they move. All this even though it's a near exact analog to Seattle, or at least, the two cities are more similar than probably any other pair in the country.
That is very true about MN, and explains a lot actually (like why people ask if we have snow in the summer time). I suppose it's not TOO different than people in Seattle being asked what it's like to live inside a rain cloud, etc., but for some reason the stereotype isn't nearly as "fatal" as the Minnesota one (people can handle rain, but not cold).
Well, everyone knows what rain is like. Everyone knows they can handle rain. Cold is something that not everyone experiences every year.
"Devil you know" mentality.
How do the cities compare when it comes to liveliness? I have only been to Minneapolis but it always seems kinda dead
Did you hang out in Old Saint Anthony, Uptown, Dinkytown, Cedar-Riverside, Lyn-Lake, Loring Park, or the North Loop? These are the areas where you will see a lot of foot traffic and liveliness at night. Downtown (particularly the Warehouse District) has some of the bar/club/entertainment scene, but it's more dispersed.
Aside from Nicollet Mall and Hennepin Ave., the CBD usually has the appearance of being dead due to the skyways. Basically, all of the commerce that you would find at street level in most cities is actually on the second floor and indoors in downtown Minneapolis. Restaurants, convenience stores, boutiques, banks — it's all in the skyway.
Minneapolis is a class act city, one of the best in the country it's not dead at all. If a city lover can't appreciate MPLS there's a good chance they haven't spent been there. I feel like it doesn't get a lot of love on this forum and i'm not sure why.
I'm not taking sides in this one as I also have a great appreciation for Seattle, and they are very similar. Why do so many people try to marginalize a city that meets all of the criteria of what people express for a successful city on here? It's progressive, affluent, walkable, transit oriented, educated, populated and cosmopolitan. Give a girl some credit here!
I moved to Seattle over one year ago now after living in Minneapolis for the last 5. Overall this is an apples to apples comparison and the differences only lie in weather and topography.
-location: Seattle is nestled in a megalopolis of city Between Vancouver and Portland. Minneapolis is in the middle of the country, but getting to Chicago is easier than getting from Seattle to SF, as others noted.
-built environment: not sure what that means.
-transportation options: I was surprised that public transit in Seattle lags Minneapolis. While MN expands the light rail to East West, Seattle is still expanding past the airport to downtown core. Either way, they do not compare to trains of NY or Chicago (as that is an apples to oranges comparison anyway).
-access to nature and associated sports activities: Before I moved to Seattle, the way I read reviews about Green Lake and other places I thought it would win for sure. Green Lake is eerily similar to Lake Calhoun, showing once again how these cities are sisters. I would actually say I miss MN for bike riding because of the trail system that spans for miles. Sports: both cities have major league teams - and Seattle actually has a ring rather than chokes trying to get one
-skyline / downtown
This is relative to other cities. You can walk through both DTs in about 20 mins or so. I'd say around 5th and Pike has more foot traffic during the day. Both get quieter at night except for sporting events and tourists. The neighborhoods in both cities are where the real action is, not DT.
-cultural amenities
They are both very WASP-y cities. I am not saying there are not ethnicities here. What I am saying is the dominant culture is out of the book/blog "Stuff White People Like." If you like that stuff you will find lots of cultural amenities. (Note: I am white)
-metro area as a whole
Same. Both have denser cores with younger people who are willing to get squeezed for rent so they can live in the city. Then you have nice suburbs with older people and kids and not so nice ones. Dare I say, probably like most of America.
All in all; it comes down mostly to your weather preference. Do you want 6 months of moderate to extreme cold or 9 months of mild to moderate overcast/rain? Though I did not tackle the MN Nice vs Seattle Freeze topic since it has been put to bed all over this forum, I can see no difference in that either. You'll have to work to make friends.
Thats a great summary. I've never spent time in Minneapolis, but I created this thread based on stats that showed the two to be very similar. Sounds like I wasn't too far off. I would really like to go spend some time in MN some day - sounds like a great place. Oh, but it can't be during the dead of summer or winter. There's got to be a 'just right' month in there somewhere. I've become totally thin skinned in my tolerance of extremes living Seattle.
Minneapolis=winters too damn cold,summers too humid,and giant blood-thirsty mosquitoes!
Seattle wins by a loooooong shot!
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