Minneapolis's Rival Cities (St. Paul, Austin, Houston: universities, restaurants, title)

[MN55]

If only Minneapolis and St Paul both had an NHL team... those games would get heated.

[MINresident]

I had decided to clump Minneapolis and St. Paul together. People can take it both ways, but as someone who has been in the Twin Cities multiple times, albeit not a resident, I feel like the cities have cooperated more than competed. For without eachother, Minneapolis or St. Paul are not top 20 metros. Without eachother, I don't know if professional sports or some entertainment could work.

That's just my two cents though.

[DaPerpKazoo]

Economically, the two cities are very dependent on each other.

Neither city would have developed into anything like what they are today without the other.

I don't think people in the metro at large feel much rivalry between the two cities... You kind of have to be from Minneapolis or St. Paul to really understand.

I would say that on the national scale, Denver, Portland, and maybe Seattle are our rivals. Sometimes I feel like Phoenix likes to think of itself as our rival, but everyone knows that Phoenix is made of cardboard.

[uptown_urbanist]

Me, personally, I never really experience the rivalry between St. Paul and Minneapolis [Minneapolis -- city of -- native speaking, for what it's worth], although I know others feel differently. I don't really think of St. Paul all that much, honestly, although it's a very nice place and every time I go over there I think to myself that I should spend more time exploring more of its neighborhoods.

[Kid Cann]

Originally Posted by DaPerpKazoo

Economically, the two cities are very dependent on each other.

Neither city would have developed into anything like what they are today without the other.

I don't think people in the metro at large feel much rivalry between the two cities... You kind of have to be from Minneapolis or St. Paul to really understand.

I would say that on the national scale, Denver, Portland, and maybe Seattle are our rivals. Sometimes I feel like Phoenix likes to think of itself as our rival, but everyone knows that Phoenix is made of cardboard.

I agree. The whole 'Twin Cities' thing is really hard to understand unless you actually live in either of the two cities or the metro area. I find it odd in the General US and City Vs. City forums, users from around the country often just refer Minneapolis.

Our Rivals
Midwest
Detroit - Detroit is in a state that's similar to Minnesota, however Detroit is remaining quite stagnant while Minneapolis-St. Paul keeps growing, both in terms of # of people and creation of jobs. The economy of Minneapolis-St. Paul is always growing

Northeast
Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, if you consider the city to be 'Northeast' because the two cities are similar in size. Both are very pretty cities. Rivalry? Not sure, but that's the city I would choose in the NE.

South
Atlanta - Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro area is a little smaller in population, but I feel like Atlanta stacks up well against MSP. Plus, the Twinnies put it to the Braves in the 91' World Series.

West
Denver. Probably for all the reasons for Pittsburgh. Both states have 1 dominant metro... Runner up goes to Seattle, which is pretty much for the same reason for Atlanta.

Sports
The Vikings vs. Packers is the best and most obvious. The Packers lead the all time series 49-47-1.

Peer City
Probably Denver, Seattle, San Diego, Portland, Austin, St. Louis.

Rival
'Ultimate Super Rival' ... Probably Denver, Seattle, Detroit and St. Louis round up the final four. Discared STL because I already feel Minneapolis-St. Paul is a peg higher than STL anyway, and isn't really in any type of 'competition' with STL. Toss out Seattle. Probably for the exact same reason for STL, but in Seattle's favor. I think Seattle is just a little higher up than MSP. Economically and politically MSP isn't really competing for much with those cities. So it comes down to Denver or Detroit. Throw out Detroit because I really don't think Detroit is going anywhere soon, in terms of growth in their economy or in population numbers. I believe that MSP still has tons of potential. Which leads the ultimate super duper Rival Denver. Geographically the cities are the same-Isolated. Major Regional Hub (MSP=All of Upper Midwest) (Denver=All of Mountain West). MSP and Denver are the biggest cities for a long way, so I think they are in more direct competetion for Tourism, Conventions, and other hosting events (Super Bowl, RNC, Concerts, Tours, etc)

State Rivals:
Wisconsin - Similar state, many similaries, border each other. It's a fun rivalry

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by MINresident

What cities do you think are rivals with Minneapolis? There are subcategories that break it up and than there is the ultimate RIVAL and secondary rival at the end.

Subcategories:

by region (census four regions):
midwest:
northeast:
south:
west:

sports:

peer city (similar in size, good reputation like MSP, clean, lots of fortune 500's...):


RIVAL:
secondary rival:

biggest opposite city:

mn state rival 1:
mn state rival 2:

You can copy and paste this if you like. Feel free to add other subcategories.
---------------------------------
mine:

Subcategories:

by region:
midwest: Detroit. I wanted to put Chicago, but that city is really in a class of its own in the midwest. I fill like we minnesotans are trying to show the rest of the country that Minneapolis is the 2nd city in the midwest and not falling Detroit.
northeast: Not sure we a huge rivalry in the northeast, but if there is one, I would say Boston.
south: Charlotte or Dallas.
west: Denver.

sports: Chicago. This was an obvious choice for me. I am not a big fan of the White Sox and although I don't hate the bears, I don't love them. If the North Stars were still around, this city rivalry by sports would seem even bigger. Detroit would be second, but Wisconsin makes a case if it can be clumped as a rivalry between Milwaukee (Brewers), Madison (Badgers), and Green Bay (whatever that team is called).

peer city (similar in size, good reputation like MSP, clean, lots of fortune 500's...): Denver. For some reason, this was an obvious choice. It is also a nice city that I see compared a lot with Minneapolis. Seattle also came to mind.


RIVAL: I think we love Minneapolis as a big city with small town benefits. But, I feel that Chicago is still our overall bigger rival. This seems to contradict the midwest rival put as Detroit, but I guess it still feels like Chicago is our bigger rival, despite Detroit being more of competitor based on similar size.
secondary rival: Detroit.

biggest opposite city: Los Angeles. So unlike Minneapolis.

state rival 1: Wisconsin
state rival 2: Michigan

I look at Minneapolis in this way: The closest rival is St. Paul because of distance. Other than that, I have a hard time thinking of Minneapolis having alot of rivals. Mpls is cleaner than many major cities in the USA. The closest rivals in that category is Portland and Seattle. Crime rate wise, Mpls has traditionally been a relatively safe city, with the exception of the mid 1990's when it got the dubious nickname of "murderapolis". Mpls is much safer these days. However, the rates of rape are similar to cities like Rapid City, Anchorage, and Sioux Falls, which have high rape rates(odd, the cities with cold climates have high rates of rape). Mpls has bicycle paths like Seattle and Portland. It has as well-developed park system and so does Seattle.

Demographically, Mpls has become increasingly diverse over the years, with increasing African-American,Ethiopian, Somalian, Hmong, Hispanic populations. Seattle has become more diverse too, though much of the diversity is more towards the Asian population, as oppose to Mpls, which has more diversity among the African population. Seattle, too, has a sizeable Somalian population, in addition to a sizeable African-American population. Persons of European descent in Mpls and Seattle are often of Scandinavian descent. Minneapolis,though not perfect, was listed(along with Seattle) as the top 10 cities for interracial families.

Minneapolis is a unique city, not like many other cities. The closest I can think of it Seattle.

[Mark_22]

Originally Posted by yankee.peddler

I'm a native New Englander who currently resides happily in Minnesota, and I will tell you all that Minneapolis doesn't have a "rival" in the Northeast (Boston included). First, the Midwest (with the possible exception of Chicago) simply does not register on the Northeast's radar. That's just the frank and honest truth. Second, and more importantly, Minneapolis does not have much in common with any large Northeastern city. To me it feels like it has more in common with large cities in the south and west. That's where I'd look for a "rival".

This is true. Such Northeastern navel gazing is the reason why ESPN seems to think the entire nation wants to watch the Yankees play the Red Sox 20 times a year no matter how many great pennant races may be going on in other parts of the country.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Mark_22

This is true. Such Northeastern navel gazing is the reason why ESPN seems to think the entire nation wants to watch the Yankees play the Red Sox 20 times a year no matter how many great pennant races may be going on in other parts of the country.

No one seems to pay attention to the Twinkies, unless they beat the Braves like they did in 1991

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by srsmn

??? I'm curious about how Minneapolis and Kansas City are similar? I don't think I've ever heard that before...

And both of those cities do vy with Minneapolis-- consistently on the sports scene. The Twins, Tigers, and White Sox are always at the top of the division (if you don't follow baseball, though, I don't expect you'd know that). There are other elements of rivalry with those cities, too, but really, Minneapolis's true rival is St. Paul. It's just a shame that all the pro-sports teams here are "Minnesota," and that the two cities never get to play each other in anywthing anymore...

To me, a rival city is a city that tries to 'out do' each other, or find ways to stake the claim that one city is superior to the other. Or, in a more realistic sense, a city that is trying to compete for new business and residents with another, adjacent city. I just don'e see how Minneapolis is competing with Chicago or Detroit on that or any front. New businesses are going to choose the best location that offers the best incentives, and that has most to do with state and county laws/regulations than it does with a particular city itself. But hey, when a band comes to the US and only has four to six scheduled shows, Chicago is almost always one of those cities.

Anyways, a lot of the rivalry seems to be one sided. Take the Vikings, for example. Most Vikings fans seem to hold the Packers as the rival team, but most Packers fans could seem to care less. That is because the true NFL rival with the Packers is the Bears, and has been since the 60s. Any Packers-Vikings rivalry is predominately one-sided, yet, having Favre take the Vikes to the Superbowl last year might create some true rivalry between the to teams.

As for KC. When I read the question, my immediate thought was to compare cities that were similar to Minneapolis, as I really can't think of any city that is trying to rival Minneapolis or vice versa.

Both cities are of similar size, offer relatively the same entertainment choices, and have roughly the same style, quality, of life (granted, once you leave pride at the door).

Both cities function as the economic, entertainment, and cultural center/powerhouse for a multi-state region, but yet both cities tend to get over shadowed by other cities from those who do not live in the region. Minneapolis gets overshadowed by Chicago and Detroit (is that were the rivalry comes from?) and KC gets overshadowed by Denver and St. Louis, and to a lesser extend, Wichita and Omaha, and possibly Des Moines. That may be odd to hear to someone who lives in the Midwest, but it is pretty much true.

You also got to consider where are people moving? How many Wisconsinites are choosing Minneapolis over Chicago? How many Iowans are choosing Minneapolis over KC? Or, if they live on the eastern side of the state, Chicago or St. Louis? Civil engineers, city planners, and local governments do plenty to try and make their city attractive to outsiders (including business). The more people living in a city, the more tax revenue is collected for that particular city/county. And the more people that live in a particular area, the more Federal money would be given to that area (and the more politicians that area can have).

So, KC and Minneapolis are both doing more to attract the out-of-stater, and in that regard, are competing with one another on a level that goes unnoticed by most.

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

The cities that I notice coming up most frequently as "rivals" to Minneapolis seem to be Austin, Portland, and Denver, and sometimes Seattle.

There is a connection between Minneapolis, Portland, and Austin that goes back to a certain music scene, and there is also a triangle between Minneapolis, Portland, and Seattle. Unless you are hip to certain styles of music, this may be hard to understand.

As for Denver, the only people that I know from the TC who move to Denver are those who still want to experience real winters, but yet have the ability to ski/snowboard on a real mountain, and go hiking/camping/canoeing in real mountains with a real forest and real rapids without having to spend half the day driving there.

[DannyBanany]

Denver. Having experience in both cities, I constantly find people comparing and contrasting them. People from Denver say "Why would anyone want to live in Minneapolis? It's cold and there are no mountains." And people from Minneapolis say "Why would anyone want to live in Denver. It's snowy and there are no trees."

I personally prefer Denver, but I live in the Twin Cities.