What if Minneapolis and St. Paul Were Closer Together or One Big City? (Hastings: live, military)

[AfternoonThunder]

I've been wondering how history dictated that two large cities developed so close to each other. Also can't help think if things had happened differently - what if the two cities were a lot closer together or instead of two cities, you ended up with one bigger city? Purely hypothetical, I know.

Could Minneapolis/St. Paul have been more of a big market city?

Please forgive any ignorance on my part. Got to visit Minneapolis for the first time this past fall. Due to lack of time and transportation, I couldn't make it to St. Paul. I'm hoping to go back in the spring to see St. Paul for the first time, as well as hop to Minneapolis again. With a new camera, I'm really motivated to go back and take advantage of the many photo ops.

[kcitti]

I think it would be awesome if the downtowns were on opposite sides of the river and so close.

One of the downsides to having two cities is you have twice the suburbs.

[west336]

I think St. Paul's existance, proximity, etc. helped CREATE Minneapolis as it is today (i.e. they feed off eachother). Without the other, I don't know if either/both would be what they are today (maybe St. Paul).

[phlinak]

A very intriguing idea.

What would the combined city be called? Minneapolis? St. Paul? St. Minnea? Paulopolis?

No, probably a completely different and unrelated third name.

Any suggestions?

[rcsteiner]

I think they should have kept the "Pig's Eye" name...

[City Data Guy]

Originally Posted by phlinak

A very intriguing idea.

What would the combined city be called? Minneapolis? St. Paul? St. Minnea? Paulopolis?

No, probably a completely different and unrelated third name.

Any suggestions?

Minnehaha!

[TerryDactyls]

UffDah Minnesota

[jaxontwinz]

I do wonder why two cities very close to eachother became very large. Why was Minneapolis almost always been above St. Paul? Why did people even decide to settle 10 miles west in Minneapolis?

If it's because of river transportation, then why didn't Hastings and Stillwater explode, and become the Twin Cities?

They probably wouldn't combine the St. with something unholy or not a saint. It would probably be something of an old importance. I would think Minnehaha or Sibley would be more fitting. Then again, those cities could also have been called Hastings or just kept the name St. Paul since it was founded first.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by jaxontwinz

I do wonder why two cities very close to eachother became very large. Why was Minneapolis almost always been above St. Paul? Why did people even decide to settle 10 miles west in Minneapolis?

If it's because of river transportation, then why didn't Hastings and Stillwater explode, and become the Twin Cities?

They probably wouldn't combine the St. with something unholy or not a saint. It would probably be something of an old importance. I would think Minnehaha or Sibley would be more fitting. Then again, those cities could also have been called Hastings or just kept the name St. Paul since it was founded first.

St. Paul and Minneapolis were settled at different times for different reasons. St. Paul was near the military garrison in the area, while the area now in Minmeapolis was the site of St. Anthony falls, which provided water power for lumber and, later, flour mills. It is important to understand that while the cities are adjoining and are both on the Mississippi River, their original sites are quite a ways from each other. When people settled at St. Anthony falls, they would notmhave thought that they were at all settling near St. Paul. It's only after the two cities grew, and transportation improved, that they could be thought of as neighbors.

What difference would it make if theymwere combined now? Well, it will never happen-- there'd be too many political jobs lost to allow it-- but in terms of the dynamics of the area, it wouldn't make a bit of difference. We on the west side of the river would still rarely go east, and vice versa. It wouldn't change the way the rest of the country views us or anything. we'd just have to come up with a new name for the Twins.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

We on the west side of the river would still rarely go east, and vice versa.

Unless you're someone like me who lives in Southeast Minneapolis and has to cross the river to get to most of the rest of the city.