Minneapolis-St. Paul Ranked #4th Snobbiest City. (Lindstrom, Nicollet: restaurants, stats, authority)

[iNviNciBL3]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

It's not segregated, or racially obsessed. Is it a bad thing to hold onto your heritage? The neighborhoods are mixed ethnicity, but it so happens that people of certain ethnicities liked to live near each other, so they could hold onto and preserve their heritage among their community. It's not like there's a sign in Slavic Village that says "if you're not Slavic keep out". These neighborhoods are very diverse, but do have an ethnic identity, which gives them a unique flavor. I'm sure that exists to some extent in the twin cities as well, but it's more pronounced in Cleveland, and I think it's a good thing.

Meh, my heritage is not that important to me honestly.

The country my dead relatives who i have never met come from don't have any significance to who i am today, i am just simply an American.

[rzzzz]

The background of people who migrated to Minneapolis/St. Paul was overwhelmingly German and Scandinavian. People of those backgrounds compromised over 70% of the population. Irish was the next largest group, and then there were smaller communities of Italians, Slavs and French Canadians. The Cathedral in St. Paul has statues of the patron saints of the various Catholic ethnic groups in Minnesota. Due to these immigration patterns there are no Slavic Villages or Ukranian Villages or polish areas or italian neighborhoods like you find in places like Chicago and Cleveland. Most of the ethnic "enclaves" (using that term very loosely, it's usually just a corner or a few blocks) are the result of more recent immigration.

Along the same lines as invincible's comment above, many if not most scandinavians and germans in minnesota had no interest in preserving their ethnic identity. They were eager to leave their pasts behind and forge a new identity. For example, my great grandmother forbid her children from speaking Danish. My norwegian ancestors changed their surnames to not include all the weird letters and gave their kids non-scandinavian first names so they would more easily blend in. It was a little different in some of the smaller communities in southeastern MN which were 95%+ Norwegian. There you find more people who preserved more of their scandinavian histories.

[Cleverfield]

Originally Posted by iNviNciBL3

Meh, my heritage is not that important to me honestly.

The country my dead relatives who i have never met come from don't have any significance to who i am today, i am just simply an American.

Well, that's you. For others, their native ethnicity is part of their identity. There's nothing wrong with that.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

It's not segregated, or racially obsessed. Is it a bad thing to hold onto your heritage? The neighborhoods are mixed ethnicity, but it so happens that people of certain ethnicities liked to live near each other, so they could hold onto and preserve their heritage among their community. It's not like there's a sign in Slavic Village that says "if you're not Slavic keep out". These neighborhoods are very diverse, but do have an ethnic identity, which gives them a unique flavor. I'm sure that exists to some extent in the twin cities as well, but it's more pronounced in Cleveland, and I think it's a good thing.

Originally Posted by Glenfield

I think that I might take you more seriously if I understood what you are basing these observations of the Twin Cities and Minnesota on.

Can you share where you lived, when, and for how long? That would help all of us to get a better understanding of why a person from Cleveland holds himself out as such an authority on Minnesota.

Thank you.

And again, your knowledge of Minnesota is based on what exactly? I notice you didn't capitalize Twin Cities, as someone from here would do, so I'm wondering if you have any first hand knowledge of the area.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

And again, your knowledge of Minnesota is based on what exactly? I notice you didn't capitalize Twin Cities, as someone from here would do, so I'm wondering if you have any first hand knowledge of the area.

he had a brief stop at one of the Northfield colleges and has admitted in the past he rarely traveled to The Cities, his perspective likely confined to the MOA

[WriterDude]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

his perspective likely confined to the MOA

I don't understand! Why are there only 520 stores in all of Minnesota? And why are there TWO American Eagle stores? What, is there a law saying Minnesotans have to wear natural fibers?

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

he had a brief stop at one of the Northfield colleges and has admitted in the past he rarely traveled to The Cities, his perspective likely confined to the MOA

Ah, as I suspected his knowledge is based on what he reads here. Yikes!

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

It's not segregated, or racially obsessed. Is it a bad thing to hold onto your heritage? The neighborhoods are mixed ethnicity, but it so happens that people of certain ethnicities liked to live near each other, so they could hold onto and preserve their heritage among their community. It's not like there's a sign in Slavic Village that says "if you're not Slavic keep out". These neighborhoods are very diverse, but do have an ethnic identity, which gives them a unique flavor. I'm sure that exists to some extent in the twin cities as well, but it's more pronounced in Cleveland, and I think it's a good thing.

In all fairness, if there isn't enough of this in Minneapolis for you, you do have Saint Paul right next door. It's a hell of a lot nicer and safer than Slavic Village, too.

[Vintage_girl]

I find the Minneapolis-St.Paul area isn't snobby, but very insular and somewhat provincial. I've lived here for a very long time.

People in the Twin Cities (and MN in general) seem to have a hard time seeing beyond their own borders. There is more to life and the world than what they experience. Their experiences are not the same as everyone else's, and I think that is the "snobby" part. This can explain why people aren't open to newcomers and getting to know them. They're polite, but when it comes to opening up or reaching out, they prefer to be cliquish. A lot of people who are not native Minnesotans have noticed the same thing.

Since we're talking culturally, is this a Scandinavian or German thing? Whatever happened to the idea of community and fostering a sense of belonging?

[rzzzz]

People like to try to pin Minnesota's cliquishness on Scandinavians (and Germans?) but those cultures are pretty far in the past. At this point the cliquishness is a Minnesotan thing. It is real, though. I've never lived anywhere it was harder to make friends than Minneapolis and I am from Minnesota.