Minneapolis-St. Paul Ranked #4th Snobbiest City. (Northfield, Cleveland: colleges, stores, safer)

[Cleverfield]

Originally Posted by Rhody2Mn

I agree that everyone has a different definition of what perfection is. I also think that people in general put too much emphasis on lists/rankings, but I absolutely do not feel your last statement is true at all. The Twin Cities, while not the most "urban" setting in the country, are nationally recognized for the plethora of cultural attractions they offer, from museums and theaters to professional sports.

Yeah, it's probably better than average with regard to that stuff. I was referring more to the overwhelmingly "white" culture there. People don't seem to hold onto their heritage much there, which makes the cities seem bland and suburban.

[emcee squared]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

Yeah, it's probably better than average with regard to that stuff. I was referring more to the overwhelmingly "white" culture there. People don't seem to hold onto their heritage much there, which makes the cities seem bland and suburban.

The Twin Cities are a shade under 82% non-Hispanic white while Cleveland is 75% non-Hispanic white. That isn't that big of a difference.

Can you describe how Clevelanders do hold on to their heritage? I haven't spent a lot of time there, so I don't know if you have little European or Asian enclaves there.

[Cleverfield]

Yes, very much so. There are European neighborhood enclaves throughout the city, as well as Puerto Rican/Hispanic, and Asian. We have a little italy, which is still home to many children and grandchildren of Italian immigrants. There is a Slavic Village, a large Hungarian community, Croatian neoghborhoods, Slovenian, Russian, huge Polish areas, etc. People still send their children to their ethnic schools to learn their ancestral language and culture. There are ethnic "houses", meeting halls for all sorts of Eastern European nationalities throughout the city. Every weekend in the summer there is a different nationality's festival somewhere in the city. Even if people have moved from their ethnic neighborhood many still go to the parishes that are there, and so maintain their culture and community on some level. It gives the city an interesting flavor, that I think you tend to find more in older, more urban cities. It also gives us lots of great ethnic cuisine, from all of these cultures who know how to make good hardy food.

[emcee squared]

Cool, thanks.

[tlarnla]

Surprising to me, but I've lived in Japan for 20 years, so I guess things have changed.
I guess this explains why my best friend said there a lot of really rude people in MN now.

[rzzzz]

Originally Posted by tlarnla

Surprising to me, but I've lived in Japan for 20 years, so I guess things have changed.
I guess this explains why my best friend said there a lot of really rude people in MN now.

If anything, morale has improved. Grumpy Old Men came out 21 years ago and since then many of the grumps have died off.

[nei]

Originally Posted by rzzzz

Minneapolis is not very dense. I agree with the Cleveland guy on this topic, but I admit I don't know (or care) how it compares to Cleveland. There are suburbs of Chicago and suburban areas in Silicon Valley that are more dense than Minneapolis's downtown. The residential areas of Minneapolis, which compromise most of the city, are even less dense. It doesn't feel suburban like Scottsdale but most of it doesn't feel very "urban" either.

Residentially, Minneapolis has double (10k+) the number of dense census tracts than Cleveland.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

Yeah, it's probably better than average with regard to that stuff. I was referring more to the overwhelmingly "white" culture there. People don't seem to hold onto their heritage much there, which makes the cities seem bland and suburban.

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.

[iNviNciBL3]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

Yeah, it's probably better than average with regard to that stuff. I was referring more to the overwhelmingly "white" culture there. People don't seem to hold onto their heritage much there, which makes the cities seem bland and suburban.

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

Yes, very much so. There are European neighborhood enclaves throughout the city, as well as Puerto Rican/Hispanic, and Asian. We have a little italy, which is still home to many children and grandchildren of Italian immigrants. There is a Slavic Village, a large Hungarian community, Croatian neoghborhoods, Slovenian, Russian, huge Polish areas, etc. People still send their children to their ethnic schools to learn their ancestral language and culture. There are ethnic "houses", meeting halls for all sorts of Eastern European nationalities throughout the city. Every weekend in the summer there is a different nationality's festival somewhere in the city. Even if people have moved from their ethnic neighborhood many still go to the parishes that are there, and so maintain their culture and community on some level. It gives the city an interesting flavor, that I think you tend to find more in older, more urban cities. It also gives us lots of great ethnic cuisine, from all of these cultures who know how to make good hardy food.

Segregation and Racial obsession:
Cleveland - 1
Minneapolis - 0

^
I will happily give you that one. call us bland and suburban all you want, as long as we aren't associated with that 19th century way of life, i'm happy.

[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.