Atlantic Magazine and PBS News Hour declare Minneapolis and St. Paul as The Best City In America for Millennial's. (Nicollet: home, theater)

[Steve Bowen]

Originally Posted by wushuliu

Agreed. I like Seattle. Or rather, I like Seattle in Spring and Summer. If it was like that all year round it would be almost paradise. But Seattle is becoming more and more congested. The traffic is BAD. Not Los Angeles bad, but creeping up there. It is crazy expensive. I think the people who think there are 'affordable' rentals and homes there are lumping in suburbs and not so hot areas like Auburn, White Center, etc.

Yep. It's now at least 400k for a modest 3 BR home anywhere in the Seattle metro area that you'd actually want to live. The problem is that most of the bedroom communities surrounding Seattle are pretty sketchy compared to those in the Twin Cities. The suburbs on the east side of Lake Washington, Redmond, Kirkland, Samammish, and Bellevue are nice, but they are extremely expensive.

So, people are faced with a choice of high Eastside home prices, or living in the heart of the city and dealing with relatively high rents and large ongoing rent increases (lots of renters in central Seattle have had their rents raised $300 per month in the past year or two), or living in a suburb like Kent or Federal Way which isn't desirable and has an increasingly awful commute. It's like Wargames. The only way to win is not to play.

I like Seattle, but I think people are nuts to spend 300k on a house in a crappy south sound suburb and condemn themselves to a horrible commute. There are plenty of decent houses in Minneapolis and Saint Paul proper for under 250k - even under 200k if you move out to the burbs.

Historically, Minneapolis and Seattle have been pretty comparable but with the trajectory that Seattle is on, it will more closely resemble San Francisco in 5 years than it will Minneapolis.

[Govie]

Originally Posted by pete6032

Great place to live, as long as you're not black.

Lol, u mad?

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by Hate Minnesota

If you are a Millennial, Minnesota is the absolute last place you want to live.

I doubt you'd want to live there as a younger Millennial, but if you're in say your upper 20's and are starting to focus more on your career than a night on the town (but still want fun options you can afford) then Minneapolis is a pretty good fit. Assuming you can handle the winter.

[tjasse]

I actually think Minneapolis is pretty good for a college aged person. I had a good time when I was 18-22. It is the years right after that made me panic and move away.

[jennifat]

Originally Posted by Hate Minnesota

If you are a Millennial, Minnesota is the absolute last place you want to live.

I'm a "millennial" (always hated that term), and I love Minnesota.

[Mini-apple-less]

I am a West Coast Millennial who is considering Minneapolis. I don't mind cold snowy weather and I'm sick of paying out the nose and enduring terrible traffic, even as a pedestrian and someone who uses the bus.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by tjasse

I actually think Minneapolis is pretty good for a college aged person. I had a good time when I was 18-22. It is the years right after that made me panic and move away.

Probably, but I'd imagine there are a lot of other places that are pretty good too.

I have this theory that wherever you go to college (assuming you have a good time) is a city that you'll remember fondly.

Well, that and I've noticed if you're from Minnesota you tend to like the area.

Originally Posted by valsteele

I am a West Coast Millennial who is considering Minneapolis. I don't mind cold snowy weather and I'm sick of paying out the nose and enduring terrible traffic, even as a pedestrian and someone who uses the bus.

I considered it. There are a few things I didn't like, but I'd say the pros far outweigh the cons.

Fun bit of info: Using the bus in Minneapolis isn't looked down upon like a lot of places.

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by Port Pitt Ash

I considered it. There are a few things I didn't like, but I'd say the pros far outweigh the cons.

Fun bit of info: Using the bus in Minneapolis isn't looked down upon like a lot of places.

Excellent. What things didn't you like? I imagine the winters are one haha.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

Excellent. What things didn't you like? I imagine the winters are one haha.

Well, my situation might be a little different than most since I was planning on going car free.

After having come from Portland it seemed a little too spread out for that sort of lifestyle. I figured I'd end up getting to spend a lot of time say downtown and then would have to pick if I wanted to be in either Dinkytown or Uptown for the majority of the time. Both of which I thought would be bigger.

I don't know why, but I pictured Uptown as more like E. Carson St. in Pittsburgh meets the Victorian Village in Columbus before I got there.

Plus it was before the St. Paul light rail connect so I figured getting over there would be more of a pain. Doubly so if I was over there late night.

Downtown was...I don't know if it was just when I was there or what, but I got a really eerie vibe whenever I was somewhere other than Nicollet Mall, Loring Park, or the Stone Arch Bridge. The way I described it to a friend was it felt like I had walked into an Edward Hopper painting (i.e. a palpable loneliness & isolation).

Although the stadium downtown was cool and it felt a bit livelier when the game let out.

Thought the walkways were going to be cool, but really they seemed like an endless trip to the airport. I wonder if the city would actually be better off without them?

The freeway/interstate (forget which it is) cutting through downtown was an eyeopener. At least they have the pedestrian bridge in place to handle that.

Minnehaha Falls area was cool. Again a bit smaller than what I'm used to.

Winter. Yeah, that was one. Mainly since I tend to walk a lot for fun/exercise I really didn't want to make the news as that dumba*s that went for a 6 mile walk in the middle of winter and ended up with frostbite.

All in all the complaints were fairly minor.

Just wish it was a tad more connected from section to section with a little more Western influence (mainly a more extensive public transportation system).

It was probably a combination of expectations being too high and already being familiar with the Midwest.

What I expected was a cohesion on par with Portland/Seattle in the core and what I ended up seeing was a less convenient, yet slightly better city than say Pittsburgh.

Certainly that isn't a slight as all of those cities I consider to be in my top ten.

[Govie]

Minneapolis is where it's at for nightlife. Minneapolis > St. Paul - AINEC.


I'm saying that as a lifelong St. Paulite, but it shouldn't be any surprise to anyone.