What are the biggest flaws about Minneapolis that don't have to do with the weather? (Truman: new home, taxes)

[LeTraveler]

Originally Posted by Citykid3785

Agreed that we lack suburbs with quaint walkable downtowns. We have a few, but they are not as prevalent as they are in some older metro areas.

Hand in hand with that, the suburbs lack mom and pop restaurants as well. It's almost exclusively chains here, which I know many associate with the burbs, but that's not necessarily the case in some other cities like Atlanta, or New York for instance.

New York for sure, but Atlanta, the city proper, is chain city. There are some areas that break that mold, like Little Five Points, but most restaurants in Atlanta are chains, whether they be regional or national. Most of the suburbs are run by chains too, one exception being Gwinnett County. As far as walkability, neither my former neighborhood (suburb of Atlanta) nor my current neighborhood (city of Atlanta, right outside of downtown) has sidewalks. Combined with how far apart everything is + all of the slopes/hills, this is where knees and ankles come to die.

I would say as cities, I can't see anything from a distance that Atlanta really has over Minneapolis, besides name recognition and size (a positive and a negative). I'll know more when I visit, then I'll compare and contrast.

[Justabitoff]

Originally Posted by daboywonder2002

Where are you from? Because a lot of suburbs are car dependent. Especially down south. Personally I think our suburbs than a lot of other cities. I know Boston has a lot of walkable suburbs.

I lived in NYC and the NJ and NYC suburbs previously. But I grew up just outside Portland, OR, and several of our suburbs (including the one I grew up in) have a walkable main street that have independent shops, coffee shops and restaurants that are non-chains.

However, you're right, Minnesota suburbs are certainly not unique in being car-dependent. But they are also my biggest complaint.

[slamont61]

Worst Flaw: Left leaning government and all that brings with it.

Anything else can be tolerated, traffic included.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by slamont61

Worst Flaw: Left leaning government and all that brings with it.

And media. They're all insane.

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by slamont61

Worst Flaw: Left leaning government and all that brings with it.
.

That, more than the weather, keeps a lot of jerks away.

[Chester Burnett]

I've met jerks on both sides of the aisle but I do appreciate the "left leaners" after twenty years in the South.

[InnovativeAmerican]

Originally Posted by slamont61

Worst Flaw: Left leaning government and all that brings with it.

Anything else can be tolerated, traffic included.

Better than living in Mississippi, Kansas, Alabama, or any of your favorites! Caifornia, Massachussetts, and New York subsidize many of these states, just saying!

If you want a a different kind of government, just look at your neighbor to the east for comparison.

[duke944]

Minnesota nice - what I think about this having grown up in MN.

First of all, listen to a MN accent - to me it sounds like a Scandinavian accent, which makes sense because MN is by far the state with the highest % of Scandinavian ancenstry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Americans

Secondly, look at the personality traits of Scandinavians https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-...inavian-people in particular, this paragraph perfectly sums up the general personality of the Minnesotants of my memory living there for 25 years:

People that for whatever reason stand out are looked and treated with hostility, they like uniformity, and have zero tolerance with stress and the unknown. They love the comfort zone. Many spend their time with repetitive activities as it seems to make them feel good about the circularity of life. The only thing where moderation is banished is the consumption of alcohol. For the rest, because of the jantelag and the fear to stand out, they are very moderate, very passive. Sad note is that passive aggressive is a very common way to interact with the world. Swedes are mannerists, they love small talks and everything that creates no conflict.

To sum it up, MN is the way it is because of it's Scandanavian descent.

[VeloRider]

Originally Posted by duke944

Minnesota nice - what I think about this having grown up in MN

People that for whatever reason stand out are looked and treated with hostility, they like uniformity, and have zero tolerance with stress and the unknown. They love the comfort zone. Many spend their time with repetitive activities as it seems to make them feel good about the circularity of life.

To sum it up, MN is the way it is because of it's Scandanavian descent.

What the?.. untrue, sweeping generalized, ... garbage. Not only false about the Swedish people, but Swedish people make up only 9.8% of Minnesota’s population!

[Hulsker 1856]

Originally Posted by slamont61

Worst Flaw: Left leaning government and all that brings with it.

What that brings with it - a high quality of life, a very reasonable cost of living index, a highly bikeable city, many parks, an arts scene far larger and more diverse than one would expect from the city's size - is precisely what makes Minneapolis so desirable to rational people.

Originally Posted by Thedosius

That, more than the weather, keeps a lot of jerks away.

You know, we could put statues at the borders near the freeways. Paul Wellstone, Keith Ellison, any random Somali resident. Like scarecrows, they might scare the riffraff away.