Minneapolitans vs Saint Paulites? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: how much, neighborhoods, yard)

[LittleMathYou]

How do Minneapolitans differ from Saint Paulites? I think the stereotype is that STP people are nicer and more small town oriented type people.

[uptown_urbanist]

I've never heard that stereotype before. I don't think there is a difference between the residents themselves, although there are differences between the actual cities.

[Ben Around]

No difference that I can discern. I do think St Paul has more of a blue collar legacy than Mpls, though there's always been lots of white collar people in both cities.

St Paulites "nicer"? Not sure what that means.

[Explorer John]

Interesting question. I agree with this:

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I don't think there is a difference between the residents themselves, although there are differences between the actual cities.

But also, don't residents contribute a lot to what a city actually is? And vice versa? I guess it's hard for me to look at each entity as independent of the other in this situation.

Anywho, I've heard heard the St. Paul = blue collar thing a few times. That's about it.

[Kebinminn]

I think the general view is that Minneapolis is young and left leaning. St Paul is older, more conservative and right leaning. I think of St Paul as more of a traditional east coast city and Minneapolis is more of a hip west coast city.

[uptown_urbanist]

I think the differences are more historical than modern, so I guess in my case, anyway, when I said there were differences between the cities it was more in terms of the past.

I agree that in the past St. Paul has been seen as the more traditional, "east coast" city and Minneapolis the young city of the west, but I don't know how much that really holds true today. I think there's some lingering aspects of it in that St. Paul overall seems to have a stronger tradition of preserving its past and appreciating its history, but it also seems that Minneapolis has finally started to embrace that more fully, as seen through the relatively recent Mill City Museum and all of the related emphasis on that part of the river.

In general, though, there's far more alike about the people of St. Paul and Minneapolis than there are differences. I know they're two separate cities, but the way they run right into each other means that basically there is one big urban core. Certain areas of Mpls/St. Paul might have their differences, but not necessarily any greater than do the different neighborhoods or districts of each individual city.

[Aylalou]

Originally Posted by Kebinminn

I think the general view is that Minneapolis is young and left leaning. St Paul is older, more conservative and right leaning. I think of St Paul as more of a traditional east coast city and Minneapolis is more of a hip west coast city.

Yes. Saint Paul has old money - Minneapolis nouveau-riche, at least that is the rumor.

Saint Paul sweatshirts and beer.
Minneapolis - stylish and wine.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Aylalou

Yes. Saint Paul has old money - Minneapolis nouveau-riche, at least that is the rumor.

Saint Paul sweatshirts and beer.
Minneapolis - stylish and wine.

Sounds like something from a Garrison Keillor skit more than reality. I vaugley recall one that had Guy Noir making the journey from St. Paul to a high society party on Mount Curve ..... Funny stuff, but overstated.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by Kebinminn

I think the general view is that Minneapolis is young and left leaning. St Paul is older, more conservative and right leaning. I think of St Paul as more of a traditional east coast city and Minneapolis is more of a hip west coast city.

St paul right leaning? No, not by a long shot. Socially it is more conservative, but not politically. I don't think St Paul has ever had a Republican mayor, at least not in modern times. The demographic is younger in Mpls, that is true, but that's social, not political. From Crocus Hill and the River Blvd. to the East Side and Frogtown, Obama and Franken yard signs completely overshadowed McCain and Coleman signs last fall.

[uptown_urbanist]

And of course most east coast cities are not exactly politically conservative, either!