Twin Cities really aren't that "isolated". (Minneapolis, Duluth: gated, beaches)

[Stiery23]

Originally Posted by kcitti

I think citing places like Sioux Falls and Des Moines drives home the fact that yes, we're isolated. Yes I'm sure some of them are great towns with stuff to see and do, but do they make Minneapolis any less isolated? No. These are really small cities and outside the upper midwest, people don't even recognize them as cities.

Outside of Omaha and Kansas City, I wouldn't even be familiar with those places in the least had I not moved up here.

Point is, yes, MSP is more isolated than many northeastern, atlantic and midwest (lower midwest) cities. In fact, we're trying to plan a few weekend trips this summer and noticed a serious difference in what we can drive to now as compared to what we were used to in Ohio.

Exactly. Let's call a spade a spade here. Mpls is very isolated in comparison to cities in the Northeast, and it is even isolated compared to other midwestern cities. St. Louis, for example, is 4-5 hours from KCMO, Chicago, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, and Indianapolis--not to mention smaller areas like Des Moines, Springfield, Evansville, and Lexington.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Duluth is well worth it, IMO, if only because of the huge differences between a port city and a landlocked metro area, but other than that Chicago was it as far as I'm concerned.

I just went on a road trip to Louisville this past weekend, driving from Atlanta to Louisville via Chattanooga and Nashville, and I thought it was neat to be able to drive through so many different cities so "quickly".

Yeah, Duluth is a great day trip, but Des Moines? Sioux City? Des Moines? Cedar Rapids? Omaha? Honestly, why don't you just throw St. Cloud, Mankato and Rochester on the list too while you're at it.

I've been to Des Moines before and I'd happily take that day of my life back...absolutely nothing to see there.

[Globe199]

Originally Posted by Slig

Yeah, Duluth is a great day trip, but Des Moines? Sioux City? Des Moines? Cedar Rapids? Omaha? Honestly, why don't you just throw St. Cloud, Mankato and Rochester on the list too while you're at it.

I've been to Des Moines before and I'd happily take that day of my life back...absolutely nothing to see there.

You must just be a stuck-up snob then ...

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by Globe199

You must just be a stuck-up snob then ...

Yep, that must be the case.

[Stiery23]

Yep, I must be a "stuck-up snob" too because last time I checked, Des Moines was not a hot tourist spot. I could probably think of 50 cities I'd rather visit before Des Moines. Not to discredit the city--it's really a pretty nice place with some great suburbs like Johnston, West DSM, Urbandale, etc. but by no means is it a mecca of tourism in the nation or even the Midwest.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Globe199

You must just be a stuck-up snob then ...

Yeah, because Sioux Falls and Omaha are worth day trips.

Not saying that they are bad cities, they are really awesome cities, but not touristy.

[ColdRedRain]

How many of those cities can honestly say they could walk from one major city to another in less than 3 minutes? If you think about it, we're the least isolated metro area in the country.

[paiste13]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

I think the OP's point was that Midwestern cities are often described as "isolated" while lots of the southwestern US (and similarly geographically 'remote' but non-Midwestern) cities he mentioned are less likely to be. I maintain that it has something to do with emotional reactions to visions of bleak, frozen corn fields.

You've hit it head-on. No one says Phoenix or Denver are isolated with the same attitude that they say the Twin Cities are isolated but they really are just as isolated. If anything, driving from TC to Chicago, there are tons of small interesting towns to see and history to explore but from Phoenix to LA there is basically rocky desert with very few stops.

And for all the people talking about how boring some of the small cities around the TC are, what do you expect to do on a day trip? My wife and I drive all sorts of places, eat at a local restaurant, look at some neat old buildings, maybe stop at an art gallery, and head home. Fun is what you make it and if the only way you can have fun on a Midwestern day-trip is to shop in an over-priced downtown than nothing will ever change your mind.

I personally find Galina IL or Amana Colonies IA quite interesting for a weekend trip.

[uptown_urbanist]

When I read the original post I took it to be a response to the recent thread asking for some of the negatives of the Twin Cities. On that thread some posters (including me, I think) did point to the Twin Cities' isolation as one of the negatives.

I haven't personally experienced hearing people talk about other also isolated cities in a different way (on that front) than they do the Twin Cities. That's not to say that there aren't people out there who do think like that (I've definitely heard plenty of negative Midwestern stereotypes), but if anything I've heard people talk about many other plains or western states as far more isolated than the Twin Cities. Those people tend to consider that a very good thing. For every person who thinks that being so far away from other big cities is an inconvenience there is another person who thinks that the more isolated, the better, as it generally means greater access to larger expanses of nature with fewer people around to share it with.

As far as why I do think it's a negative for the Twin Cities to be so far from other cities (in some ways; in other ways its isolation may be a benefit) is because it does lead to a lack of options. I love Galena and have spent plenty of long weekends in NW Illinois (where my husband is from originally), and I like smaller cities and towns like Duluth, Red Wing, Eau Claire, etc., but in other parts (not all, but some) of the country you can get choose option of plenty of interesting small to mid-size towns or cities or rural areas AND big major metropolitan areas. In Delaware we could go to the shore, see the mountains, rural areas, towns, major cities, etc., all within a couple of hours. It was also great from a jobs perspective. You could easily and relatively cheaply get in and out of another city for a meeting or to do research. And while there are certainly business opportunities in the small towns and cities within short distance of the Twin Cities, they're by nature (by sheer size) going to be more limited in opportunity. Obviously everyone's experiences are different, but professionally life was a lot easier when living on the East Coast. On the plus side, cost of living is generally much lower in Minneapolis which makes it easier to justify some travel, although that doesn't extend to spur-of-the-moment visits to DC to see the newest exhibit at the Renwick, a day in NYC to do some shopping, a visit to Baltimore to spend an afternoon doing research that may or may not amount to anything, a day exploring the backroads of rural PA or NJ, or so on. Those trips all involve a little more advanced planning and a little more thought about how to best use time. Add in the fact that the current passenger train system in the upper Midwest is terrible and it makes it that much more difficult; traffic isn't very bad and there are buses, but unlike many other large regions (including west coast cities like SF and LA) you can't easily hop on a train and go somewhere for the day. For some of us (including those who do drive but would prefer not to spend multiple hours of their travel time in the seat of a car) that's limiting.

[Astron1000]

Denver is FAR more isolated than the Twin Cities, and it's got nearly 1 million fewer people as well. The closest comparable city from Denver is Oklahoma City - nearly 500 miles away. Even Albuquerque & Salt Lake City are almost 400 miles away.

But a lot of it is perception and not reality. Take a look at the map of major cities below. Which ones are "isolated?"



Without any reference points and just looking at the distribution, you might come to some conclusions about what constitutes "isolation." It's not black-and-white. There is always a continuum of definitions.

Now take a look at the map again:



Included are Winnipeg, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.