When will Minneapolis boom?

[10,000Lakes]

[quote=knke0204;13910300]Very True, just look at the troubles in SoCal, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and much of Florida.

Yeppers!! We live in Socal right now and I hope the cities and surrounding areas stay the same.

[MN55]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

The Cities (like most places throughout the nation) could use a boom right about now.

There's a difference between some solid economic growth and a boom. We need the former, certainly not the latter.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

x2.

I love the Cities. I'd have to consider moving if this area ever boomed like Phoenix or Atlanta.

Atlanta ain't booming right now. It'll be back to that pace in a few years, perhaps, but right now things are barely moving again...

[northstar22]

I know Atlanta was one of the big boomtowns of the 1990s. Not sure what's happened to it since then. What is the economy based on?

Also, how long have you been living down there?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

I know Atlanta was one of the big boomtowns of the 1990s. Not sure what's happened to it since then. What is the economy based on?

Also, how long have you been living down there?

One of the big driving engines of the Atlanta economy was real estate, both residential and commercial. Seriously ... adding 100,000+ people a year to a metro for the past few decades will do that, and a lot of things seemed to assume never-ending expansion.

Well, it ended, at least for a little while.

Atlanta has a pretty diverse economy in general, but the real estate bust has really hammered a number of sectors. That's why unemployment here has been above the national average for the past several months (March numbers were 10.6% for Georgia, 10.8% for the Atlanta metro).

I've only been down here since late 2004 (moved here from Eden Prairie). But things have REALLY changed even in that short five-year period.

There were dozens of new subdivisions being built when we first moved down here, and we saw several areas of trees and areas with older homes converted into subdivisions of newer houses in just a couple of years in the area of southern Smyrna where we lived (suburb on NW corner of metro).

2-3 years ago things stopped cold, and now some are restarting again slowly while others are basically vacant lots with roads and might not be restarted for a while. I'd say most are at least restarted, but there's a tremendous housing glut here, and real estate was already somewhat inexpensive in this area compared to the Twin Cities or either coast.

[northstar22]

Wow. Those unemployment numbers are almost as high as Michigan. It's amazing how things can go from boom to bust so quickly.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

Wow. Those unemployment numbers are almost as high as Michigan. It's amazing how things can go from boom to bust so quickly.

Oops. The Atlanta metro is only 10.4%. It was 10.7% in March, but I guess it actually dropped.

Metro Atlanta unemployment drops to 10.4 percent | The Biz Beat

And I guess Georgia has been above the national unemployment rate for 30 consecutive months. Fun...

[GrandviewGloria]

It did boom. But now it has 'diversity' and so the dynamic responsible for the boom (an intelligent, motivated, well-behaved populace) is being destroyed. Only if other large cities in the region are destroyed more rapidly will Minneapolis continue booming (the best businesses are going to go to the least-awful cities).

Minneapolis boomed economically, I've been told. But it did not metastasize like Atlanta and Phoenix. You will find that most people in those cities are the sort who "cannot find America on a map". The typical Atlantan goes to the grocery store, church, and Walmart. Otherwise, she sits and watches Cable, on a giant television, flopped-out on rent-to-own furniture, swilling sugary soft drinks from 2-liter bottles, until it's time to go pick up her son at the dialysis clinic, and then fry dinner.

In contrast, I've found the inhabitants of Minneapolis to be the sort who could find Andorra on a map, or Luxembourg, or even Iraq (almost missed that one, myself...small map...lots of squiggly lines...) (Thank you, Miss South Carolina, for bringing this issue to the forefront).

Minneapolitans are the perfect people, if you ask me. So quiet. So focused on productive activities. The gyms are silent, and I can work out for whole bliss-filled afternoons. The atmosphere is so stress-free (contrasted to Jackson, Mississippi, where people are so loud and obnoxious, you're worn-out after half an hour in the same gym with them).

Minneapolis boomed in terms of quality. Those Southern cities only boomed in terms of quantity.

And then there's Tater Tot Hotdish. Nothing so ambrosial exists in any booming Sunbelt city, I'm sorry to say.

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria

Minneapolis boomed in terms of quality. Those Southern cities only boomed in terms of quantity.

This is full of win.