Below you will find all the SperlingViews added about this city.
| Ope. Well hello there :) - 6/28/2021
Lived here since 2007. Great city. I would’ve gave it 5 stars but the winter weather ??. Great for many, I’m burned out on it. We’re the coldest major city in the US and that should say enough. I probably would give it 3 stars also for things like passive aggressiveness and how White it is compared to larger cities like Philadelphia (my home city) and New York. Still, I think it’s getting more diverse as the years go by and the social uprising is a HUGE plus in my opinion. Definitely recommend trying to live here if you’ve thought about it. Also rating it 4 stars to balance out these super low reviews ;) Also, glad to see the city be more vegan friendly over the years.
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| We play games better.. passive aggressive, or..? - 5/22/2021
It’s not Minnesota nice, it’s sardonic.. we know you’re full of **** but we will play along for a while, make you uncomfortable for attempting to pull one over on us.. We are one of the most educated cities (or used to be) and we will know **** when we smell it. ???????
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| Very livable! - 4/21/2021
I lived in Minneapolis (or St. Paul or Stillwater) for 20 years. Minneapolis is a very livable city. It has quality museums, good transportation, excellent healthcare, and the cost of living to the wages paid is really, really good. As a single woman, I could afford to buy a small but well-built house in a safe neighborhood.
However, most of my friends were also transplants. It's very, very hard to move from small talk at the office to true friendship. I lived in Minnesota for 20 years and never once called myself a Minnesotan.
Also, you'll get used to the weather. The trick is good socks and don't stay indoors once fall hits. If you always go outside, you'll adjust.
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| Jennie
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| Well, it's the Midwest..... - 2/26/2021
Terrible city for transplants without family in the area. Minneapolis is superficially a friendly city. Very brutal winters and high taxes. I had to travel there and live temporarily because of my job to learn what "Minnesota nice" meant. I wasn't pleased. I'm used to the down-to-earth people on the east coast and the warm, welcoming people in the south. I'm sorry, I wouldn't permanently plant roots here...knowing that my child would hate me for living here. Overrated expensive housing for the weather. It's also too liberal, smug, judgemental and prejudice. It's like a city that's hiding in the shadows of Seattle or San Francisco. Come on, this is the Midwest. The city should try to pattern behind southern cities. Dating within your race or dating here at all is almost non-existent, since most people marry straight out of high school or college. Thry stay married to the same miserable spouse in the lousy marriage forever. Not a cool city at all
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| Best of the Midwest! - 2/5/2021
Minneapolis is my hometown. One would think that that would skew my review, but I actually have a pretty honest take on this city. Many of the things that have been written about Minneapolis on this site are valid and accurate. The one thing I disagreed with was a review that talked about North Minneapolis which was actually confused with Northeast Minneapolis, two very different sections of the city. Thankfully Cory from Golden Valley set the record straight. North Minneapolis is NOT a kitschy, hip kind of place to hang out with great coffee shops! It is a poverty-stricken hood with high crime (mostly motivated by drug running) and really horrible inner city schools that are too busy trying to manage the crime to be bothered with teaching. If you don’t nail it down or lock it on the northside, it will come up missing! I know the area very well, as I grew up there.
That said l, there are many things to be enamored with about Minneapolis. But as others have done, let me start with the weather. If you don’t like the winter, don’t move here. Unless you have a pretty high tolerance, a -40° windchill in January that feels like it wants to kill you will not seem appealing! The flipside to that argument is called knowing how to dress for it. It’s not rocket science-it’s called layering. Put on an under layer. For ladies that can be anything from a camisole to a tank top. On top of that, go with long sleeve Thinsulate. It’s lightweight and allows your skin to breathe, not trapping the moisture against your body. On top of that, some form of a thermal layer such as a sweater or sweatshirt. And if you live Minnesota but don’t own a parka, you might want to move elsewhere! Equally important are such things as scarves, earmuffs, wool mittens, Gortex gloves and heavily lined winter boots. No, not rain boots - Snow boots like Sorels. When it gets really cold in Minnesota, crack out your long underwear and put it on underneath everything you wear. If you’re opposed to wearing long underwear ladies, go to your local drugstore and pick up a pair of ‘fleece lined leggings’. You will thank me.
I currently live in Chicago where I’ve been for the past 15+ years. Prior to that I spent a lot of time in the Philadelphia area. I’ve travel around quite a bit and I have to say that my hometown of Minneapolis has a lot to offer. Everything from layers of entertainment, great restaurants with a full-blown foodie scene, a fabulous art culture, unbelievable lakes and parks, plenty of places to worship, a variety of watering holes, comedy and theater scene that rivals other larger cities, several pro sports teams, and by far the best public transportation system I’ve ever seen. Buses that run constantly with s light rail infrastructure that is tracked for several layers of expansion in the next 10 years.
As much as the inner-city struggles with education, some of the best Midwest schools exist in the suburbs of this and it’s sister city of St Paul. Additionally, there are a number of higher educational facilities including a community college/technical school in downtown Minneapolis, along with both public and private universities. There are five locations of the University of Minnesota - Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester, and the Twin Cities. The latter has been dubbed a “Mini Ivy League” due to a number of top performing professors and a multitude of top 10 programs in various areas of study. It is also my alma mater.
Every city has its problems. Minneapolis is no exception. There is work to be done to improve the city’s overall management, financial structure and revamp the police service. Getting there will require the population to decide which way it’s leaning - liberal or conservative. And if it’s going live in the middle, it’s going to need politicians who are willing to compromise.
What a great city!
#Minne-apple
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| Decent & Underrated - 1/11/2021
I've only visited here, but at least half a dozen times and mostly for work. Minneapolis is the only Midwest city I'm familiar with having only visited Chicago twice by comparison. In fact (surprisingly) much of the geography and weather of the city and surrounding suburbs reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Northern NJ.
There are some other posters who have said Minneapolis gets overlooked and I'd have to agree with that. It has a clean and walk-able downtown, tons of bars, great food, nice hotels, art exhibits and museums, a major airport, great Universities & Fortune 500 company HQ's etc. Even the metro system is underrated. Aside lakes there are apparently a lot of bike trails as well but never tried them.
Does "Minnesota Nice" exist? Definitely, but not everyone who lives there is this type of passive aggressive. Some locals are especially sheltered and think MSP is the center of the universe (which clearly it's not). After visiting several times, it's easy to spot out these folks and move on. I've also found many in MSP are pretty independent as well and as I get older, I really tend to appreciate this personality trait (or maybe I'm just a cold person haha). It's also worth noting that it seems like the whole state for the most part is becoming more Conservative as time goes on (with some exceptions).
Speaking of cold, this is the major drawback with Minneapolis. Think of your typical Humid Continental climate on steroids: The winters are longer & colder, the summers are stickier & humid, and there really isn't much of a spring or fall season. I'll never forget last year when I was up there a week before Thanksgiving and it snowed and stuck to the ground in downtown and it was 5 degrees in the late afternoon. My legs were completely numb walking half a mile back to the hotel from my office.
I echo the other comments: don't move here if you can't handle the cold. And if you do, having an already established friend group would certainly help things out with "breaking the ice."
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| Candid review from a long time resident - 12/30/2020
I’ve lived in Mpls for 10 years and am originally from the Mpls metropolitan area. I’ve also lived briefly in Australia and Thailand so my comparisons are not National but here’s my take on MN.
The winters are simply too much. Even if you have the good fortune of heated parking at home and work and no pets that require daily exercise outside, the lack of sunlight and outdoor recreation for the majority of the year is very undesirable and to another reviewers point impacts our mental and physical health.
The city has also become combatively liberal particularly in the past 5 years or so. I’m a left leaning moderate but it’s even too much for me. The tolerance of criminal activity due to the deterioration of the police department in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death has been sad to see. Minneapolis has grown more unsafe each year over the past decade and there is much tension over wealth disparity and the lack of affordable housing. “Minnesota nice” is also a real thing, roots are deep and it’s hard to make friends with Minnesotans but we’re loyal so once you’re in you’re in.
Minneapolis though certainly has it’s merits. It’s a quaint city and the skyline in my opinion is one of the prettiest in the country. In the winter it looks like an ice kingdom. There are also quite a few restaurants and breweries and an art scene if you’re into that. There are also endless fitness options as Mpls residents are very health conscious, and the job market is good. MN is also lovely in the summer. Everyone comes back to life. The, “lake life” culture up in northern MN is why most people stay here. It’s truly unique and special. I’ll be moving in May for a change of scenery and milder winters but will miss Northern MN!
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| As underrated as they come! - 10/12/2020
Minneapolis native here - after college I left the state, and have lived in the PNW, the South, and the SW. I'm reflecting on my time in each, and writing a review for my hometown.
Having lived and traveled to many places, I can say that MPLS is VERY underrated. The city has so much to do, and is often overlooked, or thrown into the "boring Midwest" bucket. That is a mistake. I'll get this out of the way, if you don't like the cold, don't move here. Ok now that we are past that, I'll list some other pros and cons.
Pros: Culture (I believe the most theaters after NYC), world class museums such as the Walker Arts Center, a really solid food scene (its not LA food scene quality, but there are some amazing options, and you'll rarely run out of options), and a pretty great craft beer / coffee scene as well. The best park system, and among the best cycling infrastructure in the US. At times cliquey, but mostly kind-hearted people.
Cons: Besides MN United, all of the sports teams suck (don't dislike this review just because your grandpappy and his pappy before him bled purple and gold, most of the sports teams WILL let you down). Nature - now this one is a pro and a con, and it is really hard to write because MN has some AMAZING nature, Voyageurs, camping in the boundary waters, Split Rock light house, Taylors Falls. But when you've lived in CA or WA, nothing can really beat it. I have also lived near the Great Smokies, and I'd say there and MN are more subtle, soft spoken beauty, while the West coast is EPIC beauty. Both are lovely in their own right, but I share because if you are looking for endless hikes and breathtaking beauty, MN has it, but it isn't in your backyard like other cities (the state is pretty flat). Let me redeem myself among the haters by saying that MN (and maybe Colorado) and among THE BEST places to experience the 4 seasons. The job market can be a pro and a con, there are plenty of Fortune 500 companies there, and if you can land a job at Target, 3M, Medtronic, US Bank, etc, you are going to live a nice life in MPLS. Besides that, it is not super easy to find great jobs.
Overall there really aren't a lot of cons, and as I said, I think the city is super underrated, and if you are looking for a smaller, more cozy Chicago, or NYC, MPLS is a great option!
Other perhaps helpful information to know:
- The state is extremely white, but actually has pockets of diversity and corresponding cuisine which is nice (particularly Somalian, and Hmong)
- The city is for the most part, pretty liberal, and welcoming to LGBTQ+ and people in general
- West of the city is very wealthy, and has huge, beautiful homes. Uptown is sort of "hip," but pretty lifeless compared to other "hip" neighborhoods around the country (besides Bde Maka Ska, which is beautiful!), the North Loop is a great place to live if you are used to downtown, hip neighborhoods in bigger cities. North MPLS has that grungy, hipster, coffeeshop, art gallery vibe which is great (if you're into that sort of thing). Also don't forget to consider St. Paul neighborhoods (to the west of that downtown - the actual downtown St. Paul is pretty lifeless).
I hope this has been helpful! If you have just received a solid job offer and relocation package to MPLS, I'd so go in a heartbeat!
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| Not So Great - Minnesota - 10/9/2020
I have lived her 5 years and cannot wait to get out. This is the worst place I have ever lived. Taxes are high. You are taxed and assessed for any and everything. This is not a place for retirees. The winters are horrible and dangerous with the ice and low temps. The cost of living is high. The job market is stale. I find the state to be quite racist. It’s a tough place for black professionals.
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| MN Nice!? OK sure only on the surface not the soul - 8/7/2020
I Lived here for 3 years and I have to say Mn landscape nature biking etc is Nice lots of malls specially in Metro .Great Entertainment for sports it has NFL MLS MLB NBA WNBA HOCKEY so in that category it is awesome 5 stars. Concerts are ok could be better but good Food is ok could be better sure if you search you will find good places but not like other city's where good food is a rock throw away.The Cold here aint that Bad people over react it aint Alaska its just a hair worst then Milwaukee and Chicago.I have lived in IL and WI and I worked in both and in the job market I have to admit in MN if you dont have a degree or high skill you basically will be treated like a slave every where you work soo be aware of that work over load and pay is not that great doe not match economy here almost pays the same as Wi or IL but in IL and WI the dollar goes farther so Work Here in MN TWO Stars basically it sucks.My Opinion also MN is a lil racist I have personally experience more racism here in 3 years then in 10 years in WI so in comparison MN is more racist then WI and IL by the way almost zero racist experiences in IL,MN not only is more racist then IL n WI it is also way more class segregated much much more then WI n IL.Why did i give it 3 stars not 2 well because it is Beautiful here and if your tough and can survive the peoples BS and dont mind not having the best food here compared to other states If you just want to be in a small circle family only and can put up with shtty people at jobs or customer service at stores well you just might like MN I do but its has not been easy Mn Nice yeah the State NOT the People overall yes there is good and bad everywhere i know but I have just seen more bad here Then in WI and IL thats all.My experience take it for what its worth,But if you dont believe me just Remember his name FLOYD.oh and if your Asian or straight from Africa not black american you just might like this place because there is Alot of Asians her and shockingly alot alot of Africans IN Brooklyn Park and sorrunding areas.Im going to relocate soon back to IL the best out the three from WI and MN.But I might try Texas or Arizona ?
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| Our residents are Blue in more ways than one. - 6/1/2020
Disclosure: I'm 28 and have lived in Minneapolis or St. Paul for 19 years.
At this age I am maxed out on MN winters. They get harder for me every year. It is honestly 6 months of bad weather, October - April. While it might only be below zero or regularly blizzard-ing for a few months, what gets you is the lack of sunlight over that long period of time. January-February is usually where I lose speed. It really affects everyone's mental health. Everyone I know, even if they are very pro-Minnesota, gets darker (yet paler) in the winter.
It's comparable to an abusive relationship. When spring comes around, there is hope. You enjoy sun, lakes, being outside for long periods of time. It seems like anything is possible in summer. But then it's August, and the realization hits - You only have 2 more months until it all comes back.
Our residents are blue in more ways than one. (That's a political joke, and a weather joke, and a mental health joke).
Note: I am moving.
Second note: Minneapolis is a very large city. So add that on top of the weather and depending on who you are, it gets more awful. Small town Minnesota is great to visit.
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| Great city, COLD winters - 1/14/2020
I'm 16 yrs old and have lived here all my life. Minneapolis is a great city and has all the typical big city amenities. The education is really good here and this is a great place to start a family. I would've given it five stars if it weren't for the cold and snowy winters. The summers are good here and dosen't get hot that often. The cost of living is relatively good for such a big city. Overall, if you're looking to move, i would definitely check minneapolis out.
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| Not a Place for Me - 1/8/2020
The road rage is bad. I mean really bad. Every time I go on the road people are looking for fights. Cars Tailgate me eventhough I go the speed limit. Cars don't let me merge when the lane is about to end. And, for some odd reason, people start rolling eyes at me from their car for no reason at all! I'm just minding my own business and driving!
It stays cold for a long time. We have two season winter and summer. Winter lasts for almost seven months. Then there is Summer with endless mosquitos. So, if you don't like long winters and mosquito bites every time you go out, you won't like it here.
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| Great retirement location - 1/2/2020
My family has lived in Minneapolis since 1910; first my great grandparents and then my grandparents. My father was in the military and we lived all over southern U.S. states; whenever he was sent overseas, my mother, my siblings and I would come back to Minneapolis to stay with my grandparents. After my dad retired we returned to Minneapolis and lived because jobs were plentiful here and my dad was still young enough to work full time. When I married, we moved around to a few cities, Milwaukee, Ft. Wayne, back to Milwaukee and we searched for a place we wanted to retire, mainly in the south. No city matched the Twin Cities (Minneapolis & St. Paul) for the quality of life we wanted. We are close to the MSP airport so traveling is convenient. There are high quality medical facilities here, including satellite Mayo Clinic offices. Housing costs are reasonable although, there is a shortage of some types of facilities at the moment. There is little wait time if you want to dine out at a nice restaurant plus there are a wide variety of dining options available. The crime rate is low compared to other larger cities. If you are still working, there is a very low unemployment rate so jobs are available, both skilled and unskilled. Winter weather can be cold but if you like winter sports there are ski slopes and cross country tracks available throughout the area. There are also ice skating rinks available so if you dress warm, you can get in a lot of physical exercise during the winter months. If you aren't an outdoor person, there are lots of theaters available to enjoy plays and movies; lots of pubs to enjoy a beverage with your friends. With all these pluses on our list, we retired in 2015 and moved back to Minneapolis and love living here.
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| Born in Minnesota - 12/3/2019
Pro:Career OpportunitiesClean neighborhoodsWinter ActivitiesFamily OrientedFine DinningLakesFriendly People (passive aggressive)Education Cons:Predominately whiteLong WintersShort Summers (not much sunlight)ColdSegregated Racists (not in your face but you feel it)High State TaxLots of SnowDaylight SavingAverage foodCold (had to say that again)
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| My Opinion of the City - 9/14/2019
I've lived here for three years. I'm originally from a very rual state so I think I'm alittle biased because the city I moved from had a population of about 50,000. Overall I really like living in Minneapolis. I had been looking for bigger city to move to and of all the cities I visited I felt the most comfortable in Minneapolis. I don't what it is about this city but its a really easy and fun place to live. I was shocked to see there's cultural activities such as theatres and museums here. My favorite place to go is the Minneapolis institute of Art.
I was also shocked at the all parks and land that surround the city and that the streets are clean. Other cities I've been to that have the same population are not as clean. How modern the downtown buldings are is something I was surprised by. My first days here I would sit in park so I could look at the skyscrapers. I also like how easy it is to navigate and I think the public transit is good for a city its size even though I do get confused by Minneapolis and St. Paul being across the river it's hard to tell what city your in.
As far as what people are like, I think people are friendly. I'm a very introverted personality so I like to keep to myself. I don't go to nightclubs and bars so I have not really felt the passive aggressiveness that others have mentioned. To be honest the fact that people are more closed off here works for me because I have an introverted personality.
As far as weather goes I don't think it's awful and the winter is colder than what I'm used but what I really hate about winter here is how long it lasts. When it's April and it still snows when my hometown has warm spring weather I get in a bad mood. So I really love like Minneapolis. It's a beautiful fun yet easy going city.
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| Not an ideal place to live. - 9/6/2019
I’ve lived in Minnesota my whole life, 50+ years. The ONLY reason we’ve stayed, is for family, but that could be changing in the near future. There are WAY too many cloudy and rainy days, which makes it depressing. The humidity is always at 50% and higher, very uncomfortable and bad for the hair. There is WAY to much diversity, and it’s a very liberal place to live.
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| Things just work better here - 8/20/2019
I've lived in the Twin Cities for six years, and plan on living here in the future. No place is perfect, but Minneapolis and St. Paul are hard to top.
I think it comes down to a culture of honesty and public-spiritedness. Minnesota has the highest percentage of voters of any US state and the local newspaper here is one of the only ones anywhere in the country that isn't cutting staff and going downhill. People here are well-informed and engaged in improving their community. Corruption is not a big issue. Conversations about local issues are civil and productive. Things just seem to work better here, and it makes you optimistic about the future.
You see comments here about crime and traffic, but if you go look at the pages of other cities, you'll see the same stuff. The truth is, the Twin Cities are safer than most and easier to get around than most. Crime is going down just about every year, and this city is the cleanest in the country. In terms of getting around, the region is making big investments in transit and bicycle infrastructure that make it even easier to go to work, visit friends, or go shopping without having to get in the car. The light rail system may be small, but it's frequent and convenient. The bus system is decently extensive. They are building new light rail and rapid bus lines right now. There are also protected bike lanes all over, and the urban trails like the Midtown Greenway are what makes Minneapolis so great for bicycling. There's also a ton of housing construction in the densest parts of the city, where you can walk to everything you need.
Where Minneapolis and St. Paul especially shine is in the parks system. There's no other American city that I know of that has such great parks, and they are everywhere. Each neighborhood has at least one nice park, and the lakes and the river are really accessible to everyone. It's a legacy of how both cities were built in the early 1900's, and we are blessed to have it today.
I imagine a lot of people might read what I've written above and think that it sounds fine, but the climate is what scares them off. A couple things to say about that. First, the Twin Cities have seasons that each have something different to offer. Spring can take a while to get here, but when it does it feels like the whole earth is coming alive just for you. Summer in Minnesota is dry and the perfect temperature nearly all the time. Fall is beautiful, with the full suite of colors and dry brisk days.
Then there's winter. It can get really cold, especially in mid-January. But winter opens up all kinds of opportunities for outdoor activity, like skiing, skating, and sledding. It's also a great time to sit by a fire, drink hot chocolate, and get closer to the people you love. People here aren't paralyzed by the winter, they get out and enjoy it. Once you learn how to dress, nothing is a problem in winter. Lots of places have seasons that are tough. The East Coast has horrible muggy summers. The Pacific Northwest has winters where it's cold and rainy. The South and Southwest have summers that are just as incapacitating, except you sit inside in the dark with the air conditioning pumping instead of staying inside watching the snow fall and reading a book with a warm drink. Give me a Minnesota winter anytime.
This isn't a place for everyone. It helps to be kind and outgoing and willing to make the most of things in life. But if you like parks, or seasons, or enjoy being involved in your community, there are few places better.
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| All there is to know about MN from living there - 7/19/2019
July 19 2019: Heat Index 107 F
December 29 2017: "Feels like" -23 F
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| Honest Opinion from an Outsider - 6/14/2019
Pros: Instagram worthy skyline, Multiple small- to medium-size Fortune 500 companies (money and jobs); Intermodal transit; Affordable housing; Decent education (primary and secondary outpace than post-secondary options); Tens of thousands of tiny yet intricate lakes (some in the city, lots in the suburbs); Nature friendly (most of the city and Metro does not feel condensed and allows for a lot of green space); Nationally renowned dining; And many more...
Honestly, if you can mind the cons, it’s the perfect place to live.
Cons: Near arctic weather (most locals consider the warmer days as tolerable); Urban sprawl (do not expect to live in a medium- to high-rise building, those are reserved specifically for the articulately planned CBD); Post-war 20th century highway system (most of the Metro - neighborhoods and suburbs - are not walkable nor densely populated, they are separated by tiny degrading highways), even the downtown which once had so much potential for multipurpose integration was one of the unfortunate mid-size American cities to be destroyed by a surrounding loop freeway); recklessly designed suburbs which all mimic a Levittown (no appreciation to aesthetics or beauty); Oddly designed bicycle byways (if you are American and planning on biking here, do not ride on the streets as they do not seem bike-friendly; Everything is so spread out, it is not abnormal to drive ten min. or more for shopping or even 30 min. or more for work and/or other activities; Horrible location (do not expect to be in driving distance of any other American city worth visiting... unless you’re extremely frugal or prefer driving over flying); Surprisingly less trees and natural scenery than you’d expect for a Northern city (except the lakes); No waterfront (a dealbreaker for most, not to mention the loss of a coastal or great lake skyline); Flat geography (few hills, peaks, and vistas - has to do with glacial history); Spread out downtown (no pedestrians, no living, little shopping, yet a lot of money); Not world renowned by any means (most people in SE Wisconsin have never heard of St. Paul and seldom the Twin Cities unless for business let alone further states and the rest of the world); And a few more...
The cons are not meant to be offensive in anyway (Minnesota people are very prideful, and have a right to be so), but are based upon how locals describe Minneapolis and the surrounding Metro vs. how I (an outsider) perceived it upon first visit.
Overall I would say it is one of the best places to live in America, but it comes at many costs to sacrifice.
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