Wonderful area- great place to raise family
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5/8/2008
Both Minneapolis and St. Paul are wonderful cities. Minneapolis has more square feet of parks than any other city, and streets are lined with old trees. There are wonderful areas like East River and West River Parkway and Minnehaha, which have great trails for biking or running and waterfalls along the way. You can go cross- country skiing in the winter for free at some of the City owned golf courses in St. Paul. You can go swing dancing at the Wabash Street caves, an old gangster hang out in a huge cave formed by the Mississippi, or go Latin dancing any night of the week. And Minneapolis has more theaters and restaurants per capita than any other city. You can find authentic cuisine from any region, and you can choose between a gourmet version and pay $30 per entree or get an awesome meal at a place like Pho Tau Bay for $7 an entree. You can get rose pedal ice cream at Sonny's Crema Cafe on Lyndale and 34th, or sip martinis at the ice bar at Chambers while warming your hands by the bonfire. Minnesota also has the highest volunteer participation rate. As the other comments suggest, there may be problems like poverty and crime, but we have more people working to solve those problems than any other city. Also there are many non-profit organizations working on community integration. I personally often go and clean up parks in low-income neighborhoods.
Since there was a boom of brownstone apartments in the 1920's its so easy to find a charming apartment with beautiful woodwork and hardwood floors for a reasonable price on craigslist. Sure- maybe in Iowa or a small town in Wisconsin you may find the same sq. footage for of the cost- but it will be a 1960's carpeted box, and what are you going to do for entertainment, for culture, for exposure to a diverse community?
I have traveled a lot across the US, and in comparison to other cities, the Minneapolis and St. Paul area are simply the best. You get the culture and options in food and exhibits of Chicago, but the low prices of smaller Midwest towns. Its the best of all worlds, I will miss it terribly when I move away for grad school.
Bp | St. Paul, MN