Beware of some posts
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3/31/2006
First, let me say the posts widest of the mark on Minneapolis are the most poorly written.
I will unabashedly say that I love Minneapolis, and have lived here most of my life. The bittersweet fact is that I will be moving (I haven't decided where) in a few years, pretty much entirely due to the winter being too long and harsh.
There are some negative stereotypes about Minneapolis that I will confirm. First, this is not a city for singles. I cannot underscore this enough. It is extremely hard to meet people here. This is a city to settle in, which most people have done: they have their families and/or circle of friends, so their dance cards are full and it is hard to break into a social circle. It is not *impossible* to befriend people here, it just happens at a slower pace than in other, more cosmopolitan places, and you'd better set your expections for that. In addition, this *is* the midwest: there is a degree of isolation that is natural when you are surrounded by hundreds of miles of corn fields.
Now to the good: there are three cities in this nation with three or more Tony-award winning theaters: New York, Chicago...and Minneapolis. In the arts and culture scene, Minneapolis is one of the biggest hitters in the nation. The cultural scene is not centralized on the big institutions, either: Arthur Frommer advises tourists to come to Minneapolis for the small theater scene. Minneapolis punches far, far above its weight in dance, visual arts, music, and opera. Bluntly put, if you cannot find anything to do in Minneapolis, you aren't cultured. In addition, St. Paul's vibrant cultural scene is across the river.
Minneapolis is clean. It is safe for a big city (ignore hysteria about crime and look at the statistics). It is one of the greenest cities in the country, with many tree-lined streets. There is sun, even in winter, and that sun is bright on cold, cold days when water vapor is frozen out of the air. The soil is black and fertile- a gardener's paradise in the spring, summer, and fall. The seasons change and transform the city into four different places a year. The Mississippi River flows through the city, as does Minnehaha Creek. There are 24 lakes, large and small, in the city limits.
Minneapolis has one the highest proportions of white-collar workers, one of the most educated populaces, the highest literacy rate in the nation, and is also one of the most wired cities in the United States. These are facts that can be b
Theo | Minneapolis, MN