urbanMSP

Believe me, it ticks me off to no end when my mail comes with a Minneapolis address. If I wanted to be associated with the city I'd live there.

The Convention & Visitors Bureaus (CVB) of Burnsville, Eagan, and Lakeville have apparently banded together to produce a joint tourism board going by the name "Minneapolis South".

http://www.minneapolissouth.com/about-m ... -south.cfm

What's the deal with Apple Valley? Not invited? Or did they decline the invitation? They're practically surrounded and they have a zoo...hmmm....

I wondered the same. AV has one of those fairly minimal CVBs that is just an offshoot of the local Chamber of Commerce. It would be strange if they didn't eventually team up with "Minneapolis South".
http://applevalleychamber.com/tourism-cvb.cfm

By comparison, Burnsville, Eagan, and Lakeville each have more robust CVB websites. Perhaps that is precisely why "Minneapolis South" was created...because they were spending too much individually and probably duplicating a lot of functionality.

Maybe Apple Valley wants their AmericInn, Applebees, and other destinations to win out over the other "Minneapolis South" establishments of the same variety.

Top 10 Twin Cities suburbs for young professionals.

http://www.movoto.com/minneapolis-mn/be ... essionals/

If I had to buy/rent in the suburbs, Hopkins, SLP, and Robbinsdale would be high on the list. But Burnsville and Shakopee? Swing and a miss.

Top 10 Twin Cities suburbs for young professionals.

http://www.movoto.com/minneapolis-mn/be ... essionals/

....and Ham Lake pulls up the rear. To be fair, I've never been to Ham Lake, so I don't have anything in particular against that specific suburb. But I do use it as a synecdoche when referring to outer reaches of suburban living in general. "Oh that new golf course by the new Lowe's? Right next to Ham Lake, isn't it?"

Well lucky for you it's Prior Lake on the list, not Ham Lake, so you can continue your snark

Man though, Ham Lake. How did it not make the list? They've been getting some great press lately. I don't see why a progressive young professional wouldn't fall in love with a place like this. It's practically uptown north!

http://www.startribune.com/ham-lake-off ... 303186621/

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... y-boots-no

The 6th district: A little bit of Alabama in Minnesota.

Well lucky for you it's Prior Lake on the list, not Ham Lake, so you can continue your snark

Prior Lake made the top 10. Scroll down. Ham Lake came in 37th....

Man though, Ham Lake. How did it not make the list? They've been getting some great press lately. I don't see why a progressive young professional wouldn't fall in love with a place like this. It's practically uptown north!

http://www.startribune.com/ham-lake-off ... 303186621/

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... y-boots-no

The 6th district: A little bit of Alabama in Minnesota.

Oh man....this:

A city tree inspector’s walk across private property in search of diseased trees is business as usual in some Minnesota cities, but to Ham Lake city leaders, it’s an affront to community values of property rights and small government.

Declaring that he wouldn’t stand for “mandatory, jackbooted, stomp-on-your-property” inspections, Ham Lake Mayor Mike Van Kirk and the City Council unanimously wiped the provision allowing them off the books.

I love that Ham Lake quote. If residents there want to have infectious vegetation JACK BOOTED THUGS CANT STOP THEM!

I wonder the methodology that rated SLP's "amenities" so low. As far as young professionals, how many suburbs have two Targets?

I love that Ham Lake quote. If residents there want to have infectious vegetation JACK BOOTED THUGS CANT STOP THEM!

I wonder the methodology that rated SLP's "amenities" so low. As far as young professionals, how many suburbs have two Targets?

Excelsior Ave, the new Knollwood, and West End alone should have jacked SLP up more than a few notches. They sure have more going for them then Burnsville and Eagan Prairie. SLP should be way ahead of those 2. In other words, having dated shopping malls is what the millennial want over the Urban vitality of SLP! Just asking??

I ended up in Ham Lake once while driving around intentionally getting lost in high school. It felt like a world away from anything remotely nice, but I never knew anything about it really. Reading those articles kinda fits with the image in my mind.

Indeed. It's a shithole.

If I had to buy/rent in the suburbs, Hopkins, SLP, and Robbinsdale would be high on the list. But Burnsville and Shakopee? Swing and a miss.

I agree that those were odd choices for the list, but then again, what places got snubbed then -- Edina, Roseville, Richfield....?

I can actually see the case for Shakopee, since young Millennials probably would love easy access to the region's amusement park, poker club, racetrack and casino, and they're actively going after some of the more prominent businesses in the country, including Amazon and Shutterfly (even if those jobs are somewhat medial, and not high income earning).

Man though, Ham Lake. How did it not make the list? They've been getting some great press lately. I don't see why a progressive young professional wouldn't fall in love with a place like this. It's practically uptown north!

http://www.startribune.com/ham-lake-off ... 303186621/

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... y-boots-no

The 6th district: A little bit of Alabama in Minnesota.

That's really not fair.....to Alabama

What's the deal with Apple Valley? Not invited? Or did they decline the invitation? They're practically surrounded and they have a zoo...hmmm....

Since they have the zoo, as you mentioned, they may not feel the need to join in, as it is already one of the top tourist destinations in the state. Burnsville, Eagan, and Lakeville don't have anything like that. But that's just speculation; I have no idea what the true reason is.

I personally don't like the newer houses in Shakopee, they all have fronts that have so many gables and different surfaces that they're almost a parody or architectures, and sides and backs are flat surfaces with cheap vinyl siding. But it seems like a nice place for young people, and I see a lot of people with families. All the newer streets that are not dead ends have either a sidewalk or MUP, which is more than can be said for inner ring suburbs. Shakopee has been pretty aggressive at building new off-road trails. There's half a historic downtown left (the half that wasn't taken out for wide suburban-style roads leading to the bridge), Valleyfair. There's a lot of employment so you don't need to fight your way through traffic to downtown Minneapaolis.

I grew up in Ham Lake. It was awful and I cannot understand the mentality of those who choose to live there, full stop.