Twin Cities' National and Global Image

[martykoessel]

Points against Minneapolis:

1. Cucking fold.
2. No mountains.
3. Minnesota Ice (vs. Minnesota Nice).

Points for Minneapolis:

1. A whole helluva lot more interesting culturally than most people who've never been here imagine.
2. Great parks and parkways.
3. A lot of people, when they really think about it, are more comfortable at 15 degrees and dry than at 90+ and humid. (But then there's August, darn it!)

[Nick]

3. A lot of people, when they really think about it, are more comfortable at 15 degrees and dry than at 90+ and humid. (But then there's August, darn it!)

-1,000

[uptowncarag]

Points against Minneapolis:

1. Cucking fold.
2. No mountains.
3. Minnesota Ice (vs. Minnesota Nice).

Points for Minneapolis:

1. A whole helluva lot more interesting culturally than most people who've never been here imagine.
2. Great parks and parkways.
3. A lot of people, when they really think about it, are more comfortable at 15 degrees and dry than at 90+ and humid. (But then there's August, darn it!)

Mountains? What does that have to do with anything? What people most people don't realize is that if you are an interesting person it doesn't matter where you live. People that complain about this and that are the least interesting people in the world and hard to be around.

[Didier]

Many equivalent cities (Seattle, Denver) have more interesting geography. Sorry lakes.

[Viktor Vaughn]

If the North Shore had real mountains minneapolis would be more attractive for a lot of people.

[mullen]

i just find it amusing people here bemoan we don't have "mountains". i have friends in portland who rarely visit their nearby "mountain". it's the grass is greener syndrome. i lived in tampa florida at one point and was always amused by the number of locals I met who didn't rarely went to the beach or looked when confused when I would ask them where a certain beach was located. these people spent their lives holed up in their air conditioned homes.

i know people who find phoenix a hot hell hole of a place.

i think this metro has tons of things and to do and a very active populace.

[EOst]

Mountains? What does that have to do with anything? What people most people don't realize is that if you are an interesting person it doesn't matter where you live. People that complain about this and that are the least interesting people in the world and hard to be around.

You can scoff, but there are a lot of people for whom mountains are non-negotiable. There are a lot of John Muir-wannabees out there.

[l12]

I'm not sure what this debate is about anymore. Make Minneapolis a great place to live, it will probably never be a hot destination for travelers nor young people who just want to move somewhere "cool." It's the Midwest! It has a nice combination of what makes the West coast cool and what makes the East coast cool, but it does not have anything unique or extreme enough that people will want to take the long trip just to visit it. I personally love it here, but this is the reality.

Actually, the things Mpls has that are extreme and unique among major US cities are: lowest unemployment rate, highest quality of living, and most educated population. This makes it an awesome place to live, but not an especially sexy place to travel or move to.

The only chance I can see to make anyone's "top 10" list ever would be to be known more widely as the highly-progressive artsy liberal, urban oasis it mostly is, which would require stepping up the game with things that get international/national attention like legal marijuana, and a lot more transit. Seattle, Portland and Denver are way ahead on these, plus mountains, but there is still a chance to become the most progressive city near the eastern half/population center of the US, which would be a boon. But the politics are still pretty conservative and moving too slow on these things.

Another thing that hurts Minneapolis: Do a Google search and the first thing you see is Minneapolis is "the 47th-largest in the United States." I know the explanations for this, but this looks really lame to the average, half-interested person.

Also, I agree that the snow/cold thing is very cool, beautiful, and could be exploited, but the problem is, most of the winter there is always the potential for it to be near or below 0 Fahrenheit. This is something that most Americans, and people in the world, have never, ever experienced, and it sounds very scary to them. They are not going to plan a trip knowing that this could happen, and they will think they need special clothes that they do not have. I know it is not that bad in reality, but most people do not. It would take a major marketing campaign to change this.

(The coldest I have been in my life, despite living in Mpls this winter, is actually when I went to Florida a few weeks ago and it was 60 degrees, rainy and damp. The humidity makes 60 feel like 40 but worse, bone-chilling, and the heat systems suck and you never ever get warm even for 1 minute. But, I can understand that people from these environments, where 30 degrees is miserably cold, don't understand how 0 degrees is livable, not realizing that here it is usually sunny and dry.)

[Minneboy]

If (and I say this lightly) Global Warming drastically affects this country, this area may be very popular for its water resources.

[uptowncarag]

Mountains? What does that have to do with anything? What people most people don't realize is that if you are an interesting person it doesn't matter where you live. People that complain about this and that are the least interesting people in the world and hard to be around.

You can scoff, but there are a lot of people for whom mountains are non-negotiable. There are a lot of John Muir-wannabees out there.

A mountain doesn't do anything. Look at Colorado. I would rather be by the water which we have plenty of.

[EOst]

A mountain doesn't do anything. Look at Colorado. I would rather be by the water which we have plenty of.

I mean, look, I live here the same as you; clearly we've made our choice. But just because we don't have a problem being far from mountains doesn't mean that a lot of people don't. Actually confronting that fact intellectually is what'll help MSP compete, not pretending it doesn't exist.

[martykoessel]

Hey, I was trying to make people smile with my points list. People either like living here or they don't. Not much to argue about. Chill, my friends.

[martykoessel]

One more thingamabob:

The following quote has been attributed to Mark Twain:

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

It appears that he never really said this, but it's cute anyway. Funny guy, that Mark, even when he's not really saying the funny stuff we thought he said.

[Didier]

My note about "more interesting geography" was referring mostly to perception, not how actively that geography is used. The nearby mountains are what makes Denver unique compared to similar cities, like Minneapolis.

[David Greene]

It has a nice combination of what makes the West coast cool and what makes the East coast cool, but it does not have anything unique or extreme enough that people will want to take the long trip just to visit it.

Crashed Ice? That's the sort of thing that is unique and draws people. We need more of that kind of event/festival.

(The coldest I have been in my life, despite living in Mpls this winter, is actually when I went to Florida a few weeks ago and it was 60 degrees, rainy and damp. The humidity makes 60 feel like 40 but worse, bone-chilling, and the heat systems suck and you never ever get warm even for 1 minute. But, I can understand that people from these environments, where 30 degrees is miserably cold, don't understand how 0 degrees is livable, not realizing that here it is usually sunny and dry.)

This is very true. Try Dallas in February. 33 degrees and steady rain. I have never been colder in my entire life.

[Didier]

The season I noticed most while living outside Minnesota was spring. Having warm, sunny days in March is very nice. Outside of that I like our seasons over most.

[seanrichardryan]

http://www.nytimes.com/video/fashion/10 ... ef=fashion

[Didier]

For a more unfiltered case study in our national and global image, check out the twitter reactions to Minneapolis getting the Super Bowl. Very mixed, but not all negative.

[twincitizen]

Is there a hashtag for easy searching/aggregation?

While fully realizing that the team is the Minnesota Vikings, would it kill the business community and the NFL to sell this as the Minneapolis Superbowl?? I'm going to cringe every single time I hear "the Superbowl is coming to Minnesota", "here in Minnesota", etc. This doesn't happen anywhere else. Seriously...when's the last time you've even heard someone say "Illinois"?

[MNdible]

Seriously...when's the last time you've even heard someone say "Illinois"?

You know that the "s" is silent, right?