Minneapolis-St. Paul
U.S. Census Bureau Areas |
|---|
| | |
|---|---|
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud CSA, MN-WI[1] | |
|---|---|
| 'Population' | 3,502,891 |
| 'Minnesota counties' | Anoka · Carver · Chisago · Dakota · Goodhue · Hennepin · Isanti · McLeod · Ramsey · Rice · Scott · Sherburne · Stearns · Washington · Wright |
| 'Wisconsin counties' | Pierce · St. Croix |
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MSA, MN-WI[ Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas of the United States and Puerto Rico U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division, Cartographic Products Management Branch ] | |
|---|---|
| 'Population' | 3,175,041[ Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 (CBSA-EST2006-01) U.S. Census Bureau ] |
| 'Largest city' | Minneapolis |
| 'Other cities' | Saint Paul · Bloomington · Brooklyn Park · Plymouth · Eagan · Burnsville |
| 'Density' | 489.7/sq mi.[2] (189.06/km²) |
| 'Area' | 6,364.12 total sq mi. (16483.07 km²) |
| 'Minnesota counties' | Anoka · Carver · Chisago · Dakota · Hennepin · Isanti · Ramsey · Scott · Sherburne · Washington · Wright |
| 'Wisconsin counties' | Pierce · St. Croix |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Urbanized Area[3] | |
|---|---|
| 'Population' | 2,367,204[ American Community Survey Data Products for: Minneapolis--St. Paul, MN Urbanized Area U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division ] |
| 'Minnesota counties' | Anoka · Carver · Dakota · Hennepin · Ramsey · Scott · Washington |
'Minneapolis-Saint Paul' is the most populous
urban area in the state of
Minnesota,
United States, and is composed of 188 cities and townships.
[4] Built around the
Mississippi,
Minnesota and
St. Croix rivers, the area is also nicknamed the 'Twin Cities' for its two largest cities,
Minneapolis and
Saint Paul, the state capital. The area is part of a larger U.S. Census division named 'Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI', the country's 16th-largest
metropolitan area composed of eleven counties in
Minnesota and two counties in
Wisconsin.
This larger area in turn is enveloped in the U.S. Census
combined statistical area called 'Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI' with an estimated population of 3.5 million people in 2006, ranked the 13th most populous in the U.S.
[ Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 (CBSA-EST2006-02) U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division ]
To remind everyone there were actually two cities, people started using the phrase Dual Cities around 1872, which evolved into Twin Cities.
[5] Despite the "Twin" moniker, the two cities are quite distinct from each other. Minneapolis, with its broad boulevards, easily navigable grid layout, and modern downtown architecture, has been referred to as the "first" (i.e. furthest east) city of the American West; Saint Paul, which sports narrower streets laid out much more irregularly, clannish neighborhoods, and a vast collection of well preserved late-
Victorian architecture, is considered to be the "last" (i.e. farthest west) of the Eastern cities.
[6] Also of some note is the differing cultural backgrounds of the two cities: Minneapolis being affected by its early (and still influential)
Scandinavian/
Lutheran heritage, while St. Paul was touched by its early
Irish and
German Catholic roots.
[7]
Often, the area is referred to as simply "The Cities," both within Minnesota, but generally outside the metropolitan region, and even in the bordering states of Iowa, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. Areas of Minnesota outside of the Twin Cities are collectively referred to as "outstate" by people from the Twin Cities metro area. Today, the two cities directly border each other and their
downtown districts are about 10 miles (16 km) apart. The Twin Cities are generally said to be in "east central" Minnesota. The Cities draw
commuters from as far away as
Rochester,
St. Cloud,
Mankato and
Eau Claire.
The region
The
U.S. Census Bureau defines the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area as a region of eleven
counties in Minnesota and two in neighboring
Wisconsin, an area which had a population of nearly three million people (2,968,805) in 2000. The area is growing rapidly; its population is projected to increase to four million in 20 years, and the Minnesota counties in this area were estimated to have a population of 3,090,377 as of April 1, 2005.
[8] When speaking of the ''Twin Cities'' however many locals are referring to an older seven-county area entirely within Minnesota, which is under the jurisdiction of the
Metropolitan Council. It is common for outstate Minnesotans to refer to the area as ''The Cities''. The majority of state residents live in the Twin Cities region, although fewer than one in four people in the metro lives in the two core cities. The area is one of several distinct
regions of Minnesota.
Bloomington, Minnesota, home of the
Mall of America, is the third-largest city in the metro area and is in close contention for third place in the state, coming in at just about the same size as
Duluth and
Rochester in the 2000 census. (While most locals do not consider
Bloomington to be a major city but a very large
suburb, since the 2000 census it has been included as a named city in what is now termed the ''Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MSA''.)
There are multiple "rings" of suburbs extending outward from the core area, and having two central cities can make it difficult for visitors or new residents to learn the arrangement of cities and towns. There are 188 municipalities in the seven-county region alone, and there are 334 in the eleven-county region.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have competed for attention ever since they were founded, sometimes resulting in a fair amount of duplication of effort. The two cities have sometimes tried to outdo one another by building bigger or more extravagantly. Both cities have campuses of the
University of Minnesota, for instance (although the Minneapolis campus is much bigger today), and after St. Paul completed its elaborate
Cathedral in 1915, Minneapolis quickly followed up with the equally ostentatious
Basilica of St. Mary in 1926. In the late 19th and early 20th-centuries the rivalries became so intense that an architect practicing in one city was often refused business in the other. The rivalry could occasionally erupt into inter-city violence, as happened at a 1923 game between the
Minneapolis Millers and the
St. Paul Saints, both of the
American Association.
In the 1950s, both cities competed for a
major league baseball franchise (which resulted in two rival stadiums being built), and there was a brief period in the mid-1960s where the two cities could not agree on a common calendar for
daylight saving time, resulting in a period of a few weeks where people in Minneapolis were one hour "ahead" of anyone living or traveling in St. Paul.
The cities' mutual antagonism was largely healed by the end of the 1960s, aided by the simultaneous arrival in 1961 of the
Minnesota Twins of the
American League and the
Minnesota Vikings of the
National Football League, both of which identified themselves with the state as a whole (the former explicitly named for both Twin Cities) and not with either of the major cities (unlike the earlier
Minneapolis Lakers). Since 1961, it has been common practice for any major sports team based in the Twin Cities to be named for Minnesota as a whole, with the Twins and Vikings followed by the
Minnesota North Stars (1967–93),
Minnesota Muskies (1967–68),
Minnesota Moose (1994–1996),
Minnesota Pipers (1968–69),
Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–77),
Minnesota Kicks (1976–81),
Minnesota Strikers (1984–88),
Minnesota Timberwolves (1989–present),
Minnesota Thunder (1990–present),
Minnesota Lynx (1999–present),
Minnesota Wild (2000–present) and
Minnesota Swarm (2005–present).
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Minnesota
Arts and entertainment
Dancing, acting and building art shanties on the frozen
Medicine Lake
The Twin Cities area is considered the capital for the arts in the
Upper Midwest, the lead region among others such as the
Twin Ports (
Duluth, Minnesota-
Superior, Wisconsin),
Madison, Wisconsin and
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There is a very high per-capita attendance of
theatrical, musical, and
comedy events across the area, which some believe may be boosted by the cold winters but can be more realistically attributed to the large number of colleges, universities, and a generally strong economy, providing strong supply and demand for arts. In 2000, 2.3 million theater tickets were sold in the region. There are more theatre seats per capita than in any other American city, besides
New York City.
[9]
Minnesotan musicians from all genres have gained notoriety over the years, with the singing
Andrews Sisters gaining worldwide prominence during
World War II, followed most notably by Hibbing, MN native
Bob Dylan (who launched his career playing free shows on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus), to the rise of
punk rockers
Hüsker Dü,
Soul Asylum,
the Replacements, and the
rhythm and blues stylings of
Morris Day and the Time and
Prince in the 1980s. R&B mega-producing team
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis have origins in the Twin Cities, and jazz musician
Lester Young lived there for a time in his youth.
These later sources brought the Minneapolis music scene to national attention; the period from about 1977 to 1987 was a period of incredible dynamism in the Minneapolis music scene, with offshoots in the punk scene including
Soul Asylum,
Babes in Toyland, the
Clams and many other seminal favorites, while Prince's immense power in the industry (which peaked during this period) created a
Rhythm and Blues mini-empire at his
Paisley Park Studios, based in suburban Chanhassen.
While contemporary local artists continue to enjoy critical acclaim — examples include
hip-hop duo
Atmosphere and frontman
Slug's label
Rhymesayers Entertainment; the smaller
Doomtree; and commercially successful pop-rockers
Semisonic — things have slowed considerably, but the Twin Cities are still the region's musical hotbed. The area has also shown an unusual affinity for certain artists. For instance, while largely unnoticed on their home turf in
New York City, the Twin Cities accounted for the majority of national sales for
Soul Coughing's second album ''
Irresistible Bliss'' during its first eight weeks of release; this followed from the fledgling fan that Soul Coughing found here while touring for their first effort, ''
Ruby Vroom''.
Minnesota and Wisconsin have also contributed significantly to comedy in its many different forms.
Garrison Keillor is known around the country for resurrecting the old-style
radio comedy with ''
A Prairie Home Companion''. Local
television had the
satirical show ''
The Bedtime Nooz'' in the 1960s, while area natives
Lizz Winstead and
Craig Kilborn helped create the increasingly influential ''
Daily Show'' decades later. The standup scene of Minneapolis-St. Paul during the 1980s and 1990s was a major force in national comedy.
Joel and Ethan Coen have produced many
films featuring
dark comedy, and numerous others brought the offbeat
cult shows ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000'' and ''
Let's Bowl'' to the national
cable-waves from the Twin Cities.
Outdoors
There are a number of
lakes in the region, and cities in the area have some very extensive
park systems for
recreation. Some studies have shown that area residents take advantage of this, and are among the most physically fit in the country, though others have disputed that. Nonetheless,
medicine is a major industry in the region and the southeasterly city of
Rochester, as the
University of Minnesota has joined other
colleges and
hospitals in doing significant research, and major
medical device manufacturers started in the region (the most prominent is
Medtronic). Technical innovators have brought important advances in
computing, including the
Cray line of
supercomputers.
It is common for residents of the Twin Cities area to own or share
cabins and other properties along lakes and
forested areas in the central and northern regions of the state, and weekend trips "up North" happen through the warmer months.
Ice fishing is also a major pastime in the winter, although each year some overambitious
fishermen find themselves in dangerous situations when they venture out onto the
ice too early or too late.
Hunting,
snowmobiling,
ATV riding and numerous other outdoor activities are also popular. This connectedness with the outdoors also brings a strong sense of
environmentalism to many Minnesotans.
Religion
Minneapolis-Saint Paul is also a major center for religion in the state, especially
Christianity. The state headquarters of the missionary efforts of three churches are found here: The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the
Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota and the
Presbyterian Synod of Lakes and Prairies find themselves in, respectively, Saint Paul and Minneapolis; Minneapolis; and Bloomington. The headquarters of the former
American Lutheran Church was located in Minneapolis; the headquarters of
Augsburg Fortress publishing house still is. The
Minneapolis Area Synod and the
St. Paul Area Synod are the first and third largest synods of the
ELCA, respectively.
The Twin Cities have always had a Jewish population and are home to several
Jewish synagogues. There is also a strong
Indian community and in 2006, the first
Hindu temple opened in the Twin Cities suburb of
Maple Grove. A recent influx of immigrants from Laos and Northern Africa has brought many more religions to the area. There are several
Islamic
Masjids in the area; however, the Twin Cities are still lacking a proper
Mosque. There is a temple for the religion of
Eckankar in the suburb of
Chanhassen known as the Temple of Eck. In addition,
Hmong and
Tibetan
Buddhist communities exist in Saint Paul; a Hmong Buddhist temple opened in suburban Roseville in 1995. The area's first
Mormon temple opened in Oakdale, a suburb east of Saint Paul, in 2000. There are several very strong
Unitarian Universalist communities such as the
First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, as well as several
Pagan and
Buddhist groups.
There is also a strong non-religious community in the Twin Cities. Since as early as 1984 it has been home to many different groups including the
Minnesota Atheists,
Humanists of Minnesota,
Atheists for Human Rights, and the
Campus Atheists and Secular Humanists at the
University of Minnesota. The Twin Cities continues to become more religiously diverse each year.
Sports
Main articles: Sports in Minnesota,
Sports in Wisconsin
Some other sports teams gained their names from being in Minnesota. The
Los Angeles Lakers get their name from once being based in Minneapolis, the "City of Lakes" (Minne-"lake" or "water" in Dakota, -polis-"city" in Greek). Minnesota is also known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". The
Dallas Stars got their name from being a Minnesota team, the
Minnesota North Stars, as Minnesota is also known as "The
North Star State". To avoid favoring either of the Twin Cities, most teams based in the area use only the word Minnesota in their name, rather than Minneapolis or St. Paul.
The annual
Twin Cities Marathon is held in the fall with a course running through Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minneapolis was the birthplace of
Rollerblade and is a center for
inline skating as well as home to the most
golfers per capita of any city in the U.S.
Politics
Main articles: Politics of Minnesota
The Republican National Committee has announced that they will hold their national nominating convention at the
Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Prior, both cities combined to submit bids to host both the
2008 Democratic National Convention and the
2008 Republican National Convention. They competed against
Denver and
New York to host the Democratic Convention, and against New York,
Cleveland and
Tampa to host the Republican Convention.
History
Main articles: History of Minnesota,
History of Wisconsin
The first European settlement in the region was near what is now known as the town of
Stillwater, Minnesota. The city is approximately from downtown Saint Paul and lies on the western bank of the
St. Croix River, which forms the border of central Minnesota and Wisconsin. Another settlement that began fueling early interest in the area was the outpost at
Fort Snelling, which was constructed from 1820 to 1825 at the
confluence of the
Minnesota River and the
Mississippi River.
Fort Snelling held jurisdiction over the land south of
Saint Anthony Falls, thus a town known as Saint Anthony grew just north of the river. For several years, the only European resident to live on the south bank of the river was Colonel
John H. Stevens, who operated a
ferry service across the river. As soon as the land area controlled by Fort Snelling was reduced, new settlers began flocking across to the new village of Minneapolis. The town grew quickly, and Minneapolis and Saint Anthony eventually merged. On the eastern side of the Mississippi, a few villages such as Pig's Eye and Lambert's Landing developed and would soon grow to become Saint Paul.
Natural geography played a role in the settlement and development of the two cities. The Mississippi River valley in this area is defined by a series of stone bluffs that line both sides of the river. Saint Paul grew up around Lambert's Landing, the last place to unload boats coming upriver at an easily accessible point, some seven miles (11 km) downstream from Saint Anthony Falls, the geographic feature that defined the location of Minneapolis and its prominence as the Mill City.
The oldest farms in the state are located in Washington County, the eastern most county on the Minnesota side of the metropolitan area. Lake Elmo, just southwest of Stillwater, began with one farm in 1852 on the southwest corner of the intersection of what is now Manning Avenue and 30th Street, just east of downtown Lake Elmo. The barn, built in 1875, was restored in 1998 and still stands today, renovated as a house. The 1852 farmhouse was intentionally burned down in March 2007.
The
Grand Excursion, a trip into the Upper
Midwest sponsored by the
Rock Island Railroad, brought more than a thousand curious travelers into the area by
rail and
steamboat in 1854. The next year, in 1855,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published ''
The Song of Hiawatha'', an
epic poem based on the
Ojibwe legends of
Hiawatha. A number of natural area landmarks were included in the story, such as
Lake Minnetonka and
Minnehaha Falls.
Tourists inspired by the coverage of the Grand Excursion in eastern newspapers and those who read Longfellow's story flocked to the area in the following decades.
At one time, the region also had numerous passenger rail services, including both interurban
streetcar systems and interstate rail. Due to the width of the river at points further south, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area was briefly one of the few places where the Mississippi could be crossed by
railroad. A great amount of commercial rail traffic also ran through the area, often carrying grain to be processed at mills in Minneapolis or delivering other goods to Saint Paul to be transported along the Mississippi. Saint Paul had long been at the
head of navigation on the river, prior to new
lock and
dam facilities being added upriver in Minneapolis.
Passenger travel hit its peak in 1888 with nearly eight million traversing to and from the
Saint Paul Union Depot. This amounted to approximately 150 trains daily. Before long, other rail crossings were built farther south and travel through the region began to decline. In an effort by the rail companies to combat the rise of the
automobile, some of the earliest
streamliners ran from
Chicago to Minneapolis/Saint Paul and eventual served distant points in the
Pacific Northwest. Today, the only vestige of this interstate service comes by
Amtrak's ''
Empire Builder'' service, running once daily in each direction. That train is named after
James J. Hill, a railroad
tycoon who settled on
Summit Avenue in Saint Paul at what is now known as the
James J. Hill House.
Geography and geology
Main articles: Geology of Minnesota
Along with much of Minnesota, the Twin Cities area was shaped by water and ice over the course of millions of years. The land of the area sits on top of thick layers of
sandstone and
limestone laid down as seas encroached upon and receded from the region. Erosion caused natural
caves to develop, which were expanded into
mines when white settlers came to the area. In the time of
Prohibition, at least one
speakeasy was built into these hidden spaces—eventually refurbished as the
Wabasha Street Caves in Saint Paul.
While a few of the caverns have been cleaned up and are safe places, most are not. Over the decades, many people have been injured and killed while exploring them. A number of these incidents involved
asphyxiation, sometimes caused by smoldering
fires which used up much of the
oxygen in the caves and left deadly levels of noxious gases behind.
Because it is comparatively easy to dig through limestone and there are many natural and man-made open spaces, it has often been proposed that the area should examine the idea of building
subways for public transportation. In theory, it could be less expensive in the Twin Cities than in many other places, but the cost would still be much greater than surface projects. Additionally, a number of existing
utility lines would have to be moved. There are extensive networks under the cities, particularly Saint Paul where at least seven distinct tunnel systems have been built since the 1840s. Most are still used today.
Lakes across the area were formed and altered by the movement of
glaciers. This left many bodies of water in the region, and unusual shapes may appear. For example,
Lake Minnetonka out toward the western side of the Twin Cities consists of a complex arrangement of channels and large bays. Elevations in the metropolitan area range from above sea level in the northwest metro to at the edge of the
Mississippi River in the southeast.
It is the third most northern
U.S. metropolitan area in the
lower 48 states, after
Seattle, Washington and
Portland, Oregon.
Climate
Main articles: Climate of Minnesota
Owing to its northerly latitude and inland location, the Twin Cities experiences the coldest climate of any major metropolitan area in the United States.
[10] However due to its southern location in the state and aided further by the
urban heat island, the Twin Cities is one of the warmest locations in Minnesota.
[11] The average annual temperature at the
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is 45.4 °F (7.4 °C); 3.5 °F colder than
Winona, Minnesota, and 8.8 °F warmer than
Roseau, Minnesota.
[ Minnesota Weather Almanac, , Mark, Seely, Minnesota Historical Society press, 2006, ISBN 0-87351-554-4 ] Monthly average daily high temperatures range from 21.9 °F (-5.6 °C) in January to 83.3 °F (28.5 °C) in July; the average daily minimum temperatures for the two months are 4.3 °F (-15.4 °C) and 63.0 °F (17 °C) respectively.
[12]
Minimum temperatures of 0 °F (-18 °C) or lower are seen on an average of 29.7 days per year, and 76.2 days do not have a maximum temperature exceeding the freezing point. Temperatures above 90 °F (32 °C) occur an average of 15 times per year. High temperatures above 100 °F have been rare in recent years; the last occurring in July, 2006, during an unusually hot period in which the high temperature exceeded 90 °F on 17 of July's 31 days. The lowest temperature ever reported at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was -34 °F (-36.6 °C) on
January 22,
1936; the highest, 108 °F (42 °C), was reported on
July 14 of the same year.
[13]
Precipitation averages 29.41 in (74.7 cm) per year, and is most plentiful in June (4.34 in, 11 cm) and February (0.79 in, 2 cm) the least so. The greatest one-day rainfall amount was 9.15 in (23.2 cm), reported on
July 23,
1987. The city's record for lowest annual precipitation was set in 1910, when 11.54 in (29.3 cm) fell throughout the year; coincidentally, the opposite record was set the following year, which observed a total 40.15 in (102 cm).
[14] At an average of 56.3 in (143 cm) per year,
snowfall is generally abundant (though some recent years have proved an exception).
[15]
The Twin Cities area takes the brunt of many types of extreme weather, including high velocity straight line winds, tornadoes, flash floods, drought, heat, cold and blizzards. The costliest weather disaster in Twin Cities history was a
derecho event on
May 15,
1998.
Hail and
Wind damage exceeded
$950 million, much of it in the Twin Cities.
[16] Other memorable Twin Cities weather related events include the
tornado outbreak on
May 6,
1965, the
Armistice Day Blizzard on
November 11,
1940, and the
Halloween Blizzard of 1991.
A normal growing season in the metro extends from late April or early May through the month of October.
[17] The USDA places the area in the 4a
plant hardiness zone.
[18]
Buildings and structures
The four tallest buildings in the area are located in downtown Minneapolis. The first skyscraper built west of the Mississippi in 1929 was the
Foshay Tower. Today there is some contention over exactly which building is the tallest—most Minnesotans would immediately think of the
IDS Center if queried on the point, although most sources seem to agree that
225 South Sixth is slightly taller. But in early 2005, it was found that the
IDS Center is taller by a washroom garage on top, which brings its total height to 792 feet (241 m).
225 South Sixth and the
Wells Fargo Center only differ in height by a
foot or two, a rather negligible amount when considering all of the factors that can throw off the measurement of large structures. The IDS has communications towers that definitely are the highest points in Minneapolis, though some suburban broadcast towers in the region reach a much greater height.
Buildings have gone up and been torn down rapidly across the region. Some city blocks have been demolished six or seven times since the mid-19th century, and will undoubtedly reach an eighth or ninth cycle in short order.
[19] No single architectural style dominates the region. Instead, the cities have a mish-mash of different designs, although structures from a few eras stand out. There were once a great many stone buildings constructed in the
Richardsonian Romanesque style (or at least Romanesque-inspired variants).
Minneapolis City Hall is one big example of this, though buildings of all types—including personal residences such as the
James J. Hill House—were similarly designed.
[20] A few decades later,
Art Deco brought several structures that survive today, including
St. Paul City Hall, the
Foshay Tower, and the
Minneapolis Post Office.
St. Paul and Minneapolis in particular went through some massive
urban renewal projects in the post-
World War II era, so a vast number of buildings are now lost to history. Some of the larger and harder to demolish structures have survived.
In fact, the area might be signified more by
bridges than buildings. A series of
reinforced concrete arch spans crossing the Mississippi River were built in the 1920s and 1930s. They still carry daily traffic, but remain pleasing to the eye despite their age (a number have undergone major repair work, but retain the original design). Several of the bridges are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. They include the
10th Avenue Bridge,
Intercity Bridge (Ford Parkway),
Robert Street Bridge, and the longest, the 4119 ft (1255 m)
Mendota Bridge next to Fort Snelling. The area is also noted for having the first known permanent crossing of the Mississippi. That structure is long gone, but a series of
Hennepin Avenue Bridges have been built since then at the site. Both downtowns have extensive networks of enclosed pedestrian bridges known as
skyways. Individually, the cities appear to have the largest such networks outside of
Canada. However, the combination of the two cities' networks is believed to make the largest system in the world. Skyways have their drawbacks however. Most prominently, they reduce the amount of foot traffic at street level, so the cities appear to have little activity. An additional problem is that the skyways tend to be closed fairly early—especially in Minneapolis—but they are hives of activity on weekdays.
Several prominent buildings in Minneapolis have helped modernize the city. These include the
Walker Art Center, Central Public Library, and the
Guthrie Theater. Opened in April 2005, the new Walker Art Center, nearly double in size, includes increased indoor and outdoor facilities. The Walker is recognized internationally as a singular model of a multidisciplinary arts organization and as a national leader for its innovative approaches to audience engagement. The Guthrie received a large amount of media coverage for its opening in June, 2006. The design is the work of architect Jean Nouvel and is a 285,000 square foot (26,500 m²) facility that houses three theaters: (1) the theater's signature thrust stage, seating 1,100, (2) a 700-seat proscenium stage, and (3) a black-box studio with flexible seating. In 2002 the
National Trust for Historic Preservation put the old Guthrie building on its list of the most endangered historic properties in the United States in response to plans announced by the Walker Art Center to expand on the land occupied by the theater. However, officials at the Walker Art Center say that the original Guthrie building will be torn down late in the summer of 2006. These building projects have rejuvenated the downtown area.
Transportation
Roads and highways
In the 20th century, the Twin Cities area expanded outward significantly. Automobiles made it possible for
suburbs to grow greatly. The area now has a number of
freeways to transport people by car. The area incorporates a large number of
traffic cameras and
ramp meters to monitor and manage
traffic congestion. There is some use of
high-occupancy vehicle (carpool) lanes, though it is not as pervasive as in other regions. When the roads do become congested,
buses are allowed to drive on road
shoulders to bypass traffic jams.
Interstate 94 comes into the area from the east and heads northwest from Minneapolis. Two spur routes form the
I-494/
I-694 loop, and
I-394 continues west when I-94 turns north. Additionally,
Interstate 35 splits in Burnsville in the southern part of the Twin Cities region, bringing
I-35E into St. Paul and
I-35W into Minneapolis. (This is one of only two examples of an Interstate highway splitting off into branches and then rejoining into one again; the other split occurs in
Dallas-Fort Worth, where I-35 splits into
I-35E for motorists who want to go into Dallas, and
I-35W for traffic heading into Fort Worth.) They join together again to the north in Forest Lake and continue to the highway's terminus in Duluth.
Air travel
The main
airport in the region is
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), which is a major hub for
Northwest Airlines. A number of other smaller airports are also in the area, a number of which are owned and operated by the
Metropolitan Airports Commission (the same organization operates the main MSP airport). Some people even
commute by air to the Twin Cities from the northern part of the state.
Public transit
Metro Transit, by far the biggest bus service provider in the area, owes its existence to the
old streetcar lines that ran in the area. Metro Transit provides about 95% of the
public transit rides in the region, although some suburbs have other bus services. The
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities operates a free bus system on its campus. This system includes the Campus Connector
Bus Rapid Transit line which travels between the Minneapolis and St. Paul Campuses by a dedicated bus line, and throughout the two campuses on normal access roads. The
Hiawatha Line light rail corridor began regular operations in June 2004, and is run by Metro Transit. In many ways a return to what existed in the past, it is being used as a stepping-stone to other projects.
A variety of rail services are currently being pondered by state and local governments, including neighborhood streetcar systems, intercity light rail service, and
commuter rail options out to
exurban communities. In addition, Minnesota is one of several states in the Midwest examining the idea of setting up
high-speed rail service using Chicago as a regional hub.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul area has been criticized for inadequate public transportation.
[21] Compared to many other cities its size, the public transportation system in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area is less robust. As the metropolitan area has grown, the roads and highways have been updated and widened, but traffic volume is growing faster than the projects needed to widen them, and public transportation has not expanded commensurate with the population. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is ranked as the fifth worst for congestion growth of similarly-sized U.S. metropolitan areas.
Although a
light rail system, the
Hiawatha Line was added in 2004, additional lines and spurs are needed to upgrade public transportation in the Twin Cities. Plans have been proposed for a
light rail line connecting the Minneapolis and St. Paul along
University Avenue, a
light rail line connecting downtown Minneapolis to the suburb
Eden Prairie, and for a commuter line connecting Minneapolis with
St. Cloud along the
Northstar Corridor.
Media
Main articles: Media in Minneapolis-St. Paul
Print
The Twin Cities have two major daily newspapers: ''
The Star Tribune'' and ''
The Saint Paul Pioneer Press''. Additionally, the ''
Minnesota Daily'' serves the
University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus and surrounding neighborhoods. There is only one other general-interest newspaper in the Twin Cities, a weekly in Saint Paul called the ''
East Side Review'' with a circulation one-tenth that of ''
The Saint Paul Pioneer Press'' and distributed freely in that city's ''
East Side''. Other weekly papers are devoted to specific audiences/demographics including
City Pages.
Television
The region is currently ranked as the 13th or 14th largest
television market, depending on the source.
Twin Cities Public Television operates both
KTCA and
KTCI.
Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation built by Stanley E. Hubbard owns
KSTP and has a second TV station,
KSTC, which is not affiliated with any network. Diversified from radio,
KSTP-TV became the first television channel to air in the region with a show reaching 3,000 television sets in 1948, and the 17th station to broadcast in the U.S.
[22]
KMSP and
WFTC have now merged as well, and
KARE currently has a marketing agreement with
KPXM. The only station with its main studios in Minneapolis is
WCCO, while St. Paul is host to KSTP/KSTC, KTCA/KTCI, and
KMWB. Other stations are located in the suburbs. For much of the last two decades, KARE has had the most popular evening newscasts of the area channels. On the other end, KSTP has struggled to maintain ratings on its news programs. KMSP has had a 9 o'clock newscast since at least the early 1990s when it was an independent channel.
Communities in the region have their own
public/educational/government-access
cable television channels. One channel, the
Metro Cable Network, is available on channel 6 on cable systems across the seven-county region.
Several television programs originating in the Twin Cities have been aired nationally on terrestrial and cable TV networks. KTCA created the science program ''
Newton's Apple'' and distributes a children's program today. A few unusual comedic shows also originated in the area. In the 1980s, KTMA (predecessor to KMWB) created a number of low-budget shows, including cult classic ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000''. The shortlived ''
Let's Bowl'' started on KARE, and PBS series ''
Mental Engineering'' originated on the St. Paul cable access network.
All of the full-power television stations serving the Twin Cities broadcast from the "Telefarm" - a complex of towers and transmitters in Shoreview, Minnesota, north of
St. Paul, at which the stations lease space.
Radio
The
radio market in the Twin Cities is considered to be somewhat smaller than for TV, ranked 16th. For decades,
WCCO radio was the most well-known and most popular broadcaster in the region, with an all-day
talk format. WCCO was eventually pushed out of the top spot by
KQRS, a
classic rock station with a popular morning show.
KSTP also has some fairly popular radio stations, with
pop music format on FM and a talk format on AM. KSTP-AM and FM are owned by
Hubbard Broadcasting. In 1985, Hubbard - valued at $400 million - was a large corporate media companies in the United States; in 2005, valued at US $1.2 billion, Hubbard is a fairly small major-market media operation.
Minneapolis has a peculiar mix of commercial and non-commercial radio. The city's market is dominated by
Clear Channel Communications which operates seven stations but two small independent stations are award winners—
KUOM operated by the
University of Minnesota and
KFAI public access radio in
Cedar Riverside.
[23]
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is also a major force in the state and across the country, best known across the U.S. for the variety show ''
A Prairie Home Companion''. Doing business under the name
American Public Media, the company is the second largest producer of national public radio content, behind
National Public Radio (of which MPR is an affiliate).
Honors
The
United States Navy currently has one ship named for the region, the
USS ''Minneapolis-Saint Paul'', a
''Los Angeles''-class submarine launched in 1983. Previously, two sets of two ships each had carried the names
USS ''Minneapolis'' and
USS ''Saint Paul''.
See also
★
Minneapolis, Minnesota
★
Saint Paul, Minnesota
References
1. Combined Statistical Areas and Component Core Based Statistical Areas, December 2005, With Codes Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau and State/County Reference Wall Map U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division, Cartographic Products Management Branch
2. Geographic Comparison Table: United States and Puerto Rico -- Metropolitan Area U.S. Census Bureau American Fact Finder
3. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Urbanized Area (geographic coverage map) Metropolitan Council
4. Snapshot of the Region Metropolitan Council
5. Why Are We Twins? Accessed 1/15/2007
6. http://www.world66.com/northamerica/unitedstates/minnesota/stpaul
7. Saint Paul: History
8. Minnesota Demographic Center Population Estimates Accessed 09/07/06
9. Gopher Express
10. Minneapolis Minnesota
11. History of the NWS in the Twin Cities
12. Climatography of MSP
13. Temperature Summary - 215435 MINNEAPOLIS WSFO AP, MN
14. Precipitation Summary - 215435 MINNEAPOLIS WSFO AP, MN
15. Snowfall Summary - 215435 MINNEAPOLIS WSFO AP, MN
16. Top 10 Minnesota Severe Weather Events 1990-1999
17. Growing Season Summary - 215435 MINNEAPOLIS WSFO AP, MN
18. USNA - USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map:North-Midwest US
19. Lost Twin Cities, , Larry, Millett, Minnesota Historical Society, ,
20. The Spirit of H.H. Richardson on the Midland Prairies, , Paul Clifford, Larson, Iowa State University Press, ,
21. Metropolitan Council Release on Traffic Congestion Accessed 10/16/2006
22. A History of Minneapolis: Radio and Television Minneapolis Public Library
23. HD Radio - Minnesota iBiquity Digital Corporation and Independent Public Radio
External links
★
Flyby video courtesy NASA/Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio
★
Fact sheet about Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area Comparison
★
History of the National Weather Service in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
★
Twin Cities Daily Photograph — One photograph a day of the Twin Cities Metro Area
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