Minneapolis, Minnesota

Whenever people ask about the highlight of my 1.5 year-long #workabout back in 20COVID, my answer is usually Milwaukee — it’s like mini-Chicago and an amazing place to visit & hang out. However, after spending a few days there, Minneapolis might now get my vote for “Most Underrated US City”

Arriving by bus doesn’t give you the best first impression, though: It’s clean & safe, but the station is beneath the highway, which makes it a tad dark & unwelcoming:

But you then emerge in to a perfect little city:

Lots of modern glass & steel buildings, but some lovely old stone & brick ones as well:

It feels like it’s the perfect blend of old industrial city and (unlike Bismarck & Duluth) a modern metropolis. The’ve also somehow managed to thread the political & financial needle, as all their major sport stadiums are downtown, which makes for year-round evening energy.

One unique thing the downtown CBD has are skywalks that attach to & connect all the buildings:

I’m sure they’re nice in winter, but they feel like airport terminals to me, and they take away some of the street life:

Like most major US cities, it’s clear that downtown has been emptied out in the post-COVID WFH world, and there definitely isn’t as many people on the streets during the day as there should be (those skywalks definitely don’t help this).

If the lack of daytime street energy ever gets you down, all you have to do is walk yourself to the Mississippi, where there’s a long, beautiful park & path:

It takes you amongst all the great bridges that connect Minneapolis to St. Paul to the east:

Speaking of water, the suburbs are all about the lakes, and offer some real good livin’:

Side note: I splurged & stayed in a Cambria hotel when I was there, and my favorite thing about Cambria rooms is the bluetooth speaker in the bathroom mirror:

Minneapolis has an amazing library (and about three cops on every floor to keep it nice, calm, & safe):

The library is new, so it’s clear the city is investing in the future. The city is so perfectly-sized, clean, walkable, vibrant, historical, modern, it just seems perfectly setup for whatever comes next. Indeed, with everything it has to offer, and the warming climate, I agree with my friend John when he says he’s “long Minneapolis”.