What's not to like about Minneapolis?

Posted at 9:01 AM on January 30, 2009 by Bob Collins (14 Comments)
Filed under: Surveys and trivia

Over the years, Minneapolitans have gotten accustomed to being at the top of various -- and usually, trivial -- surveys with questionable methodologies. Gird yourself! We're at the bottom of a survey of popular places to live.

First the bad methodology part: The Pew Center called people up and asked them whether they'd like to live in particular cities. If you've never been to Minneapolis and someone called you at the edge of winter and asked you if Minneapolis turns your crank, would it?

Now the results: Nearly half of the people surveyed said they'd rather live somewhere else. Denver, San Diego, and Seattle were top ranked.

Only Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Cincinnati were rated worse than Minneapolis. Only 16 percent of those surveyed said they'd like to live here. Most of those who want to live here are young people, make between $30,000 and $50,000, have some college or are college grads, are evenly split by political party, and are more liberal.

Here's the full report.

---

Comments (14)

Those people just don't know how great Minneapolis is! I would love to live there again! Though, the traffic wasn't great.

Posted by Alanna in MI | January 30, 2009 9:36 AM

---

Doesn't bother me in the least. I don't think I'd want to live somewhere that the masses thought was a great place to live. Atlanta, Vegas and Dallas/Fort Worth have all been boom cities, attracting lots of growth. None are particularly appealing.

Posted by bsimon | January 30, 2009 9:42 AM

---

Maybe they should have asked about St. Paul instead.

Posted by Erin | January 30, 2009 9:52 AM

---

(Bob: Edited out name-calling. We don't do that here.)

Minneapolis is the best city ever! I love lists like that- they keep idiots who take that crap seriously away!

But it is true- winter is brutal... and my opinion has no weight becuase I am moving to NM in 3 wks.

Posted by nikki | January 30, 2009 10:15 AM

---

Bye, Nikki! We'll miss you!!!!

Posted by Heather | January 30, 2009 10:54 AM

---

The winters here are not nearly as sufferable when we have so many broomball and hockey rinks all over the place! Hooray for winter activities!

Posted by Joel | January 30, 2009 11:06 AM

---

Speaking of hockey rinks....

(The quality is better on Facebook)

Posted by Bob Collins | January 30, 2009 11:12 AM

---

I'm more of a broomball player myself (used to play hockey, but I can't skate very well). Aside from our official league games, a group of us gather at McRae every Sat to play and always get enough people to fill at least two teams. It's great fun. Afterward it's nice to go home and take a nap.

Posted by Joel | January 30, 2009 12:45 PM

---

//Speaking of hockey rinks....

(The quality is better on Facebook)

Posted by Bob Collins//

please try to stay on topic bob.

nikki-you will be missed. i would love to live in nm

Posted by wegottagetouttahere | January 30, 2009 4:54 PM

---

"... Though, the traffic wasn't great". Posted by Alanna in MI

Sadly Alanna, as the economy gets worse the traffic gets better.

Posted by tiredboomer | January 30, 2009 5:14 PM

---

When you're talking about reasons to live in Minnesota, the fabulous parks and public skating rinks are DEFINITELY on target.

I don't see Denver, or San Diego, or Seattle putting up a rink in their downtown.

Living here, I don't have to worry about huffing and puffing up a flight of stairs (at least for reasons of altitude), there's little chance a wildfire will wipe out my house, and it doesn't rain every day. None of the top three can say that.

Posted by Bob Collins | January 30, 2009 5:31 PM

---

Outside of the brutal winters, and steamy summers with that week of "good" weather in between, Minnesota isn't really attracting people for any given reason. Actually, would it be crazy to think we're best known for our giant mall? Honestly, downtown (outside of places like Mill City Museum and First Avenue) is kind of boring to somebody from any metropolitan area anywhere else in the world.

I spent a month in Portland in October. I loved it. A few people kept asking me why I stay where I'm at and don't just pick up everything and move there. I don't know if I could do months and months of rain and mud like they do, nor could I tolerate a city that shuts down so severely for a snow storm. People here are ready for piles of snow, and unless we're talking about dangerously cold weather, the folks I meet don't really care what the temp is. It's refreshing.

Posted by Nick I. | January 31, 2009 8:18 AM

---

I'd just like to say, having visited Minneapolis only once about 3 years ago, it was the biggest surprise of my life, and I daydream about one day moving there, winters and all.

Posted by Leci | February 1, 2009 2:32 AM

---

From an above post: "Minneapolis is the best city ever! I love lists like that - they keep idiots who take that crap seriously away!"

Perhaps it's that kind of over-sensitivity that keeps people away. Do you think people in Chicago or Boston or NYC care where they finish on these lists? Fuggedaboudit....

Posted by Jon | February 1, 2009 9:09 PM

---

Post a comment

The following HTML tags are allowed in your comments:
+ Bold: <b>Text</b>
+ Italic: <i>Text</i>
+ Link: <a href="http://url" target="_blank">Link</a>
Fields marked with * are required.

Name*:

E-mail Address*:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments*:

Comment Preview appears above this form upon pressing the "preview" button. Edit your comment and press "preview" again, until you are satisfied with your comment.

Your comment may not appear on the blog until several minutes after it was submitted.

• E-mail this page
• Print this page
• Save to Delicious
• Submit to Digg
• Share this

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories

Become a Sponsor