Twin Cities

From Imakoopedia

The Twin Cities area of Minnesota consists of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and their associated suburbs, although the boundaries of the "seven county mosquito control district" are rather vague. Most of the population of Minnesota lives and works in this area.

Table of contents

1 Understand 1.1 Read 2 Get in 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Buy 7 Eat 8 Drink 9 Sleep 10 Stay Safe

Understand

Located where the Minnesota River joins the Mississippi, the Twin Cities grew in the 1800s from its location at the intersection of two major rivers, the Minnesota and the Mississippi, and rail lines. For a period the point furthest downstream that the Mississippi could be bridged was located in the area, if only due to the fortuitous island placement.

Read

• Minneapolis Star Tribune or the STrib' is Minneapolis' daily paper.
• St. Paul Pioneer Press is not perhaps as widely read as the Strib, but has a larger Pulitzer Prize-to-staff ratio keeping it well in place as a solid regional and world news source.
• City Pages is the local metro weekly, with theatre and music listings, and an annual "best of" issue well worth checking out. http://www.citypages.com/

Get in

Two Interstate Highways, I-94 and I-35 travel through the Twin Cities travelling east/west and north/south respectively. Several other national and state highways also travel through the area.

For commercial air travel, the Twin Cities area is served by the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP).

For rail travel, there is an Amtrak station in Saint Paul.

For bus travel, both Minneapolis and St. Paul are served by Greyhound.

Get around

Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and some of the closer suburbs are all served by buses run by the Metropolitan Council Transit Authority (http://www.metrocouncil.org/) (Metro Transit). There are also other transit authorities serving the outlying suburbs.

A light rail (http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/light-rail/) line is currently under construction. In late June 2004 it opened connecting Fort Snelling to downtown Minneapolis, with the line extending to the airport and the Mall of America in December 2004.

The downtowns of Minneapolis and Saint Paul both have extensive skyway systems for walking from building to building without having to go outside, allowing people to avoid the cold winter weather. There are also tunnel systems connecting several buildings on the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus.

See

• Science Museum of Minnesota, 120 W. Kellogg Blvd St. Paul, Minnesota 55102, (651) 221-9444, Open 9:30 am to 5 pm Monday through Wednesday, 9:30 am to 9 pm Thursday through Saturday, 10 pm to 5 pm Sunday. The Science Museum overlooks the Mississippi River and has a permanent exhibit devoted to the river. The museum also has a dinosaur fossils gallery and an experiment gallery with various hands-on activities. The collections gallery includes several quack medical devices from the now-defunct Museum of Questionable Medical Devices. http://www.smm.org/
• Minnesota Children's Museum, 10 West Seventh Street at Wabasha, St. Paul, 55102. T-Th, Sat-Sun 9pm - 5pm, F 9 pm - 8 pm; Mon (Memorial Day - Labor Day) 9 am - 5 pm. Consistently rated among the top ten children's museums in the US, with lots of hands-on activities. http://www.mcm.org/
• Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Walker Art Center 725 Vineland Place Minneapolis, MN 55403. Open daily, 6 am-midnight. The Sculpture garden is an outdoor exhibition of sculptures from many different different artists, including the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry. http://www.walkerart.org/
• Mill City Museum, 704 S. 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Open 10 AM to 5 PM Tuesday through Saturday, Noon to 5 PM Sunday. This interactive museum, an arm of the Minnesota Historical Society, recounts Minneapolis' history as the flour milling capital of the world. The eight-story "Flour Tower" ride describes life in the mills, and leads to an observation deck atop the Washburn A Mill, formerly the world's largest flour mill. http://www.millcitymuseum.org/
• Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Avenue South. Tu-Sa 10AM-5PM, Su 11AM-5PM. "The Minneapolis Institute of Arts houses more than 100,000 objects from diverse cultural traditions spanning 5,000 years of world history." General admission is free. http://www.artsMIA.org/

Do

Being located in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the Twin Cities offers many aquatic activities. Many lakes offer swimming beaches with on-duty lifeguards. Fishing and ice fishing are popular activities, but be sure to purchase a fishing license first. Licenses are, unfortunately, rather expensive if you live outside the state, but can be purchased at most sporting goods stores, bait shops, and even some gas stations. Short-term licenses are also available.

• Como Park in St. Paul, 1294 Lexington Parkway North, St. Paul, MN 55103-1000, is a 100-acre park with a huge glass-domed Conservatory built in 1913, a lake with paddle boats, small but world-class free zoo, an amusement park with rides, and the beloved Cafesjian's Carousel (http://www.ourfaircarousel.org/).

• The Minnesota Zoo (http://www.mnzoo.com/) in Apple Valley, MN about 10 miles south of the Mall of America, is Minnesota's large world-class zoo. Open every day but Thanksgiving and 12/25, from 9am - 4pm or 6pm seasonally, $7 - $12 admission (plus $5 for IMAX theatre); parking $5 (cars) - 15 (motorcoaches).

• ValleyFair amusement park. Most common amusement park fare is available, including thrill rides, kiddie rides, and a waterpark.

Buy

The Twin Cities have many shopping centers, the list gently spoofed by radio humorist Garrison Keillor in his list of imaginary malls ending in "-dale":

• Brookdale, Brooklyn Center
• Rosedale, Roseville
• Ridgedale, Minnetonka
• Southdale, Edina, considered the first modern shopping mall, is the first fully-enclosed shopping mall. http://southdale.com/go/history.cfm
• Mall of America, Bloomington, the largest shopping center in the United States, second largest in the world. Too huge to see in one visit. Take the kids to "Camp Snoopy" or go miniature golfing.

If you prefer a more old-school shopping experience, try:

• the Nicollet Mall pedestrian street, downtown Minneapolis
• the Uptown area, centered on Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street, south of downtown Minneapolis and extending East to the Lake/Lyndale avant-garde theatre district.
• Grand Avenue, west of downtown Saint Paul between two of the liberal arts colleges that sprinkle the region. Parking on Grand can be difficult during peak times; try Summit Avenue, one block north. http://www.grandave.com/
• Midway Shopping Mall, University Avenue and Snelling, St. Paul.

Eat

• Famous Dave's Barbeque & Blues 3001 Hennepin Avenue South, Minneapolis, 612-822-9900. There are other locations, but this is the place to come for live music. Great BBQ and great music, every day. Noisy atmosphere, even when the bands aren't playing. Family-friendly. $5-$19. http://www.famousdaves.com/
• Green Mill Restaurant & Bar 57 South Hamline (at Grand Avenue), Saint Paul, 651-698-0353. There are many locations in the Twin Cities as well as some throughout Minnesota and surrounding states but it all started here. They tout themselves as "Minnesota's most awarded pizza". Order your deep-dish Il Primo with the Walleye Strips and a pitcher of fresh beer right when you sit down because the pizza take 30+ minutes to cook. Family-friendly. $7-$17 per entree. http://www.greenmill.com/

Drink

• Great Waters Brewing 426 Saint Peter Street, downtown Saint Paul, (651) 224-2739. Ten beers (some rotate) brewed on site. Good variety and overall quality. http://greatwatersbc.com/
• Green Mill Brewery 57 South Hamline (at Grand Avenue), Saint Paul, 651-698-0353. Fair but fresh beers. http://www.greenmill.com/

Sleep

Stay Safe

Minneapolis' crime rate is below average for American cities, and it's a pretty safe place. Both the downtown and the "Uptown" area are busy late into the night. Minneapolis has some neighborhoods that are considered more dangerous, but compared to larger cities, there are no areas of the city that are truly decayed.

The Minneapolis police force has a history of poor relations with members of the city's black and native american residents, and travelers from these ethnic groups should be aware of this.

Saint Paul's crime rate is higher, and the downtown, while not necessarily at all dangerous, is relatively empty at night, except in a limited area near a few restaurants, the Xcel Energy Center (an arena), and the Ordway Center (a performance venue).