About the Minneapolis, Minnesota Area 

MINNEAPOLIS 

One of the “Twin Cities” together with St Paul, Minneapolis is known for its beautiful natural surroundings, sophisticated arts and culture, and ample recreational opportunities. Home to about 375,000 residents, Minneapolis has the largest school district in the nation and superb universities and health care. The symphony and opera company are both world standard and the local art and theater scene is flourishing. Well planned indoor and outdoor recreation make the most of the city’s diverse seasons, and pretty parks contrast appealingly with the skyscrapers of downtown. The plentiful lakes and parklands in the city’s suburban outskirts mean that you never have to drive too far to escape the big smoke. Housing is affordable in comparison to many national centers of the same size and employment plentiful, which makes Minneapolis particularly popular with working families. 

Location/Geography/Terrain
Minneapolis is in Minnesota’s Hennepin County, just opposite St Paul on the western bank of the beautiful Mississippi River. 

Minneapolis is on the Mississippi River and is surrounded by a regional patchwork of lakes and waterways. Triangular Hennepin County is bordered by three rivers; the Mississippi to the east, the Minnesota to the south, and the Crow to the west (the Mississippi and the Crow meet at the northern apex of the county). Lake Harriet is one of a chain of lakes on the city’s western border. Standing about 820 feet above sea level, Minneapolis covers about 55 square miles. 

Distance to 3 closest major cities
Just 10 miles west of St Paul across the Mississippi River, Minneapolis is about 5 miles southwest of Lauderdale and 6 miles north of Richfield. 

Jobs
As a major American city and key Midwestern center, Minneapolis has a steady and flourishing economy, based largely in manufacturing, anchored by a vibrant and vital downtown, and supported by a primary international airport. Recent years have seen a great deal of downtown redevelopment and revitalization, with the construction of the Nicollet Mall in the 1980s, an innovative system of skyways between skyscrapers, and the Minneapolis Convention Center in 2002. 

Principal manufacturing sectors include electronics, milling, machinery, medical products, food processing, and graphic arts. An ever increasing number of high technology industries are providing welcome diversification. The University of Minnesota and other local colleges and universities provide a ready supply of trained talent for this new and burgeoning industry.  

Along with neighbouring St Paul, Minneapolis has become the financial hub of the upper Midwest, and seven of the largest financial institutions in the Twin Cities are based here. The Ninth Federal Reserve District Bank has its headquarters here along with 16 of the country’s Fortune 500 corporations and 30 Fortune 1000 companies.  

Major employers include the State of Minnesota, the US Government, Target Corporation, the University of Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic, Allina Health, Northwest Airlines, Fairview Health, 3M Corporation, and Wells Fargo Bank. 

Wages compare well with costs of living in Minneapolis. When compared to the other 25 largest cities in the nation, the Twin Cities area has one of the lowest costs of living. 

Housing
Affordable housing characterizes Minneapolis and the real estate market has seen steady growth in recent years. Buyers will find considerable variety here, both in price and in quality, with historic 1920’s homes on the creeks and lakes fetching a higher price than new homes in outer suburbs. 

Because much of Minneapolis was built in the Deco period between 1900 and 1925, many homes have pretty period details like hardwood flooring, built in buffets, and vintage details. Single-family homes from this period tend to sell for between $250 to $450,000 depending on size and location, and downtown lofts and condominiums have a similar price range. Condominium and townhouse sales have a median price of $315,000 at present. Charm and convenience attract buyers to central Minneapolis.  

Further out prices are often lower; homes can start at around $150,000. Light rail and improved highways into downtown makes the commuter lifestyle a convenient and more affordable choice for many. 

Parks/Sports/Recreation/Golf
Plentiful rivers, lakes, well-designed connecting parkways, and wilderness areas characterize the Twin Cities, and give residents plenty to enjoy in every season. Parkways connect for miles around the lakes and Minnehaha Creek and civic plantings and arboretums bring additional beauty to the city. Summer brings hiking, fishing, swimming, outdoor golfing, boating, family picnics, and outdoor concerts and festivals; winter provides the ideal conditions for ice skating, skiing, snow shoeing and fun in the snow.  

With 136,900 acres of parkland and 950 lakes in the metro area alone, Minneapolis residents never have far to go to enjoy the outdoors. Tourism has become an important local earner in recent years, providing additional incentive for beautification and protection of rural spaces. Some of the nicest city parks include Armatage Park with its many ball fields and children’s playground, the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary complete with wetlands, forests and prairies; pretty Loring Park in the heart of the city, historic Mill Ruins Park on the Mississippi riverbank, and the tranquil Lyndale Park Gardens with which has attractive formal plantings. The extensive Theodore Wirth Park has an 18-hole golf course, a bike path and walking trails, a soccer field, a playground, and a picnic area all set in beautiful native forest and surrounding Birch Pond, Wirth Lake and the Bassett's Creek lagoons. 

Minneapolis has some superb and highly scenic golf courses, especially those found on the Mississippi River and around the lakes on the city’s western border. Championship courses can be found nearby in surrounding communities. Some of the most popular courses in Minneapolis include the historic Columbia Golf Course, the Fox Hollow Golf Club on the Crow River, the Francis A Gross course close to downtown Minneapolis, the scenic Hiawatha Course with its lakes and ponds, and Lakeview Golf Course, to name but a few. Reservations may be required at city courses so it pays to phone ahead to confirm your game.

Special Attractions/Events
Minneapolis is a sophisticated city with a diverse cultural life. Top museums and galleries and good local theater, music, and performance enrich the lives of citizens, who celebrate their various cultural origins in a range of local events. Some of the best museums and art galleries in include the Bell Museum of Natural History, the Hennepin History Museum, the Gehry designed Fredrick R. Weisman Art Museum, the Minneapolis Center for Photography (MCP), the world-class Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the country’s biggest metropolitan sculpture park. 

Rich in natural beauty, Minneapolis has several beautiful buildings and parks, including the historic St Paul’s Cathedral, famous for its massive copper dome, and Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River. The pretty Chain of Lakes on the city’s western border are surrounded by beautiful walking and biking trails, and inner city green spots like Loring Park contrast attractively with the high rises. 

A major sport town with numerous pro and college teams, Minneapolis offers much to the spectator, and various local clubs and organizations promote sport at the family level.  

The Twin Cities are also known for the excellence of their shopping; Minneapolis’s Nicollet Mall and Uptown shopping district are two of the city’s most popular, and the nation’s largest shopping center, The Mall of America is a short distance away in neighboring Bloomington. 

Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
The Minneapolis region was originally home to the Mdewakanton band of the Dakota (Sioux) Nation, a hunter-gatherer culture greatly skilled in horsemanship. France claimed the North American interior in 1671 and over the next decade, several explorers and religious fathers entered Mdewakanton territory. French father Louis Hennepin (namesake of Hennepin County) was captured by the Dakota in 1680 and was privileged to see their sacred falls, which he promptly renamed “St Anthony Falls” for his patron saint (the name stuck).  

From the sixteen-eighties onwards the region was under European rule, at least on psper. Ownership passed from France to Spain and back to France, and it became part of the new United States in 1784. After Independence, the lands west of the Mississippi (including what was to become Minneapolis) were purchased from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase. 

By 1819, the Mdewakanton were trading furs with the American Fur Company and by 1838; their lands east of the Mississippi were opened up to white settlers. Just a year later prairie had been turned into farm land, many Dakota had been killed by Whooping Cough, the buffalo were gone, and most other edible animals severely depleted. Under pressure, the Dakota gave up their land rights in return for cash payments, which they used to survive.  

The Minneapolis region remained a fort (Fort Snelling) until the mid-eighteen-fifties, when it was opened up to settlers. These pioneers were mostly Scandinavians and Germans. Locals chose the name “Minneapolis” for their new settlement, following the suggestion of a local schoolmaster and the “h” was soon dropped. His proposal joined a derivative of the Dakota term “Minnehaha,” or “Laughing Waters” with the Greek “polis” or “city.” The first town government was formed in 1858 and Minneapolis was incorporated in. 

While Minneapolis has many buildings from its earliest days as a settlement, including the beautiful St Pauls Cathedral, much of the city was built during the 1900-1930 period and many fine Deco and Nouveau dwellings remain. 

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