437,069
Population
Sunny Days: 198
90100 Affordability
85100 Schools
80100 Diversity
65100 Safety
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cosmopolitan & Provincial
Minneapolis Sunset, Credit: Choice Hotels
Mill City Museum
Minneapolis Art, Credit: Adriaan Greyling
LookyLOO Review of Minneapolis.
It's Just Right
It's big enough to feel cosmopolitan but small enough to avoid that scene when you’re not feeling it. In other words, if you like a Hobbit lifestyle but want to reserve the right to mix with the erudite, arts-oriented crowd, the twin cities are good for you. You can get the city when you want it, and the quiet life when you don’t.
Winter is a six-month grind in the Twin Cities that can be difficult to adjust to if you’re not used to winters. While the city does its best to mitigate the havoc this can wreak on city infrastructure, winter driving in Minneapolis has historically been more of an issue than in other midwest cities like Chicago. Brush up on your winter driving skills and pack a coat or three.
Lifestyle
Minneapolitans are considered nice-ish, public radio listening, Prius/Subaru-driving, fashion-illiterate, hardworking, responsible, slightly judgmental and environmentally conscious. Locals are well educated and there is a certain ‘house mouse’ vibe (readers, walkers and urban monks), but make no mistake, Minneapolitans get loud for their pro baseball, football, hockey (of course) and basketball teams.
Minneapolis is also serious about performing arts, none more so than theater, and the city is known for its quality craft beer scene. One common critique is that dating and making new friends is hard as it tends to be a standoffish culture (the term ‘passive-aggressive’ gets tossed around a lot in conversations about twin city dwellers).
If you want to see what locals get up to for fun and culture check out the calendar of events.
Worklife
There’s a ton of employment variety in Minneapolis for a mid-sized midwestern city. Big-name corporations like Target, Best Buy, and UnitedHealth headline the list of local Fortune 500s. Health and medical jobs are readily available as Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Upsher-Smith and the National Bone Marrow Donor Program are prominent local employers. Finally, industrial and food heavyweights 3M and Cargill round out the major employers. Generally, the average wage is slightly higher and the average cost of living slightly lower than national averages, so on balance it’s a solid economy.
Schools
Minneapolis Public School District is above average, earning a "B" grade on niche.com. College Prep, Clubs, and Diversity are its highest-performing characteristics.
MPS assigns students to schools based on neighborhood but students can apply to any of the 50 community schools or 13 magnet schools that emphasize arts, STEM, or dual language.
Higher-performing schools in MPS are extremely geography-centric, with the majority of schools receiving "A's" on the scoring sites primarily in the southwest corner of the city. The high-fliers include:
-Southwest Senior High receives an "A-" overall grade on niche.com. Southwest offers AP classes, IB, and Gifted Student programs.
-Washburn Senior High is another high-performer, receiving an "A-" on niche.com with higher grades for Academics and College Prep.
Why You Should Move Here Now?
Stable Market and a Cozy Midwestern Atmosphere
The job market in Minneapolis is excellent, with good wages and an unemployment rate well below the national average. That coupled with a smaller town feel makes Minneapolis a great place for youngsters or families to consider.
Reviews of Minneapolis from Locals
Winter is Coming
bigger_sky
Living in Minneapolis
2y ago
✭✭✭
I moved here almost 3 years ago. Here are some of the things that I do and don’t like:
Like:
•great for outdoor activities at all times of year
•bike infrastructure is terrific by North American standards
•people are generally a lot more polite and courteous than where I grew up
•traffic is not too bad for a city this size
•pretty good craft beer scene
•bus system is one of the better ones in the US
•great art scene
•the summers here are insanely nice (even though locals will complain about the heat)
Dislike:
•for a major us city there isn’t a lot of street life in most places that you would think there would be (ie downtown)
•very car centric outside of a handful of neighborhoods
•people are much more reserved and shy toward strangers than what I’m used to
For more reviews of Minneapolis from locals check out: The Reviews
Living in Minneapolis
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Neighborhoods in Minneapolis
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The Area
Nicknamed “Twin Cities,” Minneapolis and St. Paul are close enough to connect by an easy to navigate rail system. Both cities are in the central northeast part of the state, close to Wisconsin. Minneapolis lies along the Mississippi and the Minnesota River, highlighting the importance of water to both the city and the state of Minnesota. As “The Land of 10,000 Lakes,” Minneapolis doesn’t disappoint with 13 lakes, wetlands, rivers, creeks and waterfalls, and more all within city limits. Minneapolis and St. Paul sit tucked away from other major midwest cities. The closest major metropolitan area is Chicago, a 6-hour drive southeast.