[ When I wrote about there being social factors other than the cold keeping people from moving to Minneapolis, Sami Karam, a Lebanese immigrant who now lives in New York City and posts insightful demographic analysis as his site Populyst, mentioned that he'd had similar experiences trying to fit in there when he lived in Minneapolis in the 1980s. I asked him if he'd write up his experience, and he graciously agreed. While this story is about 30 years old, I believe it still holds relevance today. You can also follow Sami on twitter at … [Read more...]
How Long Before Regionalization Is Rebranded as a Suburban Bailout?
Back in January Strong Towns ran a great piece by Nathaniel Hood called "This isn't an annexation - it's a bailout." It's a short story about a town in Minnesota that's about to annex a small 1960's subdivision that somehow remained in incorporated territory for many years. Basically this subdivision enjoyed low county tax rates for years and now that its infrastructure is shot, it's finally interested in joining up with the adjacent city in order to enjoy some services. Hood correctly characterizes this as a bailout, and I agree … [Read more...]
Minneapolis-St. Paul – White, Liberal, Cold
Note: This post originally ran on December 12, 2010. As we are experiencing an early winter storm here in the Midwest, one that is particularly slamming the Twin Cities - the Metrodome roof just collapsed - perhaps it is time for a brief look at the Twin Cities. Minneapolis-St. Paul has always been a bit of an outlier in the Midwest. Its economy was originally based around grains and such, not the auto and metals axes that supported the rest of the Midwest. So it had a very different trajectory than most other regional cities. The … [Read more...]