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About Minneapolis
Minneapolis (pronounced) is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and
the county seat of Hennepin County. It adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital
and second-largest city. Together they form the core of the Twin Cities
metropolitan area, the 16th-largest agglomeration in the country (and roughly
65th-largest in the world), with about 3,500,000 residents. In the 2000 census,
the city itself had a total population of 382,618, making it the 47th-largest
city in the United States. However, in the Census' 2004 estimates, that number
had decreased to 373,943, putting it in 49th place, between Honolulu and
Colorado Springs. If the two core cities themselves were combined together in
the census, the resulting "city" would rank 18th, just between Memphis,
Tennessee and Baltimore, Maryland.
The city is in the southeast portion of the state and sits along the Mississippi
River. There are also 24 small lakes in the city. The abundance of lakes led
Charles Hoag, an early settler and Minneapolis's first schoolmaster, to suggest
a name derived from minne, the Dakota word for water, and polis, the Greek word
for city. Other names considered at the time were Brooklyn and Albion. The early
use of "Brooklyn" for the then-village lives on into the 21st century in the
names of two suburbs north of Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.
The city is also known as the "City of Lakes", a phrase that appears on many
municipal vehicles and properties. The traditional postal abbreviation for the
city's name is Mpls., and much old correspondence can still be found dated from
"Mpls., Minn." Once the global center of the timber milling industry and then
later the grain milling industry, Minneapolis is still often known by the
appellation Mill City. The Mill City Museum provides a weatlh of information on
this aspect of Minneapolis' industrial past.
The city center is located just south of 45 degrees north latitude. On the south
side of Golden Valley Road just east of Wirth Parkway, there is a stone
containing a weathered plaque, marking a point on 45th parallel.
Minneapolis is recognized by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group &
Network as a world-class city.
History
Called in the Ojibwe language Gakaabikaang (at the falls), the city grew up
around the Saint Anthony Falls, the only waterfall on the Mississippi River and
the end of the commercially navigable section of the river until locks were
installed in the 1960s. Father Louis Hennepin was the first European to explore
the area, giving the falls their name, as well as lending his name to the county
in which Minneapolis is located. The nearby Fort Snelling spurred the growth of
villages and towns in the area. A lumber mill was built on the falls in 1822 to
supply the fort. In the 1840s, settlers were not allowed to stay on land
controlled by the military without special permission, so the first settlement
near the falls, St. Anthony, grew on the northeast side of the river, just
outside of the fort's jurisdiction.
The first person authorized to live on the river's southwest bank was Colonel
John H. Stevens, who operated a ferry service starting around 1850. A few years
later, the amount of land controlled by the fort was reduced with an order from
U.S. President Millard Fillmore, and free settlement followed. The village of
Minneapolis soon sprung up on the southwest bank of the river. The village of
St. Anthony was incorporated by the Minnesota Territorial Legislature in 1855,
and Minneapolis soon followed in 1856.
The original campus of the University of Minnesota system first appeared near
the falls at this time. Today it is a Big Ten university with more than 50,000
undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the Twin Cities alone, making it
one of the largest campuses in the country.
Minneapolis grew quickly during and after the Civil War and became a city in
1867. Outstripping the growth of its neighbor, the city merged with St. Anthony
five years later in 1872. The early growth of the city was directed by the
river, which ran to the southeast, and most early streets ran parallel to it to
maximize the amount of land that could be used. Later growth of Minneapolis
eventually turned to using north-south/east-west streets, so many unique
intersections were formed to translate between the two layouts (probably the
most famous of these is a site known as Seven Corners, on the eastern periphery
of downtown). Some streets, especially many of the older and more traditionally
important ones of the city, like Hennepin Ave. and Nicollet Ave., have both
orientations at different points along their roadways.
Following an initial burst of activity in the lumber industry, the city's
economy developed around the processing of grain from the Great Plains, which is
reflected by the presence of companies such as General Mills and Pillsbury in
the city. In its heyday, it was known as the "milling capital of the world." It
was the leading producer of grain in the world until 1932. Today, it is still
referred to as the mill city. More recently the city has become notable for its
medical and financial industries, as well as the largest shopping mall in terms
of indoor space in the United States, the Mall of America (actually in
Bloomington, a suburb south of Minneapolis). Minneapolis was the headquarters of
Honeywell International Inc.
The 1920s and 1930s were a rather dark period in the city's history, as
organized crime and corruption took hold of the region. The most notorious
gangster from this time was Kid Cann (real name Isadore Blumenfeld) who ran much
of his operation from the city's West Hotel and engaged in bootlegging,
racketeering, and prostitution.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the downtown area of Minneapolis went through a major
phase of urban renewal, which involved the razing of about 200 buildings across
25 city blocks—roughly 40% of the area. This included the destruction of a slum
area known as "Skid Row," but also the destruction of many buildings with
notable architecture. One of the most lamented buildings was the Metropolitan
Building, known simply as "the Met". Efforts to save the building (which
ultimately failed) are credited with jumpstarting a much greater interest in
historic preservation in the state of Minnesota.
While it was never official policy, segregation occurred between whites and
blacks in the city, and in some ways, racial issues still trouble the city
today. A desegregation program of forced busing to balance the number of black
and white schoolchildren in city schools began in 1972. Ethnic diversity
continues to grow in the area, although African American residents continue to
complain that they are excessively targeted by the Minneapolis Police Department
and Minneapolis has a higher rate of black poverty than many other American
cities.
Another relatively troubled period for parts of Minneapolis was the 1990s, when
the murder rate and incidence of gang violence climbed, almost entirely in
poorer neighborhoods of the city. The Phillips neighborhood (now referred to as
Phillips Community) was particularly hard-hit. After reaching a record 97
homicides in 1995, the city gained an unpleasant nickname because of the
violence: "Murderapolis." Supposedly coined by local gun shop owner Mark
Koscielski, the term gained widespread use after The New York Times used it when
reporting that Minneapolis had surpassed the per capita homicide rate of New
York City. The murder rate retreated in the following years, but area residents
often grow concerned that the nickname may make a comeback whenever there is an
uptick in violence in the city.
Health and environmental issues have gained importance over the years. Many
cleanup projects have taken place, and industrial activities have been scaled
back or modified within the city. In 2005, the City amended its Comprehensive
Plan and adopted various indicators that strengthen its commitment to
sustainability. On the scale of individuals, a ban on smoking in all bars,
bowling alleys and restaurants went into effect in March 2005.
Minneapolis has a long history of prominence as a center for the arts, with the
Walker Art Center (opened in 1927) leading the nation in appreciation of pop and
postmodern art. The Guthrie Theater (opened in 1963) showcases local and
international performance arts productions, and features workshops headlined by
Emmy and Oscar-winning celebrities. A larger replacement to the original Guthrie
has been built near the Mississippi River; the original building from 1963 is
the subject of a heated preservationist debate. In the 1980s, a diverse range of
musicians, including Prince, Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, the Suburbs, and Soul
Asylum set the pace for the nation in pop musical innovation. Prince's music and
that of groups/artists in his artistic influence gave rise to the term "the
Minneapolis sound".
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 151.3
km² (58.4 mi²). 142.2 km² (54.9 mi²) of it is land and 9.1 km² (3.5 mi²) of it
(6.01%) is water.
Climate
Main article: Climate of Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Climate of Minneapolis, in the U.S. state of Minnesota, is typical of cities
located in the Midwestern United States. However, due to the city's northerly
location, it generally runs on the cold side. Winters are particularly punishing
with bitter cold arctic air masses pushing their way south from Canada. Of all
the major metropolitan areas in the U.S., the Minneapolis-St.Paul metropolitan
area has the coldest annual mean temperature of only 7.48 C (45.46 F). There are
four distinct seasons, with characteristic large changes in temperatures over a
short period of time. Winters are bitterly cold and dry, and summers are warm,
sometimes hot, and frequently humid. The city experiences a full range of
precipitation and related weather events, including snow, sleet, ice, rain,
thunderstorms, and fog.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Minneapolis was 108°F (42°C) on July
14, 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded at the city was -41°F
(-40.55°C), on January 21, 1888. The snowiest winter of record was the winter of
1983-84, when 98.4in (2.50m) of snow fell.
Demographics
Minnesota has historically been a home to Scandinavian and German immigrants.
Scandinavians (mostly Norwegians and Swedes) tended to settle in the colder,
forested north, and Germans often resided in the relatively warmer rolling hills
of the south. Minneapolis sits between these two regions and thus has large
populations of people of German and Scandinavian descent.
During the great wave of Eastern European immigration in the 1870s through the
early 20th Century, many immigrants from Poland, the Baltic States, and Russia,
as well as other people from the region settled in the Northeast neighborhood. "Nordeast"
was until recently very strongly identified with these populations.
Minneapolis also has a large Native American population, one of the largest in
the United States. After the Vietnam War, Minneapolis became a destination city
for Hmong and Vietnamese refugees. More recently, a large influx of Somali
refugees has modified Minneapolis's ethnic makeup. Smaller populations of
Laotians, Cambodians, Ethiopians, and others can also be found in the city.
The population residing within the city's limits has decreased significantly
since its peak of 521,718 in 1950, although the number of people residing in the
city has seen a rebound in recent years. The 1990 census recorded a low of
368,383, and the next census saw a small increase from that level. The
rebounding growth has largely been due to an increase in the number of non-white
residents, as the number of white residents has continued to decline and is now
at its lowest level since the very early 20th century when the city had a much
smaller total population. Jews, for example, were once a significant presence in
the northern part of the city, but they have largely moved out into suburbs such
as St. Louis Park, Golden Valley, and Minnetonka. In general, the Twin Cities
suburbs have seen massive growth, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area
has roughly doubled since 1950 and now has about three million residents.
The downtown region also saw a major decline in population, but managed to
retain residents better than many similar cities. The downtown population has
been booming in the last decade as new condominiums are completed and warehouses
are converted to loft-style housing. The U.S. census recorded 20,201 residents
in the city center in 2000, but an estimate by Maxfield Research just five years
later in January 2005 put the number at 29,350, fully recovering from losses in
the 1960s and 1970s. Considering the number of new condos in development, the
downtown district could reach 40,000 by 2010. Still, the people living downtown
are greatly outnumbered by commuters, who bring the daytime population up to
about 165,000 each weekday.
As of the census² of 2000, there were 382,618 people, 162,352 households, and
73,870 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,691.4/km²
(6,970.3/mi²). There were 168,606 housing units at an average density of
1,186.0/km² (3,071.6/mi²).
There were 162,352 households out of which 22.6% had children under the age of
18 living with them, 29.0% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 54.5% were non-families. 40.3%
of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone
who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the
average family size was 3.15.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.0% under the age of 18, 14.4%
from 18 to 24, 36.6% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there
were 101.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,974, and the median income
for a family was $48,602. Males had a median income of $35,216 versus $30,663
for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,685. About 11.9% of
families and 16.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including
24.5% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.
Minneapolis neighborhoods
The city is officially divided into several communities, each containing
multiple neighborhoods. For example, the area typically referred to by locals as
"North Minneapolis" is actually the Near North community, which is composed of
the Hawthorne, Jordan, Near-North, and Willard-Hay neighborhoods.[2] The north
side has been continually plagued with poverty, crime, and violence. The city
government has repeatedly tried to improve this area, but has failed many times.
Most of the neighborhoods in Minneapolis coordinate certain activities under the
Neighborhood Revitalization Program.[3] In some cases, two to four neighborhoods
act together under a single neighborhood organization.
Some areas of the city are more commonly known by locally established nicknames,
many of which are predominantly business districts. One such place is Dinkytown
(several square blocks of small businesses in the Marcy Holmes neighborhood,
although the name is sometimes used informally to refer to the whole Marcy
Holmes neighborhood), near the University. To the southwest of Downtown is
Uptown, which is loosely defined as the area around the Uptown Theater near the
intersection of Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street, and features a large number of
restaurants, bars, and independently owned businesses. The North Loop is a
primarily residential section of the warehouse district extending to the west
bank of the Mississippi river that is primarily made up of $1,250 a month
apartments and $500,000 lofts.
Crime
The FBI released data Tuesday June 13, 2006 indicating that violent crime surged
35.5 percent in Minneapolis in 2005, but the city's Police Department said a
computer glitch grossly exaggerated what was actually a 15 percent jump from
2004. A 15 percent increase is still six times the 2.5 percent national rise in
murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults in 2005, figures disclosed in
preliminary data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. On the downside, violent
crime in Minneapolis has increased in every year since 2001. Plus, the data come
as the city has grappled with two high-profile homicides in the Downtown and
Uptown areas, spreading anxiety among some residents and leaders. A 35.5 percent
increase in violent crime in Minneapolis would have marked the biggest rise
among U.S. cities with populations in the range of 350,000 to 400,000. Interim
Police Chief Tim Dolan attributed that error to a tight FBI reporting deadline
that did not leave time for a department analyst to cross-check the data.
Economy
Minneapolis's economy has been historically based on the adjoining agricultural
area, though that has changed as can be seen from the list of companies below:
* Target Corp.
* U.S. Bancorp
* Xcel Energy
* Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
* PepsiAmericas Inc.
* Bemis Co. Inc.
* The Valspar Corp
* Ameriprise Financial
* Piper Jaffray
* Fair Isaac Corporation
* Best Buy
* UnitedHealth Group
* Medtronic
* Buffalo Wild Wings
See also: Companies based in Minneapolis-St. Paul
[edit] Law and government
Minneapolis is a city that is well known for its liberal politics and to this
day remains a stronghold for the Democratic Party. For example in 2004 John
Kerry won the city by a rather large margin. Minneapolis has an arguably
convoluted set of different government entities that oversee actions in the
city. The most prominent is the Minneapolis City Council, which holds the most
power. The mayor has some power to appoint certain individuals, such as the
chief of police, but is otherwise relatively weak and must coordinate with the
city council for most other activities. Other groups in the city include the
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Minneapolis Public Library's Board of
Trustees, the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, the Public Housing Authority,
and the Board of Estimate and Taxation. These councils tend to be
semi-independent, and some can levy their own taxes and fees.
There are some efforts currently underway to examine how the city government can
be streamlined, though it is hard to say how quickly any changes might come
about. A number of the city boards were created by the Minnesota Legislature
between the time of the city's founding and 1920 when the city finally gained
home rule by passing a new charter (simply an agglomeration of the various laws
that had been specifically written for the city at the time).
Mayor
The current mayor of Minneapolis is R.T. Rybak. There have been a number of
notable individuals who have held the office. Most are known for their positive
influences on the city. Hubert H. Humphrey, who became mayor in 1945, started
what may be the first equal employment commission while he was in office. He
later went on to serve as US vice president and ran for president in 1968.
Arthur Naftalin was the first Jewish mayor, while Sharon Sayles Belton became
the first woman and the first African-American to hold the office. The city
government has not been immune to corruption, however, and the man who
exemplified that was "Doc" Ames. He essentially turned the police force into a
group of organized criminals before an investigation forced him out of office
more than a century ago.
City council
Main article: Minneapolis City Council
The Minneapolis City Council is composed of 13 single member districts, called
wards. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) dominates the council, with
twelve members, and Barbara Johnson is council president. The Green Party has
one member as of 2006.
Minneapolis Public Schools
The school board exists as a separate legal entity from the city as Special
School District Number 1, commonly called the Minneapolis Public Schools.
2008 Republican National Convention
Minneapolis, along with St. Paul, will be co-hosts of the 2008 Republican
National Convention, to be held from September 1 to September 4, 2008. The main
convention activities will be held at the St. Paul Xcel Energy Center;
convention attendees are expected to use up to 25,000 hotel rooms in the Twin
Cities Metropolitan Area out of 30,000 total hotel rooms in the area.[1]
Culture
Technology
In a 2005 issue of Popular Science the publication determined Minneapolis, MN to
be the "Top Tech City" in the United States. Among many factors that determined
this ranking, Minneapolis ranked first among U.S. cities in innovative
transportation solutions and fourth in energy technology.
4 8
Arts
Minneapolis claims to have the highest per capita attendance at theater and arts
events outside of New York City and Chicago. The region is reportedly the
third-largest theater market in the country, attracting major performances. The
Guthrie Theater is the most famous theater in the city. Minneapolis also
supports two Tony Award winning theater companies: the Children's Theatre
Company and Theater de la Jeune Lune. In order to help revitalize the downtown
and warehouse district areas of Minneapolis, which had declined in the mid to
late 20th century, the city purchased and renovated a few theaters on Hennepin
Avenue to create the Hennepin Theatre District, including the State, Orpheum,
and Pantages venues.
In 2004 with an attendance of 50,197, Minneapolis's Minnesota Fringe Festival
was the largest non-juried performing arts festival in the United States and the
third largest Fringe festival in North America. In 2005, the Minnesota Fringe
ran 11 days, August 4-14 with 44,630 paid tickets. In 2004, 1,100 artists
produced over 800 individual performances and events.
The most extensive museum in the city is the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Modern art is displayed in the Walker Art Center. The Walker includes an outdoor
sculpture garden with "Spoonbridge and Cherry," which has become a symbol of the
city.
The Warehouse District adjoining downtown was a hub of studio and gallery
activity in the 1980s, but most artists have been driven out by high rents.
Today the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District is the most vibrant visual arts
community in the city, though the largest art event (one of the largest in the
nation) is the annual Uptown Art Fair.
Numerous festivals are held across the city during the year. Many are small,
although others can attract visitors from across the region. Fireworks displays
occur several times a year, although the largest is not on July 4th as in most
American cities—that is reserved for one night during the official city
celebration, the Aquatennial, held in mid-July. The Aquatennial display is
reportedly the fourth-largest annual fireworks show in the nation.
Arts education is also strong in the Minneapolis area with schools like the
Perpich Center for Arts Education, an arts-oriented charter high school, in
Golden Valley, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, an arts college
adjacent to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, playing a central role in the
city's visual, music and literary scenes, and the Art Institutes International
Minnesota, located in downtown Minneapolis on the corner of Hennepin Ave. and
9th Street, is an arts college which focuses more on computer arts, such as
graphic design, animation and media graphics, photography, and interactive media
design.
Throughout the city are scattered various sculptures and murals.
Minneapolis was home to the "Minneapolis Sound" in pop music in the 1980s.
Prince is Minneapolis's most famous musical progeny. His 1980 album Dirty Mind,
features a song called "Uptown", dedicated to his favorite neighborhood in the
city, and several other songs include references to the city. Arguably,
producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have also been as or more influential as
Prince in creating the Minneapolis Sound.
Alternative rock groups such as Hüsker Dü and The Replacements were a force in
the 1980s, and Paul Westerberg (of the Replacements) still lives and works in
Minneapolis. Popular acts from the 1990s include The Jayhawks, Semisonic and pop
group Information Society. In recent years Minneapolis has garnered a
significant hip hop community with labels such as Rhymesayers Entertainment and
Doomtree.
It is also interesting to note that one of the most replayed songs of the past
fifty years, Funkytown, came out of the Minneapolis scene. It was recorded by
the disco group Lipps, Inc. and former Miss Minnesota finalist Cynthia Johnson.
Media
The major daily newspaper in Minneapolis is the Star Tribune, which competes
with St. Paul's Pioneer Press. Both of those are subscription-based papers.
Significant free Minneapolis-based metro-area weeklies include City Pages and
Pulse of the Twin Cities, with 2002 newcomer The Rake offering some competition
in the form of a free monthly. Numerous community newspapers include the
Downtown Journal and Southwest Journal, which cover downtown and southwest
Minneapolis, respectively, and numerous neighborhood papers such as the North
News, Seward Profile, Southside Pride, Whittier Globe, and the Northeaster. The
Minnesota Daily, a student-run newspaper at the University of Minnesota, is also
produced in Minneapolis and has the third-largest circulation in the region.
Other periodicals focus on a particular interest, including the Lavender
Magazine for the state's gay community, The Minnesota Women's Press, one of the
few feminist newspapers in the country, the Asian American Press and Catholic
Spirit.
The communications towers on top of the IDS Tower in downtown Minneapolis mark
the highest points in the city and are used by a few low- to medium-power
broadcasters such as Univision and the Home Shopping Network. A number of major
broadcasters attempted to use that site in the years after the IDS was built,
but because of technical difficulties such as multipath interference, most of
them now use other sites in the suburbs. Probably the most significant
collection of transmitters is in Shoreview, Minnesota. The IDS is still
maintained as a backup transmission site. At least one small radio station, KFAI,
uses the antenna atop the Foshay Tower, which had been the city's highest point
until the IDS Center went up in the 1970s.
Parks
Minneapolis has a large park system consisting of ten square miles (26 km²) of
land and water that is interlinked in many places. The Grand Rounds Scenic Byway
circles through the city and brings together many of the bigger park areas
including land along the Mississippi River, many of the city's lakes, and other
scenic areas of the city. The views are fantastic throughout the year. The route
has a parkway for cars (not a freeway—literally just a roadway through park
land, though the number of stops is reduced), a bikeway for riders, and a
walkway for pedestrians all running in roughly parallel paths along the 50-mile
route. It is the first natural scenic byway totally located in a major urban
area. Additional routes in the Minneapolis park system crisscross the city, and
the number of bikeways and walkways continues to grow. They also interconnect
with neighboring cities. One of the most famous parks in Minneapolis is
Minnehaha Park, where Minnehaha Falls is located. A number of cultural heritage
events take place there every year. Prospect Park is the home of the 1913 water
tower, a Minneapolis icon.
There are several freshwater lakes across the southern part of the city. The
most significant grouping is the western "Chain of Lakes" consisting of Lake
Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and Cedar Lake. Lake Nokomis and Lake
Hiawatha lie farther to the east.
Sports
Professional sports are well-established in Minneapolis, and although the city's
teams have not been particularly successful in acquiring championships, all have
been lauded at one time or another for their high-caliber play. The city is the
origin of one of the most famous basketball teams of all time, the Los Angeles
Lakers (formerly the Minneapolis Lakers).
The Hennepin County board on May 3, 2006 approved a new ballpark for the Twins
in the Warehouse District, across the street from the Target Center. The NHL
team Minnesota Wild plays in Saint Paul. Minneapolis also has a slight bit of
infamy in the WWE world as it was the location of the death and subsequent
tribute shows of superstar Eddie Guerrero. A number of popular professional
wrestlers also hail from Minneapolis.
Transportation
A system of "skyways" (small, fully enclosed pedestrian bridges) link the
buildings across more than 60 city blocks of the downtown region, providing a
way to travel around the city without being exposed to the cold of winter or the
heat of summer. The system is widely used by the daytime worker population and
downtown residents, who are able to move around without their coats and other
outdoor gear all day long. The street-level foot traffic is greatly reduced
(especially as the outdoor temperature dips) and many businesses that would
normally be located at ground level in other cities are instead brought up to
the second floor. In fact, the interconnected passageways that include
restaurants and retailers are sometimes considered as one of the largest
shopping centers in the Twin Cities (though most businesses in the skyways close
down at night and on the weekend).
Historically, Minneapolis and St. Paul provided some of the earliest rail
passages across the Mississippi River, which widens downriver where the St.
Croix River joins the Mississippi. Today, rail traffic through the city is
diminished, and some of the old bridges such as the Stone Arch Bridge have been
converted for bicycle and pedestrian use. These link into the extensive park and
trail system of the city.
By car
Most residents of Minneapolis get around the region by car, and a number of
highways snake through the city. Minneapolis and St. Paul are the junction
points between Interstate 94 and Interstate 35. I-35 splits into two parts when
entering the metro area. The western half, I-35W, goes through downtown
Minneapolis. The I-394 spur connects the downtown region to western suburbs. Two
spurs from I-94, I-494 and I-694, make a loop around the metro area, but do not
pass through the cities of Minneapolis or St. Paul.
Only two U.S. highways pass through the city, but they are unmarked. Interstate
394 is largely an upgraded segment of U.S. Highway 12 which comes into the city
from the western and then joins I-94 to follow that road around downtown and
into St. Paul. U.S. Highway 52 follows Interstate 94 north of the metro area, so
it is considered to follow that all of the way through the city today, though it
had originally been routed along surface streets and along University Avenue
between Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Minnesota state highways include:
* Minnesota State Highway 47 (Minneapolis to Aitkin) enters the city from the
North as University Avenue
* Minnesota State Highway 55 (Tenney to Hastings) passes through outer
Minneapolis as Olson Memorial Highway and Hiawatha Avenue (though, since June
2005, it now follows I-94 around downtown).
* Minnesota State Highway 62 (Eden Prairie to Fort Snelling - known as the "Crosstown")
runs along the southeastern edge of the city as the Crosstown Highway (west of
Chicago Ave and east of Xerxes Ave, the highway is considered as part of
Richfield), however, the Richfield-Minneapolis line lies right at the northern
edge of the Highway 62 right-of-way during that 3-mile stretch).
* Minnesota State Highway 65 (Minneapolis to Littlefork) follows Central Avenue
through Northeast Minneapolis, and until June 2005, it also followed Washington,
4th, and 5th Avenues though downtown Minneapolis. A freeway stub running from
I-35W to 10th Avenue is still considered part of Highway 65, creating a gap in
the official routing.
* Minnesota State Highway 77 (Apple Valley to Minneapolis) ends as it enters the
city from the south as Cedar Avenue.
* Minnesota State Highway 121 (Richfield to Minneapolis) is a spur that connects
Interstate 35W with Lyndale Avenue in South Minneapolis.
By airplane
The city is served by air with the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport,
which is at the southeast corner of the city off of Minnesota State Highway 5.
The airport is also bordered by Saint Paul, Bloomington, and Richfield. It is a
hub and home base for Northwest Airlines as well as for Mesaba Airlines, Sun
Country Airlines, and Champion Airlines.
Public transit
Many households depend on public transit and the occasional taxi to get around.
For some, this is a strictly economic decision, but many people in the city
choose to forgo having an automobile in favor of biking, walking, or taking the
bus. The transit system is descended from an extensive streetcar network that
was operated by Twin City Rapid Transit until the streetcars were totally
removed and replaced by buses in the 1950s. It is fair to say that the city was
built on the rail lines (like numerous other American cities), since the owners
of the streetcar system invested heavily in real estate and intentionally built
rails out to their land to spur development.
TCRT's descendant is Metro Transit, which runs most of the area's buses and has
begun operation of a light rail system, the Hiawatha Line, which has proved to
be popular. The line opened its first and second phases to the public in 2004,
connecting the airport and Bloomington's Mall of America into downtown. A number
of other rail projects including new commuter rail lines linking the city to the
suburbs are in the planning stages, and the city council has officially begun "explor[ing]
the feasibility of bringing back a streetcar system." Some bus rapid
transit lines are also likely to be built in the coming years.
Bike trails
Over the last twenty years, the system of bicycle trails has expanded from a
long-standing system of recreational trails, the Grand Rounds, to include a
network of on-street bike lanes and an increasing number of commuter trails.
Trails include:
* The Midtown Greenway
* The Kenilworth Trail
* The Cedar Lake Trail
* The West River Parkway along the Mississippi.
Free online bicycle maps are provided by the city here.
Minneapolis is one of the most heavily-biked cities in the country, with an
average level of 10,000 people riding daily for commuting and recreation (there
are significant seasonal variations, but many people bike year-round).