What Do You Know About......Minneapolis?

 

 

• The Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St Paul combined), if viewed as one metropolitan area, rank the 14th largest in the country.
• Minneapolis is the 46th largest city in the country.
• It covers 58.4 square miles.
• There are 20 lakes in the city limits of Minneapolis, including Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, Lake Harriet, Cedar Lake, and Lake Nokomis. There is a bike/walking trail of over 13 miles winding around this 'Chain of Lakes' so you can enjoy them all.

                                             Lake Calhoun




                                      Lake Harriet Bandshell

 

 

Minneapolis' summer celebration, the Aquatennial, also makes use of its lakes with lots of activities, including the milk carton boat races: all boats are made of empty milk cartons...

 

 

Read more about the Aquatennial at: http://www.aquatennial.com/




And there are plenty of winter activities as well....

 

 

            Pond Hockey tournament on Lake Nokomis: 

          It's a long winter: you have to embrace the cold.

 

Other waterways include the Mississippi River, creeks, and waterfalls-all within the city limits

                                                         St Anthony Falls

                                                               Minnehaha Falls

  

                                              Minneapolis and the Mississippi River, sunset

• Minneapolis has the 5th highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies* including Medtronic, Target, University of Minnesota, Allina Health, General Foods, 3M, Wells Fargo, and Bancorp.

                     

                             3M Headquarters, Cottage Grove, MN; there are over 30 3M locations in the U.S.

• The name "Minneapolis" means water city; it was coined by a teacher.
• The Sioux tribe of Native Americans were the major inhabitants of Minnesota until about 1680, when French settlers arrived.
• Flour mills were one of the first large businesses in the state, including Minneapolis.

*a  Fortune 500 company is one of the 500 largest companies in the United States as listed by Fortune Magazine.

• The average annual temperature in Minneapolis is 45.4 degrees Fahrenheit (7.4 degrees Celsius). It is 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-17 degrees Celsius) about 30 days out of the year.
• In terms of rain and snow, the average precipitation in Minneapolis is 30.64" and average snowfall about 50". This past February was unusually snowy, breaking old records at 39" of snowfall for February alone, and a cold snap that saw temperatures of -40F, forcing many schools to close.
• The city has over 100 days a year with an inch or more of snow on the ground.  However, Minnesota enjoys four distinct seasons-it is not cold all year as some people think. In fact, in the summer, temperatures often are in the mid-90s with high humidity.

A narrow city street after a snow. But the trees are pretty, right???

In an attempt to make the city more 'walkable,' skyways were built so people can walk from building to building and not need to go outside in bad weather.

If you're interested in attending college in the Twin City area, you have lots to choose from-among the choices:

• University of Minnesota
• Macalester College
• Hamline University
• Augsburg College
• Minneapolis Community & Technical College (MCTC)
• St Thomas University
• College of St. Catherine
• Bethel College
• Concordia College
• McNally-Smith School of Music
• Minneapolis Community & Technical College
• Anoka-Ramsey Community College
• Anoka Technical College
• Dakota Technical College
• Hennepin Technical College
• North Hennepin Community College
• Inver Hills Community College

There is a very busy cultural scene in Minneapolis--it is second only to New York City in theaters, and the third largest theater market (ticket sales) after New York and Chicago. Here is just a partial list of Minneapolis Theaters:

The Guthrie Theatre

Ordway Center for Performing Arts, which is also home to the Minnesota Opera
Illusion Theatre
Mixed Blood Theatre  http://www.mixedblood.com/   
Penumbra Theatre
Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts
Minnesota Performing Arts
In The Heart of the Beast Theatre http://hobt.org/
Childrens Theatre Company  http://www.childrenstheatre.org/     
Hennepin Theatre Trust, including the State, Orpheum, and Pantages theatres, which host touring Broadway plays

                                                   State Theater

And these music venues:

First Avenue 

http://first-avenue.com/

7th Street Entry
Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall
The Cabooze
Fine Line

http://finelinemusic.com/

Dakota Jazz Club


And these museums:

Walker Arts http://www.walkerart.org/

                                               Walker Art Center

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

http://new.artsmia.org/

Weisman Museum
Museum of Russian Art
Bakken Museum

Into dance? Minneapolis has....

Cowles Theatre
James Sewell Ballet http://jsballet.org/    
Minnesota Dance Theatre http://mndance.org/performance-calendar/          
Minnesota Ballet http://minnesotaballet.org/

Up for some comedy? Here are a few places you can enjoy a laugh:

Acme Comedy Club

http://acmecomedycompany.com/the-club/calendar/

Comedy Sportz
Stevie Ray's Improv
Brave New Workshop  http://theatre.bravenewworkshop.com/  

• Minneapolis is the 3rd most literate city in the U.S.
• More than 40% of all adults in Minneapolis volunteer in some way, the highest percentage of any metropolitan area in the U.S.

The ethnicity of Minneapolis is mostly white, and those people are largely of German and Scandinavian descent: 20% of all white people in the city are either Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish in heritage.

Minneapolis' other cultures include
Black 18%
Hispanic  10.5%
Asian 5.6%
Native American 2%

                                 Cherry Spoon Bridge-Sculpture Garden, Walker Arts
  There are over 40 works of sculpture in this display located across from the museum