Contents
Minneapolis – Saint Paul
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
U.S. Census Bureau Areas
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Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud CSA, MN-WI[1]
Population 3,502,891[2]
Minnesota counties Anoka · Carver · Chisago · Dakota · Goodhue · Hennepin · Isanti · McLeod · Ramsey · Rice · Scott · Sherburne · Stearns · Washington · Wright
Wisconsin counties Pierce · St. Croix
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MSA, MN-WI[3]
Population 3,275,041[4]
Largest city Minneapolis
Other cities Saint Paul · Bloomington · Brooklyn Park · Plymouth · Eagan · Burnsville . Eden Prairie . Maple Grove . Coon Rapids
Density 489.7/sq mi.[5] (189.06/km²)
Area 6,364.12 total sq mi. (16483.07 km²)
Minnesota counties Anoka · Carver · Chisago · Dakota · Hennepin · Isanti · Ramsey · Scott · Sherburne · Washington · Wright
Wisconsin counties Pierce · St. Croix
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Urbanized Area[6]
Population 2,803,221[7]
Area codes 612 · 651 · 763 · 952
Minnesota counties Anoka · Carver · Dakota · Hennepin · Ramsey · Scott · Washington
Minneapolis-Saint Paul is the most populous urban area in the state of Minnesota, United States, and is composed of 186 cities and townships.[8] Built around the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers, the area is also nicknamed The Twin Cities for its two largest cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the former the larger and the latter the state capital.
The area is part of a larger U.S. Census division named Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, the country's 16th-largest metropolitan area composed of eleven counties in Minnesota and two counties in Wisconsin.[4] This larger area in turn is enveloped in the U.S. Census combined statistical area called Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI with an estimated population of 3.5 million people in 2006, ranked the 13th most populous in the U.S. [2]
To remind everyone there were actually two cities, people started using the phrase Dual Cities around 1872, which evolved into Twin Cities.[9] Despite the "Twin" moniker, the two cities are independent municipalities with defined borders and are quite distinct from each other. Minneapolis has more broad boulevards, easily navigable grid layout, and modern downtown architecture. Saint Paul has narrower streets laid out much more irregularly, clannish neighborhoods, and a vast collection of well preserved late-Victorian architecture.[10] Also of some note is the differing cultural backgrounds of the two cities: Minneapolis being affected by its early (and still influential) Scandinavian/Lutheran heritage, while St. Paul was touched by its early French, Irish and German Catholic roots.[11]
Often, the area is referred to as simply the Cities by those who live outside the Twin Cities, both within Minnesota and in the nearby areas of Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan (especially the Upper Peninsula), the Dakotas and Canada. Today, the two cities directly border each other and their downtown districts are about 9 miles (14 km) apart. The Twin Cities are generally said to be in "east central" Minnesota. The Cities draw commuters from as far away as Rochester, St. Cloud, Albert Lea, Mankato and Eau Claire.
The region
The U.S. Census Bureau defines the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area as a region of eleven counties in Minnesota and two in neighboring Wisconsin, an area which had a population of nearly three million people (2,968,805) in 2000. The area is growing rapidly; its population is projected to increase to four million in 20 years, and the Minnesota counties alone were estimated to have a population of 3,090,377 as of April 1, 2005.[12] Bloomington, Minnesota, home of the Mall of America, is the third-largest city in the metro area and is in close contention for third place in the state, coming in at just about the same size as Duluth and Rochester in the 2000 census. Most locals do not consider Bloomington to be a major city but a very large suburb. Since the 2000 Census it has been included as a named city in the MSA.
When speaking of the Twin Cities many locals are referring to an older seven-county area entirely within Minnesota, which is under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Council. The seven-county metro area contains a continguous urbanized area stretching from each core city with the exception of a few satellite cities. It is common for outstate Minnesotans to refer to the area as The Cities since the metro area is subdivided into distinct municipalities. The multiple "rings" of suburbs extending from the core area results from limited annexation powers in the early 20th century which halted the expansion of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.[13] Under current state legislation, an incorporated city status is more protected from annexation than townships (or towns).[13] Presently, there are 188 municipalities in the seven-county region and 334 in the total eleven-county region ("Greater Twin Cities"). This differs from other major cities and associated metropolitan areas where the central city is the primary landholder.
The majority of Minnesota residents live in the Twin Cities region, but fewer than one in four people in the metro area lives in the two core cities—even though most metro area residents will indicate they are from Minneapolis or St. Paul(or most commonly, "The Twin Cities") on a national level. The Twin Cities share a common cultural lore in arts, media, food, celebration, and history.[14][15] Twin Citians also still primarily work in the two core cities.[16] The metropolitan area is one of several distinct regions of Minnesota.
Rivalry
Minneapolis and St. Paul have competed since they were founded, resulting in some duplication of effort.[17] Both cities have campuses of the University of Minnesota, and after St. Paul completed its elaborate Cathedral in 1915, Minneapolis quickly followed up with the equally ornate Basilica of St. Mary in 1926. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the rivalry became so intense that an architect practicing in one city was often refused business in the other. The 1890 United States Census even led to the two cities arresting and/or kidnapping each other's census takers, in an attempt to keep either city from outgrowing the other.[18][19][20]
The rivalry could occasionally erupt into inter-city violence, as happened at a 1923 game between the Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints, both baseball teams of the American Association. In the 1950s, both cities competed for a major league baseball franchise (which resulted in two rival stadiums being built), and there was a brief period in the mid-1960s where the two cities could not agree on a common calendar for daylight saving time, resulting in a period of a few weeks where people in Minneapolis were one hour "ahead" of anyone living or traveling in St. Paul.
The cities' mutual antagonism was largely healed by the end of the 1960s, aided by the simultaneous arrival in 1961 of the Minnesota Twins of the American League and the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League, both of which identified themselves with the state as a whole (the former explicitly named for both Twin Cities) and not with either of the major cities (unlike the earlier Minneapolis Lakers). Since 1961, it has been common practice for any major sports team based in the Twin Cities to be named for Minnesota as a whole, with the Twins and Vikings followed by the Minnesota North Stars (1967–93), Minnesota Muskies (1967–68), Minnesota Moose (1994–1996), Minnesota Pipers (1968–69), Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972–77), Minnesota Kicks (1976–81), Minnesota Strikers (1984–88), Minnesota Timberwolves (1989–present), Minnesota Thunder (1990–2009), Minnesota Lynx (1999–present), Minnesota Wild (2000–present), Minnesota Swarm (2005–present), and NSC Minnesota Stars (2010–Present). In terms of development, the two cities remain distinct in their progress, with Minneapolis absorbing new and avant-garde architecture while St. Paul continues to carefully integrate new buildings into the context of classical and Victorian styles.[17]
Culture
Arts and entertainment
