Notable Quotes

World’s Top-Ten Summer Destination

“A pedestrian-and-pedal-friendly downtown and welcoming Midwestern vibe make it easy for first-time visitors to quickly feel at home in Minneapolis. Snow can fall here from October to April, so the arrival of warm weather launches a full throttle, June-August celebration of arts, music, and cultural festivals, farmers markets and fan-friendly Minnesota Twins baseball (played downtown at Target Field – ranked the top sports stadium in North America by ESPN The Magazine).”

—National Geographic, April 2011

Culture of Civic Empowerment

The Twin Cities’ position as the most civically engaged metro area in America can be traced to “a culture of civic empowerment, which teaches the skills of collaborative work across differences, connects institutions to the life of communities, and generates a spirit of optimism that people can shape their future together.”

— Harry Boyte, director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, Augsburg College, January 24, 2011

Beauty Reigns Supreme

“Did the Twin Cities get more beautiful in the past couple of years? That's what you might conclude from the results of a three-year survey of Twin Cities residents as part of a study funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation on what makes people love and feel passionate about their hometowns.”

—The St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 16, 2010

Where People Care, Economic Growth Follows

“We feel the love for our towns because of softer issues, such as social offerings, openness to diverse groups, and the beauty of where we live. And when people care strongly about where they live, indications are that economic growth improves.”

—MinnPost.com, November 16, 2010

Less Heralded But Unusually Successful

“San Francisco and Boston are the most innovative large cities in the U.S., as measured by patents. No surprise there. But between the two lies Minneapolis (called ‘less heralded but unusually successful.’) Home to medical technology company Medtronic, the city is respected by the technology insiders but rarely attracts wider attention.”

— Jim Giles of New Scientist, November 10, 2010

World’s Most Breathtaking Garden

Named one of the world’s 10 most breathtaking gardens by Oddie.com, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden “is one of Minnesota's crown jewels. It centerpiece, the Spoonbridge and Cherry, has become a Minnesota icon. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, his wife and collaborator, had already created a number of large-scale public sculptures when they were asked to design a fountain-sculpture for the Sculpture Garden. The spoon had appeared as a motif in a number of Oldenburg's drawings over the years. Eventually the utensil emerged – in humorously gigantic scale – as the theme. Van Bruggen contributed the cherry as a playful reference to the garden's formal geometry, which reminded her of Versailles and the exaggerated dining etiquette Louis XIV imposed there.”

— Oddie.com, October 3, 2010

Irresistible Hip Factor

“I moved to the Twin Cities from New York for love – love of the Twin Cities. I was in love with the spirit of this place – its unique blend of the down-to-earth and the boldly experimental. It had style of its own, and a hip factor that, at its best, wasn't imitative of the cool quotient of either coast.”

— Jon Spayde, managing editor of The Line, May 2010

Choose Your City

For the 40 million people who move every year, “there’s only one other region that’s a competitor with Minneapolis/Saint Paul (in personality) – the San Francisco Bay area. For people who say you can’t do it where it’s cold, (the Twin Cities) is proving them wrong…. If you want a place that’s fair, that treats people equitably, that has affordable housing, and that doesn’t have the social and economic inequalities of some other regions, the Minneapolis/Saint Paul region beats them all. Congratulations, because in many ways, you’re showing the whole country and the rest of the world how it can be done.”

— Richard Florida, author of Who’s Your City, KARE 11, June 2009

Bike Café

“In Minneapolis, evidence of a growing bike culture is found in the handful of bicycle cafes that have sprung up, like the CRC Coffee Bar in the city’s Uptown area... where you can buy coffee, lunch or a refurbished bike.”

— SustainLane.com, January 2009

Minneapolis Moves into the Sustain Lane

“Hybrid-driving Mayor R.T Rybak dreams of bequeathing to his grandkids the city he grew up in…exactly as he knew it: a place where you can hop on a bike, swim in a clean lake, then ride down parkways to see two waterfalls and amazing wildlife…without leaving the city limits.”

— SustainLane.com, January 2009

Shopping Destination

“This progressive city (Minneapolis) is finally having its shopping moment. Indie (independent) stores abound with labels both international and local, plus affordable antique stores…And all the shopping isn’t confined to Minneapolis. A few shops have popped up in its smaller sister city of Saint Paul.”

— Lucky Magazine, January 2008