5 ms·

I miss the Minneapolis that was. I lived and worked there for a time after getting married. The city is not what it was ten years ago, though. Most of the rest

I miss the Minneapolis that was. I lived and worked there for a time after getting married. The city is not what it was ten years ago, though. Most of the restaurants I frequented (and they were exceptionally good) are gone. Crime has dramatically increased, including all time highs for murders in St. Paul, and Minneapolis three murders away from its all time high. I lived in an apartment in Minneapolis. I could walk just a block or two into downtown. It was a wonderful, vibrant city. A ten minute walk to Lake Calhoun, groceries down the street, my barber, and the ice cream shop right next to each other. It was my favorite of all the places I've lived. I just wish it was still as I recall it. Perhaps my perspective is too full from consuming news and has too little from current residents.

DrSteveBrule 5y ago
> I could walk just a block or two into downtown. It was a wonderful, vibrant city. A ten minute walk to Lake Calhoun Based on these data points, I estimate that you walk at least 15.6 mph.
- DIVx0 5y ago
  Minneapolis is pretty small compared to "big" cities in other states but I do agree that this is an unlikely walk but a totally achievable bike ride. Also the lake's native Dakota name has been restored and locals call it Bde Maka Ska
- acqbu 5y ago
  lol!
- slowmovintarget 5y ago
  That gave me a good laugh. I used to live right near the Walker Art Center. Lake Calhoun was about two miles away, so yes, that was more like thirty minutes. Seemed shorter, though.
coldpie 5y ago
> Perhaps my perspective is too full from consuming news and has too little from current residents. Yeah, you're pretty deep into "old man yells at clouds" territory here :) Turn off the news and come visit. The Twin Cities are still great. Maybe you can come discover some new favorite restaurants, we've got loads of great ones.
paulcole 5y ago
> I just wish it was still as I recall it. Somehow the places we lived when we were 20-30 years old always seem worse when we look at them 10 years later.
- kerbs 5y ago
  I also have the opposite view of Minneapolis 10-15 years ago. so much urban renewal has happened since then. It honestly became pretty run down in the core suburban sprawl/white flight years of the 90s. The last decade has been pretty amazing with renovations, neighborhood developments, and almost all of the surface parking lots turned into something far better.
kerbs 5y ago
I live downtown (North Loop) with my wife and two daughters under 5. The crime narrative is strange, and the restaurant scene has never been better. The downtown core isn’t quite the same, but that’s of course because nobody goes to the office anymore - but they’re still building everywhere (including another 40+ tower on Nicollet)
- colechristensen 5y ago
  I in uptown and got an email a few weeks ago explaining the bullet holes in the building, and still get emails from the U about armed robberies regularly and much more often than a decade before. There is no question crime rates are up significantly, police are too busy to respond to many calls, and even caught crime isn’t being investigated, charged, or convicted anywhere near properly. The restaurant scene did take a significant covid dip and several of my favorite places are gone but there is still quite a lot and a few new things.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - ardme 5y ago
    Yeah uptown got hit really hard. Maybe the other commenters don't live in uptown but I do and the crime issues are pretty wild since the riots. My neighbor was carjacked at gunpoint by a group of teenagers in our parking lot. You have to be very aware of your surroundings now. I'd say about half of the businesses have closed permanently around me. The Walgreens on 27th and Hennepin gets robbed at least once a month. One time they just shot up drive through windows and the employees left while they robbed the place. Luckily the glass is bulletproof on them. The cops don't seem to really respond things. One of the weirdest things was this summer where they were doing construction on 28th and Hennepin and there was a cop posted up there during the day. I asked him why and he said "because the construction workers were being assaulted and their tools were being stolen". And this is in a nice area right by Lake of the Isles. Deny it if you want, it's just like a political mess now because the DA will no longer bring a lot of prosecutions to trial it seems like.
  - 5y ago
xcskier56 5y ago
Having lived in Minneapolis proper for the last 10 years and growing up nearby, the restaurant scene is VASTLY better than it was before. We used to have stuffy, overpriced, mediocre restaurants. Now we’ve gotten vibrant, new and creative places that aren’t just serving the same old fair dressed up. Sure some of the old classics have closed, but there’s always been a new, better place taking their spot. Case in point, Lucia’s => Sooki & Mimi. Lucias’s was good, but Sooki & Mimi is phenomenal
jcims 5y ago
It's been close to 20 years since I was in Minnesota. I was there doing contract work for Wells Fargo and really enjoyed the city. I can't remember what it was called but I still tell people about the human habitrail on the second floor that you (well, presumably mostly 'we' unaccustomed visitors) can use to get around town when it's too damn cold outside.
- idreyn 5y ago
  The skyways! They're fun and iconic, but in some ways they're the worst thing about downtown Minneapolis. Since so many office workers use them to get around, the streets feel dead and car-dominated even by the standards of American cities.
TameAntelope 5y ago
I don't understand why people quote the murder rates as any kind of indication of the city itself. Murders are far and away being committed by people you have no association with to people you have no association with. Are you in a gang? No? You're fine. It's horrible and awful, but the way you've quoted it here is as if your personal likelihood of being murdered has meaningfully changed, when it hasn't (or maybe you rep tre tre crips or something, I don't know your life).
- pjscott 5y ago
  Murder rates are useful for estimating the prevalence of violent crime, and crime overall, because they're almost always recorded. Compare to something like shoplifting in San Francisco: the number of incidents reported to the police is probably a big underestimate of how often it happens, since the police can't really do much.
  - TameAntelope 5y ago
    Murder is not a useful measurement of overall crime, considering how disparately (both geographically and demographically) murder is spread through a city. Like I said, if you're not interacting with a gang in a given city, you are substantially less likely to be murdered.
- nickysielicki 5y ago
  Spoken like someone who truly does not live here. Check out this cool little late night snack place in St. Paul.[1] The idea is a bunch of little food trucks, but it’s all inside so you can enjoy it during the winter, too. What a cute date idea, right? Go out and see a movie, then get some late night tacos. It’s right in downtown, surely it’s safe. Oh wait, it’s not at all safe. Fourteen innocent people were shot because some gang members showed up and opened fire indiscriminately. It hardly made the news. I almost moved to uptown a few months ago and I am unbelievably happy that I decided to move to safe and boring Wayzata instead. I’ve lived in Houston and I never felt uncomfortable about walking around Montrose and Alabama at 1am, and I go to the rougher parts of Milwaukee regularly (Dineen Park), but I’ve never felt more exposed than in Minneapolis. I feel safer in most of Chicago than I do in most of Minneapolis. This was at Hennepin and Lagoon: https://www.fox9.com/news/video-showing-shots-being-fired-during-vehicle-sideshow-in-uptown-sparks-safety-concerns.amp https://www.fox9.com/news/video-showing-shots-being-fired-du... [1]: https://www.truckparkusa.com/virtual-tour https://www.truckparkusa.com/virtual-tour [2]: https://kstp.com/news/3-men-in-custody-shooting-seventh-street-truck-park-bar-st-paul/6266171/ https://kstp.com/news/3-men-in-custody-shooting-seventh-stre...
germinalphrase 5y ago
When was your era? FBI violent crime data certainly indicates a spike, but that’s coming off historical lows. And, still quite a bit lower than 1990’s levels. https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/cri...
- slowmovintarget 5y ago
  Ten years ago. Seems like I was there near the recent trough.
  - germinalphrase 5y ago
    There are absolutely problems in the twin cities, including ineffectual leadership, but I am - to a degree - amazed by the picture my WI family has of the place I live. By their telling, the entire city is still in flames from the George Floyd protests, and you have a 50/50 chance of being carjacked by teenagers every time you drive. My gut tells me that it must speak to the effectiveness of media filtering, but I am at a loss for how to effectively push back on it.

DrSteveBrule 5y ago

> I could walk just a block or two into downtown. It was a wonderful, vibrant city. A ten minute walk to Lake Calhoun Based on these data points, I estimate that you walk at least 15.6 mph.

DIVx0 5y ago
Minneapolis is pretty small compared to "big" cities in other states but I do agree that this is an unlikely walk but a totally achievable bike ride. Also the lake's native Dakota name has been restored and locals call it Bde Maka Ska
acqbu 5y ago
lol!
slowmovintarget 5y ago
That gave me a good laugh. I used to live right near the Walker Art Center. Lake Calhoun was about two miles away, so yes, that was more like thirty minutes. Seemed shorter, though.

coldpie 5y ago

> Perhaps my perspective is too full from consuming news and has too little from current residents. Yeah, you're pretty deep into "old man yells at clouds" territory here :) Turn off the news and come visit. The Twin Cities are still great. Maybe you can come discover some new favorite restaurants, we've got loads of great ones.

paulcole 5y ago

> I just wish it was still as I recall it. Somehow the places we lived when we were 20-30 years old always seem worse when we look at them 10 years later.

kerbs 5y ago
I also have the opposite view of Minneapolis 10-15 years ago. so much urban renewal has happened since then. It honestly became pretty run down in the core suburban sprawl/white flight years of the 90s. The last decade has been pretty amazing with renovations, neighborhood developments, and almost all of the surface parking lots turned into something far better.

kerbs 5y ago

I live downtown (North Loop) with my wife and two daughters under 5. The crime narrative is strange, and the restaurant scene has never been better. The downtown core isn’t quite the same, but that’s of course because nobody goes to the office anymore - but they’re still building everywhere (including another 40+ tower on Nicollet)

colechristensen 5y ago
I in uptown and got an email a few weeks ago explaining the bullet holes in the building, and still get emails from the U about armed robberies regularly and much more often than a decade before. There is no question crime rates are up significantly, police are too busy to respond to many calls, and even caught crime isn’t being investigated, charged, or convicted anywhere near properly. The restaurant scene did take a significant covid dip and several of my favorite places are gone but there is still quite a lot and a few new things.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- ardme 5y ago
  Yeah uptown got hit really hard. Maybe the other commenters don't live in uptown but I do and the crime issues are pretty wild since the riots. My neighbor was carjacked at gunpoint by a group of teenagers in our parking lot. You have to be very aware of your surroundings now. I'd say about half of the businesses have closed permanently around me. The Walgreens on 27th and Hennepin gets robbed at least once a month. One time they just shot up drive through windows and the employees left while they robbed the place. Luckily the glass is bulletproof on them. The cops don't seem to really respond things. One of the weirdest things was this summer where they were doing construction on 28th and Hennepin and there was a cop posted up there during the day. I asked him why and he said "because the construction workers were being assaulted and their tools were being stolen". And this is in a nice area right by Lake of the Isles. Deny it if you want, it's just like a political mess now because the DA will no longer bring a lot of prosecutions to trial it seems like.
- 5y ago

xcskier56 5y ago

Having lived in Minneapolis proper for the last 10 years and growing up nearby, the restaurant scene is VASTLY better than it was before. We used to have stuffy, overpriced, mediocre restaurants. Now we’ve gotten vibrant, new and creative places that aren’t just serving the same old fair dressed up. Sure some of the old classics have closed, but there’s always been a new, better place taking their spot. Case in point, Lucia’s => Sooki & Mimi. Lucias’s was good, but Sooki & Mimi is phenomenal

jcims 5y ago

It's been close to 20 years since I was in Minnesota. I was there doing contract work for Wells Fargo and really enjoyed the city. I can't remember what it was called but I still tell people about the human habitrail on the second floor that you (well, presumably mostly 'we' unaccustomed visitors) can use to get around town when it's too damn cold outside.

idreyn 5y ago
The skyways! They're fun and iconic, but in some ways they're the worst thing about downtown Minneapolis. Since so many office workers use them to get around, the streets feel dead and car-dominated even by the standards of American cities.

TameAntelope 5y ago

I don't understand why people quote the murder rates as any kind of indication of the city itself. Murders are far and away being committed by people you have no association with to people you have no association with. Are you in a gang? No? You're fine. It's horrible and awful, but the way you've quoted it here is as if your personal likelihood of being murdered has meaningfully changed, when it hasn't (or maybe you rep tre tre crips or something, I don't know your life).

pjscott 5y ago
Murder rates are useful for estimating the prevalence of violent crime, and crime overall, because they're almost always recorded. Compare to something like shoplifting in San Francisco: the number of incidents reported to the police is probably a big underestimate of how often it happens, since the police can't really do much.
- TameAntelope 5y ago
  Murder is not a useful measurement of overall crime, considering how disparately (both geographically and demographically) murder is spread through a city. Like I said, if you're not interacting with a gang in a given city, you are substantially less likely to be murdered.
nickysielicki 5y ago
Spoken like someone who truly does not live here. Check out this cool little late night snack place in St. Paul.[1] The idea is a bunch of little food trucks, but it’s all inside so you can enjoy it during the winter, too. What a cute date idea, right? Go out and see a movie, then get some late night tacos. It’s right in downtown, surely it’s safe. Oh wait, it’s not at all safe. Fourteen innocent people were shot because some gang members showed up and opened fire indiscriminately. It hardly made the news. I almost moved to uptown a few months ago and I am unbelievably happy that I decided to move to safe and boring Wayzata instead. I’ve lived in Houston and I never felt uncomfortable about walking around Montrose and Alabama at 1am, and I go to the rougher parts of Milwaukee regularly (Dineen Park), but I’ve never felt more exposed than in Minneapolis. I feel safer in most of Chicago than I do in most of Minneapolis. This was at Hennepin and Lagoon: https://www.fox9.com/news/video-showing-shots-being-fired-during-vehicle-sideshow-in-uptown-sparks-safety-concerns.amp https://www.fox9.com/news/video-showing-shots-being-fired-du... [1]: https://www.truckparkusa.com/virtual-tour https://www.truckparkusa.com/virtual-tour [2]: https://kstp.com/news/3-men-in-custody-shooting-seventh-street-truck-park-bar-st-paul/6266171/ https://kstp.com/news/3-men-in-custody-shooting-seventh-stre...

germinalphrase 5y ago

When was your era? FBI violent crime data certainly indicates a spike, but that’s coming off historical lows. And, still quite a bit lower than 1990’s levels. https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/cri...

slowmovintarget 5y ago
Ten years ago. Seems like I was there near the recent trough.
- germinalphrase 5y ago
  There are absolutely problems in the twin cities, including ineffectual leadership, but I am - to a degree - amazed by the picture my WI family has of the place I live. By their telling, the entire city is still in flames from the George Floyd protests, and you have a 50/50 chance of being carjacked by teenagers every time you drive. My gut tells me that it must speak to the effectiveness of media filtering, but I am at a loss for how to effectively push back on it.