Minneapolis-St. Paul Ranked #4th Snobbiest City. (transplants, rent, houses)

[RTDatx]

I used to live in Minneapolis metro from '98-2009, prior to moving to Austin, TX metro for a job I couldn't pass up. Minneapolis is hands down one of the best cities in the country, and they know that. I do feel the city strives for prestige and status, as shallow as that may seem, Minneapolis simply has vision, ambition and outstanding residents and they feel proud of their city and who they are. Personally, i don't think there is anything wrong with that. I think Austin is great too, but honestly, I don't think Austin is in the same league as Minneapolis...just making an honest statement.

My wife and I still go to Minneapolis metro once a year to enjoy the amazing parks, lakes, etc.

Just my opinion...

[Beenhere4ever]

I don't get the "snobby" part (though I like to have some fun with it). I know people who are residents forever in this town, and they aren't anything like snobby. Maybe I just don't mix with the snobby folk. Haven't tried to avoid them, but if I ran into one, I would make sure to waste no time. I had a joust with some local foodies over the snobbism issue. I reviewed Market Barbecue because I got some of the worst barbecue of any place and told some people. They absolutely couldn't believe what I was telling them. Market has "reputation". I said "Hey, they aren't doing much to live up to it". Meanwhile I've found a bunch of places without "reputation" that make much better barbecue, so I tell it like I see it. I don't even WANT to know what anyone else thinks of a place. I go, I eat, I write what I find. The people who get a byline in glossy magazines disagree with me. Fine. I don't expect I'll care about that anytime soon.

[rockyinyourradio]

I've had a long on and off again relationship with the Twin Cities.. initially moving here in 1985, left in '88 but have been back most every year since, especially that my wife is from Mpls. I have noticed just in the last few years.. that "Minnesota nice" feeling seems to be ever more present, and infact, some have seemed downright rude. Last March on my way back from up north, I stopped in Burnsville and was amazed by the gang like mentality around there.. I felt a bit uneasy to say the least. Overall though, I still know there are lots of great people making a difference in the Twin Cities and I'm still bugging the wife to move back some day as Oklahoma is just too far south and too hot for my liking, but the people on the other hand are far from snob's ... infact I still think Oklahoma City is one of the friendliest cities in the country.

[Beenhere4ever]

The hard part for me to figure out is: is it a product of our years of gridlock? Or have we now attracted hordes of people who did not grow up in the state and have no concept of how to be Minnesota Nice. I do think it may be a fact that surburban families have produced a generation with some sense of entitlement. The whole legend of Minnesota Nice comes from a past where suburban values were yet to make themselves felt. You look around at how much unearned leisure some kids have now, and you can't help wondering if there's some spoiled kids out there. Go back a few generations and kids had to work a lot harder to have any luxuries. Now parents force them on the kids.

[Musikälskaren]

I agree with you RTDatx that Minneapolis is a wonderful city, granted I only spent a very short amount of time there, I could still tell that I liked the city from what I did see and I thought that even in Minneapolis proper everyone that we encountered were nice, friendly and helpful. I know that there are good and bad, nice and not nice people everywhere but I wanted to share that my experience in MPLS was definitely positive! And Beenhere4ever, I love your sense of humor and how you can laugh and have fun with things like this. I wanted to add to your reputation but I guess that I've already done so as much as they'll let me so I'll have to spread around the Reputation before I can give anymore Reputation to you. Anyway, I guess that maybe I weren't in Minneapolis for long enough to see or interact with snobby people but those whom I did meet were nice. I've been fascinated with Minneapolis as well as MN for quite some time and I think that Minneapolitans and Saint Paulites definitely have a lot to be proud of and I'd be proud as well if I were there. If I thought that I could handle living in such a large city and/or if I were to move to a really big city of my own choosing it would definitely be Minneapolis or Saint Paul! I know slightly more about Minneapolis and I spent more time there than Saint Paul because we just drove through Saint Paul on I-94 on our way to Mall of America, first place we went in MN. I wish that we had more pride and interest in preserving/taking care of our city here in Dayton but we don't. I LOVE the city of Dayton because this is the area where I was born and currently live but I seriously doubt that we could ever come close to the Twin Cities! I'd love to live in a small town in Minnesota so that I could regularly visit Duluth, the Twin Cities and everywhere else in MN!

[icicles]

I grew up in minneapolis and have lived here off and on after college. I grew up here from 1981-99. I went to school out in CA and came back from 2005-2011. I moved to CO since and am currently on vacation in MN visiting family.

The changes I have seen have been drastic. The school I went to now is ghetto. I went to Hopkins high school. The school used to be very good I guess, but talking with the teachers who work there, they have said the school is not very good anymore because a bunch of inner city kids go to the school now.

I went out with some friends downtown Minneapolis to the bars. I am not a huge partier but I would go out every once in a while in Minneapolis. I will say that downtown Minneapolis at night is hugely ghetto. I saw 3 fights in total, one of them had a guy knocked out uncouncious from a 10 on 1 fight. I saw some other fights outside of the bars when leaving and this was the first time I felt like I was not safe in MN. We have nothing like this in CO springs. I mean not even close. I am seeing more areas which were nice becoming unsafe, like Lake Calhoun area. I just don't feel safe anymore. I have never felt like this ever before. Obviously it was in small select areas of the city, but still.

Another thing I notice is Minneapolis has gotten a lot uglier and more crowded. It seems that cities keep cramming more homes/apts in areas they can. I used to live the open areas where homes weren't.

To me, MN has lost its luster it had in terms of open space in a big city. It's lost its safe feature as I am sure its welfare state will self destruct itself. I also have difficulty seeing where the tax dollars are being spent, because I see a lot of things as less desirable over time. I also see a lot of the homes are looking stressed from the weather over time.

[BigRooter]

Originally Posted by mn55110

Travel and Leisure Magazine just released another one of their survey's; this one ranked the "Top 35 Snobbiest Cities in the United States". Minneapolis and St. Paul ranked as the 4th snobbiest in the US only surpassed by: San Francisco at #1; New York at #2; and Boston at #3. Santa Fe, NM and Seattle were tied at 5th place. Los Angeles ranked #16 in this survey.

When I was viewing one of the local morning news programs and they were discussing this story, one of the on-air personalities, of whom I know has worked in several other television markets prior to working in the Twin Cities, said on-camera, finally after six-and-a-half-years one of my neighbors finally waved to me. With that being stated, let the discussion begin.

They still have the Janteloven influence from the days when a large proportion of the population was from Northern Europe.

Also it's cold and an 'indoors' culture for much of the year, not an 'outdoors' culture.

[Teak]

So reticence is taken as snobbery these days? I thought it was that northern European reserve ...

[atler8]

I think that the choice of "snobbish" by the group that conducted the survey & then published it was a poor word choice.
The word is a loaded one & has so many connotations.
That being said, I do think that there has been & perhaps still is an above average factor of smugness evident among a large sector of the Twin Cities & overall Minnesota population. I have experienced it in person in Minnesota, & from Minnesotans who I've encountered in other states. I've even encountered it over the phone while conducting business from afar.
As for pure & basic snobbishness, I think that the area & state come off rather well. Generally-speaking the metro & state are not prone to ostentatious behavior & are largely populated by rather basic, down-to-earth people who can be content without being showy about their accomplishments or physical possessions. In that regard, the Twin Cities & Minnesota rate very well. Her neighbors are very similar as well in that regard so I would call that an upper Midwest trait that can be called a favorable attribute.

[BigRooter]

Yep, that's the Janteloven.