Please share what you hate about Minneapolis and St. Paul too.
- People who live in Minneapolis who think they are the center of the universe. Have you ever met anyone from Minneapolis who says something like "I never go to St. Paul", and the ones who haven't a clue where anything is there? St. Paul is right next to Minneapolis and yes, it's smaller, and yes, it's less cool, and yes, it doesn't have as many attractions, but it does have a lot of interesting things if you'd care to drive over the river. How about the St. Patrick's Day parade and the Irish Fair, the Wabasha Street Caves, the Science Museum, the best Vietnamese food in the Twin Cities, Izzy's Ice Cream, St. Paul's Cathedral, Vertical Endeavors... Please stop treating St. Paul like it's driving to some far flung black hole and appreciate what St. Paul has right on your doorstep.
- March and April. The "hate" list had to involve the winter, right? I don't hate the winter here. I snowboard, I take my kids sledding, I love a good snowfall when everything is white and pretty, I love boots and snuggly coats and mittens and hot chocolate and hotdish. Even hotdish. What I hate is the end of the winter, when the snow starts to melt and we can't play in it any more, but it's still cold and miserable, gardens are icy mud puddles, the roads are pothole filled nightmares, and March and April seem to last for ever and ever and gloomy ever.
- Minnesota Drivers. Exhibit A: The Minnesota freeway merge. Whaling down the on ramp without looking behind and expecting the traffic to part. Exhibit B: Tailgating. And all those other Minnesotan bad driving habits like only clearing the windshield of snow before driving off in the winter and showering everyone else behind with chunks of ice. Grrr.
- How Far the Twin Cities are from Anywhere Else. In a way it's good - the Twin Cities have obtained a critical mass that makes things (employers and investment, touring bands, performances and art exhibits for example) come here, but when we want to go anywhere else there's not a whole lot nearby that doesn't involve a road trip or a plane ride.
- Minnesota's Liquor Laws. Specifically liquor stores being closed on Sunday. The majority of states permit liquor sales on Sundays, so why does an otherwise progressive state still ban it? Bars and restaurants can serve alcohol on Sunday, so it makes no sense that liquor stores have to close. It makes even less sense considering how close we are to Wisconsin, which does allow liquor sales on Sundays. I'd guess that a significant proportion of the traffic heading east on I-94 on a Sunday is beer runs to Hudson. How much money is the Twin Cities economy loosing in taxes, and how much money do local independent liquor stores loose from Sunday liquor runs to Wisconsin?
So there's my top five of things that I hate about Minneapolis and St. Paul.
What do you hate most about Minneapolis, St. Paul and the Twin Cities? Share your least favorite things, gripes, moans and vents about Minneapolis and St. Paul here!
