What the Twin Cities Do Better Than Anywhere Else in the US
Video Overview & Insights
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Wide streets are because the snow makes them narrower in winter to the point that you might only get one passable axle width on a street that normally could have parking on both sides and to a traffic in the middle
Minneapolis/St. Paul is known for frigid weather -- but that's the minority of the year. Most months the weather is pleasant, and the people have a special appreciation for getting out and about after a couple months of hibernation. Join me as I visit the city (cities) and explore what makes the Twin Cities different from everywhere else!
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As an MN native for my whole life, Minneapolis sucks, St. Paul is pretty good. there are nuances to this obviously, but i avoid Minneapolis for a couple dffierent reasons lol
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People told me not to get off at Lake Street. I definitely got off at Lake Street. Bravo man! Bravo.
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Eat street isn’t rebranded. It’s been called that for decades. Thanks for your video.
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The lake park system is peerless in the US. Several lakes to bike/walk around, designed with the intention of keeping it accessible to the public by separating surrounding private properties from the lakes by the public parkways.
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In January of 2019 I was on the overpass in the thumbnail of this video waiting for my transfer bus home after class. I saw a biker fall very hard on some ice while he was turning onto the hill that is also seen in the thumbnail. He agonizingly slid down that hill for about a minute and a half straight all while scrambling, stumbling, and screaming profanity. All of this while is bike is slowly sliding down right in front of him as he's trying to reach it with no luck. Thanks for reminding me of this memory. Hope that guy is doing better now than he was then.
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skyway was useful for business back in the 70s-2000s
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Eat Street is the bomb! Best food in the twin cities imo.
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Previous CityNerd Videos Referenced:
I've lived in the Twin Cities for 25 years. The park system, chain of lakes, and walking/biking trails are amazing. I do more walking here then any other American city I've visited or lived in. The abandoned K-Mart is being redeveloped into housing and park and small shops.
- Top 10 Urbanist Universities: https://youtu.be/EkSTlKaC3eg
- Living Car-Free In Las Vegas: https://youtu.be/rZhmclhGMj8
12:25 My family moved to the suburbs over a decade ago, I’m most often it the cities to see a play or musical so we always end up on the street. I’ve never spent much time in the skyways so it cool to see what they are like. (Also your so right, I got so used to being in the suburbs being in the city feels weird now and it makes me mad at myself to no end)
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Resources:
the store fronts with blackout windows after nick shirleys videos are funny cause theyre probably daycare or home health scam places
- https://midtowngreenway.org/about-the-greenway/overview/
- https://www.metrotransit.org/d-line-project
9:45 2 years later, and we are STILL the epicenter of protest. I'm very proud of my state
- https://metrocouncil.org/
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the winter here lasts from like... october to april. half the year is frigid cold and a quarter of it is scorching hot and humid. those skyways are necessary.
the pedestrian traffic countdowns are for the blind, as well... i think you can sacrifice a little walking space in return for blind people not getting hit by cars every day, at least for as long as cars dominate US commutes
Images
- Mpls in winter By Chris Isett, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2658575
Is it crass to take pictures at a memorial? Obviously do it with respect but I don't think brining awareness is a bad thing, especially on a mid-sized channel.
- Hmong College Prep Academy By McGhiever - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36303368
- By Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57222256
Your voice tone etc reminds me of the actor Brian Posehn in everybody loves raymond
- Great Northern Depot By City of Minneapolis Archives from Minneapolis, United States - The Big Depot and Its Friends, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54668724
- MN state capitol By Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States - Winter at the Minnesota State Capitol, Saint Paul, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66822712
I come from Saudi Arabia I visited Minnesota and I must admit I love this great state the people everyone is happy I wish Minnesota all the success I m thinking moving in to Minnesota in the future
- Metro bus in snow By Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States - Metro Transit Bus in Snow - Selby Avenue at Virginia Street, St. Paul, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66822392
- Downtown Mpls blizzard By Nic McPhee (Username on Flickr: Unhindered by Talent) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/5252546300/sizes/l/in/photostream/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12350793
I'm enjoying the E Line express bus, which opened in December 2025. It passes within 1.5 blocks of where I live, and it travels from Southdale (the nation's first indoor mall) through a couple of commercial areas, Uptown, downtown, the University of Minnesota, and the Westgate light rail station, near the border with St. Paul. It covers most of the places I go. The "express" part of it consists of eliminating stops, so that there are two stops where there were once four or five. At first, it seemed to be attracting few riders, but usage has increased noticeably in the past few months.
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Music:
And then you factor in that the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team are originally from Minneapolis which explains why they are called Lakers.
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Eat street is just the street of Nicollet in the south central part of the city, which has a lot of restaurants. Whittier is a neighborhood.
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"five over ones"
More User Perspectives
The Greenway system is fantastic. However the best part of Minneapolis is that the city owns all the lakes. Lake front property is across the street. Everyone has full access to the beaches, and the water in general. So many people just go for a walk around a lake after work when the weather is nice
@thegundamcowboy1I live in minneapolis and my main mode of transport is a bike. I own a car, but I’m looking to sell it this year. When it gets cold wear more layers. If it’s icy, use studded tires and go a little slower. Lots of people who say “I’d never bike in the winter” haven’t even tried. We love convenience, but in the same breath complain about the dangers of driving in the winter. I’m happy to leave the roads to those who aren’t physically able to use our lovely bike trails and lanes. Everyone else is just a little soft. Yes, I also have a slight attitude problem 😂
@LittleLostLottaFunThe lakes and the trails are the only thing I like about living here. They are great! Everything else is just people trying to convince themselves it's much better than it is while being genuinely mean.
@FooLProoFMPLS😂Hard pass.
@elroythegreat1590I get around the Twin Cities just fine without a car , using the Lightrail and Bicycle.
@RyanNelson-i6iBe indecisive?
@spyman52I don't care much about it, but my wife does. She tries to avoid Seattle's buses because of the smells and safety concerns (we live in Ballard, and the D line is a bit sketch), thankfully she works in tech so has access to private buses, but I wish Seattle would take bus safety/quality more seriously. She has talked about learning to drive to avoid the problem, she grew up in China where public transit meant she never had to learn it, Seattle is way below what she was used to.
@seanmcdirmidthe Nicolette mall was VERY busy prior to the pandemic
@QueenZerkaThey gutted the old chem of uptown years ago they just keep doubling and tripling down it used to be more like Lyn lake
@RGarz1The TC Is numinous like the weird forbidden zone in the old Russian “Stalker “ film in a beautiful artistic stoner mode, I have lived here all my life …. Many people love it here / good call on props to the cultural points off the top to the presenter
@krisMaybe it's just the Minnesota in me talking but like, c'mon, it's not THAT cold.
@carsenstrangeGreat honest review. As someone who lives here in Minneapolis I appreciate it. Will definitely be checking your content for research on other cities I visit based on your accuracy with mine.
@christi-annswanson96983 days is 2 days more than needed to see everything interesting in minneapolis
@stewartnagle6776Holy shit this will be one of the world's shortest videos.
@greg55666You forgot to blame something on Trump! Well, next time, eh?
@JosédeCheltnmGreat city for protesting.
@mansize6622The power plant in the opening shot is for the U of M heating
@joshuakennedy2015you can have narrow streets in snowy weather, like in Bergen
@tomasbeltran04050Bicycle mood or mode?
@tomasbeltran04050If it becomes necessary, MSP will rise again. MSP strong is real.
@margaretsch.36099:44 And it continues to. Keep up the good fight, Minnesota!
@vicentecontrerassoux1660hell yeah dude
@user-fp8xc8lf3f11:02 imagine if those skyways were at ground level. Yes, blocking the streets.
One floor up is kind of obviously just car infrastructure. It’s nice you don’t have to go outside and it’s nice you don’t have to cross car traffic, but it’s still aligned with the ground floor as closely as possible. That means that the upstairs stories are still contained. Basically each building is a dead end like always.
If you do build skyways you have an opportunity to change how the city works completely. The upstairs skyway network could be an alternative to the ground floor street network and not just an extension of it. Adding additional connectivity and increasing the usability of the available floor space.
It’s a bit sci-fi, I admit. But basically tall buildings are divided by street canyons and if you bridge them you may as well really bridge them. Say on the sixth floor, meaning you can use the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth floors the same way you can the second and third.
12:33 okay I hadn’t realised that second floors of US cities are usually dead. Ups. That’s not what I am used to from Europe. In small towns yes, but not in downtowns of cities.
22:12 while you’re talking about affordability. I wonder how the prices of these greenway adjacent condos compare to other areas of the city. They certainly look like the kind of place where I would want to live but couldn’t afford.
My husband grew up privileged in the suburbs. On a trip to NYC, we took the train to the Bronx. Buskers started entertaining us, and my husband struck up a conversation with the much-tattooed and pierced guy sitting next to him. They talked music and guitars all the way up to our exit. That one interaction shifted my hubby's perspective.
@maryjackson1194I’ve been living in Minneapolis for about 1.5 years and I’ve never used the skyways despite having been downtown many many times. I think it’s probably because i live in south Minneapolis, so I bike if I need to get to downtown.
@lukesoderbloom9905LOL!😱🤡🤦🏻♂️
@Mr.HarryWildDoes Minneapolis treat the bike paths as first-class traffic corridors when it comes to snow & ice?
@TerraMagnusI used to visit Minneapolis several times a year for work. What they chose to call "Skyway", I took to calling "Habitrail". Because it reminded me of hamsters stuck in a tube. I mean I get it... it gets godawful cold there in the winter. But it also gets cold in Sweden, and I don't remember having to get around the towns in Sweden through tunnels. The Minneapolis fascination with tunnels doesn't end at the Skyway, by the way. The company I spent a lot of time visiting there was on an office park where the office buildings were interconnected via subterranean tunnels. So the outside of the office park was just made for car traffic mostly. All of the pedestrian activity was happening underground, like they'd chosen to become mole people. It's just weird. That said, if you actually dare to go outside and walk on the sidewalks, there's a lot of cool stuff to discover in Minneapolis.
@TerraMagnusI'm starting to see Minneapolis-St. Paul as very, very similar to Edmonton. Twin Cities are ahead on cycling, Edmonton's ahead on downtown streetlife. Twin cities ahead on LRT coverage, Edmonton's ahead on LRT frequency and ridership per km. And we both have extremely cool interlinked park systems. And amazing universities. And big malls.
Love from Canada, and good luck down there.