Minnesota is mainly known for its excessive snow, having two large cities called the Twin Cities and being the home of the Mall of America. But did you know, there are tons of other cool things in Minnesota to see or do? Here’s a list of my ten favorite things Minnesota has to offer.
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The Mall of America
Okay, you know I had to start with this one. Mall of America, or MOA for short, is an amazing place that has almost every store you can think of. They have an entire floor of just restaurants, and two floors of stores, including six large department stores. For kids, they have the Crayola Experience and Nickelodeon Universe. Nickelodeon Universe is an amusement park with plenty of rides for everyone, small or tall. You should definitely see this place before you die and treat yo’ self at one of the hundreds of store they have! Oh AND, right across the street is the only IKEA in Minnesota! It’s a store known for it’s amazing small apartment or dorm furniture, and display areas. Stop over there before you leave MOA.
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Minnesota has a national league for every almost major sport.
If you haven’t thought about that before, I am telling you now that Minnesota has practically every sport in a major league or association. We have football, baseball, soccer, basketball, women’s basketball, hockey, figure skating, wrestling and so many more! The best part is they are located all in one area: the Twin Cities. You could spend an entire month going to these events and would still miss at least one game.
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We have two major cities with amazing tourist destinations.
The Twin Cities are known for having many tourist activities in both locations. Minneapolis has the more artistic and creative atmosphere, while St. Paul has more of an industrial historic presence. Many people confuse Minneapolis for being the capital instead of St. Paul, but St. Paul has a long history and many historic buildings such as the cathedral, the capital and many local owned businesses that have been there for decades. Minneapolis is an upcoming city with newer businesses and younger people going to the University of Minnesota as well as the Walker Arts Center with the notorious “Cherry on a Spoon” sculpture.
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Minnesota is known as one of the most diverse Midwest states.
While most outlying towns in Minnesota are white populated, the metro area is very diverse. Being from Burnsville, Minnesota, I grew up around a lot of diverse communities. There is a Somali association, a Black Lives Matter chapter and many other diverse culture groups. Minneapolis has the most diverse population in Minnesota with 37 percent of the population being a minority.
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Because of Minnesota’s large diversity, our politics are split.
Now I must admit, I’m a hardcore Democrat. The metro area of Minnesota is, for the most part, liberal. In high school, I went to an upper class high school. In general these upper class students were Republicans. After working for two political campaigns, I have found that Minnesota is pretty evenly split about their political beliefs. Because our government is generally located in the Twin Cities, our state government tends to lean more liberal because the metro area votes Democrat and has more power than smaller communities in west and north Minnesota. Having a political science minor, I like the diversity in political beliefs. It gives Democrats and Republicans a chance to see both sides of the issue. For instance, in Mississippi it is largely Republican, and in California it is largely Democratic. So, many people don’t get to see both sides of the spectrum. But going into politics, you have to understand both sides.
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You get the best of all worlds: city, suburb, and farm land.
Coming from a suburb of the Twin Cities, I was 30 minutes away from downtown Minneapolis, and at the same time 30 minutes away from the country. Growing up, I liked the country because I had plenty of room to play outside and grow gardens, and meet neighbor friends. But being a teeager, I liked to visit the city weekly. There is so much to do in the city, you can never get bored. And then if I got too overwhelmed by the city, I could go home to my suburb house and play with friends in my neighborhood. If I wanted to get some space from everything, I could drive half an hour away into country. Minnesota has a great mix of every type of living environment.
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Our education is one of the best in the country.
In Minnesota, our education system is renowned as one of the best in the United States. To become a teacher in Minnesota, you must pass multiple exams to be qualified to teach. Our test scores are known to be higher than many other states because of our qualified teachers.
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There is plenty of accredited colleges to choose from.
Minnesota has the Minnesota State Secondary Education Program that contains 30 colleges (these include community colleges), and seven universities such as Winona State University and Minnesota State University, Mankato (my school). This does not include the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, University of Minnesota, Duluth, University of Minnesota, Rochester, University of Minnesota, Crookston, etc.
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Minnesota has hundreds of large corporations to work for.
My mother works at General Mills, which is one of the largest corporations in Minnesota, with Mayo Clinic being the largest. There are hundreds of businesses that started in Minnesota. Some of these include Target, General Mills, 3M, Land O’ Lakes food products, Caribou Coffee, Cambria, CHS and U.S. Bank. I’m sure there are more not mentioned, but the point here is that there are plenty of opportunities to work at a large corporation. And if large corporations aren’t your thing, there are thousands of small companies to work for as well.
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Saving the best for last, the concept of “Minnesota Nice.”
Growing up in Minnesota my entire life, I thought the idea of “Minnesota Nice” was just a phrase. It wasn’t until I went on a couple of vacations across the country that I realized it’s a real thing. Minnesotans are just nice to each other. We say hi to random people on the street, hold doors open, say please and thank you, etc. The one time that made me realize “Minnesota Nice” was not a concept anywhere other than Minnesota was when I went to New York City. I went in the summer of 2018, and let me tell you, people there are RUDE. They keep to themselves and hate talking to people. For example, I tried to start a conversation with a woman while I was in line for the bathroom. I said “Hi! I’m Emma. What’s your name?” and she turned around and said harshly, “Why are you talking to me? Do I know you?” I was appalled and just got out of the line because I was so intimidated. I won’t go back to New York unless I get a free trip or if I have to. The vibe was depressing and unkind. Coming back to Minnesota lifted my spirits thankfully, but I couldn’t imagine not being nice to everyone you meet. It’s in our DNA.
So, those are my ten reasons Minnesota is the best state. I didn’t have the chance to mention that we are the home of Prince, and we have all four seasons (although sometimes it feels like winter lasts for six months). If you haven’t been to Minnesota yet, you have to check it out! It’s a great place to visit, but an even better place to live.