The Minneapolis of the Midwest

[Chef]

[Centropolis]

i see what you did there.

[Jeff]

that was good in so many ways. thanks for that!

[fflint]

Looking good

[MaxtheUrban]

Very nice thread! I loved the fact that you got away from the urban core and showed us some of the housing stock in the city! Well done!

[ColDayMan]

Great thread.

[mthq]

this Minneapolis of the Midwest is lookin' great. What city we talkin' about here eh??

[pdxtex]

i quit smoking. minneapolis winter makes me want to smoke (and drink coffee.) and possibly eat pie, and wear big wooly coats. somehow there is a compliment in there. its appears to have a well worn grit i find comforting.....

[Austinlee]

It would be hilarious if this were the entire Minneapolis skyline. I think as an ironic joke all skyscrapers should be torn down but these ones:

[Bedhead]

A real classic, this one - the way you've used colour to knit everything together is amazing.

[Chef]

Thanks for the comments! Halfway through, this thread turned into my homage to stucco, which probably makes it the most honest Minneapolis thread I've done. Stucco may not be beautiful, but it is everywhere in this city.

Originally Posted by Centropolis

i see what you did there.

It has always annoyed me when people called Minneapolis the " ______ of the Midwest". It is its own place.

Originally Posted by Austinlee

It would be hilarious if this were the entire Minneapolis skyline. I think as an ironic joke all skyscrapers should be torn down but these ones:

I've actually had the same thought. The resulting midrise boom would be enormous.

[STLgasm]

Well done. Minne ain't so mini these days.

[Kingofthehill]

Interesting to see the largest Scandinavian outpost outside of Scandinavia. Although I am sure that at this point, the Norwegian/Swedish/etc-Americans there are all pretty Americanized - and quite frankly, regular white people - at this point, but how much of a Scandinavian influence is there in MSP at this point? Thanks for sharing!

[Chef]

In terms of overt culture there is not a whole lot of Scandinavian influence left. In terms of how people's minds work, probably a lot. Janteloven is a concept all white people who are multi generational here get, even if they don't know the term. It permeates the culture. Some of Minnesota's quirks almost certainly come from Scandinavia. The trust that people have in government. The strain of orderly permissiveness that runs through society. The amount that people drink, coupled with tight alcohol laws. The fact that Minneapolis is the most neo-pagan city in the US is likely a product the old Scandinavian syncretic Christianity.

The other big 19th and early 20th century immigrant group here were the Germans. Minneapolis is also the most German-American city in the US and its German population came later than in the rest of the US. The upper Midwest also has the smallest population of Yankee/English descendants. Nearly all of the rooted white people in Minnesota are part German, part Scandinavian, or both. Both groups tried really hard to assimilate but there was much less of the original white culture around for them to assimilate to. As a result, the generic white culture of this part of the country is almost entirely a German-Scandinavian recreation of white American culture, rather than the original thing, if that makes sense. They got some of the details wrong, which is part of what gives Minnesota its sense of place.

[Danny]

Enjoyed this tour, as usual, Chef!

Thanks for sharing.

I like the views of Minneapolis you always capture, and people shots too.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[MplsTodd]

Originally Posted by Chef

In terms of overt culture there is not a whole lot of Scandinavian influence left. In terms of how people's minds work, probably a lot. Janteloven is a concept all white people who are multi generational here get, even if they don't know the term. It permeates the culture. Some of Minnesota's quirks almost certainly come from Scandinavia. The trust that people have in government. The strain of orderly permissiveness that runs through society. The amount that people drink, coupled with tight alcohol laws. The fact that Minneapolis is the most neo-pagan city in the US is likely a product the old Scandinavian syncretic Christianity.

The other big 19th and early 20th century immigrant group here were the Germans. Minneapolis is also the most German-American city in the US and its German population came later than in the rest of the US. The upper Midwest also has the smallest population of Yankee/English descendants. Nearly all of the rooted white people in Minnesota are part German, part Scandinavian, or both. Both groups tried really hard to assimilate but there was much less of the original white culture around for them to assimilate to. As a result, the generic white culture of this part of the country is almost entirely a German-Scandinavian recreation of white American culture, rather than the original thing, if that makes sense. They got some of the details wrong, which is part of what gives Minnesota its sense of place.

Good observations, Chef. There is a distinct culture to the Twin Cities (or Upper Midwest, or as it is called in some areas "the North"). Even though I've always known about the German/Scandinavian influence on the culture, your comments connected a few more dots in the overall description of Twin Cities culture.

Great pictures too!

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Chef

In terms of overt culture there is not a whole lot of Scandinavian influence left. In terms of how people's minds work, probably a lot. Janteloven is a concept all white people who are multi generational here get, even if they don't know the term. It permeates the culture. Some of Minnesota's quirks almost certainly come from Scandinavia. The trust that people have in government. The strain of orderly permissiveness that runs through society. The amount that people drink, coupled with tight alcohol laws. The fact that Minneapolis is the most neo-pagan city in the US is likely a product the old Scandinavian syncretic Christianity.

The other big 19th and early 20th century immigrant group here were the Germans. Minneapolis is also the most German-American city in the US and its German population came later than in the rest of the US. The upper Midwest also has the smallest population of Yankee/English descendants. Nearly all of the rooted white people in Minnesota are part German, part Scandinavian, or both. Both groups tried really hard to assimilate but there was much less of the original white culture around for them to assimilate to. As a result, the generic white culture of this part of the country is almost entirely a German-Scandinavian recreation of white American culture, rather than the original thing, if that makes sense. They got some of the details wrong, which is part of what gives Minnesota its sense of place.

i've always wondered what the differences were between the german influence in minneapolis /milwaukee and st. louis/ cincinnati. we have braunschweiger (at least its very popular) and cincy has goetta and the two cities share tons of similarities. i wonder also if the milwaukee/mpls waves were from different regions - and different waves of immigration. sort of strangely, the architecture here looks more northern german (brick gothic) and the northern midwest almost feels more southern german/ bavarian.

[Chef]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

i've always wondered what the differences were between the german influence in minneapolis /milwaukee and st. louis/ cincinnati. we have braunschweiger (at least its very popular) and cincy has goetta and the two cities share tons of similarities. i wonder also if the milwaukee/mpls waves were from different regions - and different waves of immigration. sort of strangely, the architecture here looks more northern german (brick gothic) and the northern midwest almost feels more southern german/ bavarian.

When WWI broke out close to 20% of Minnesotans were born in Germany. Because of that the state was put under martial law and the rights to free speech and assembly were suspended. People (including newspaper editors) were thrown in jail for speaking out against the war. That alone meant that Germans in Minnesota experienced their entry into American society differently than the previous waves. This was one of the drivers of the rise of the socialist oriented Farmer Labor party that was one of the main governing parties in the state during the '20s and '30s (the FL eventually absorbed the state Democratic party to form the DFL). The WWI experienced alienated Germans (and others) here from the political establishment. The Farmer Labor party in turn had a profound impact on Minnesota's later political evolution.

St Louis and Cincinnati got braunschweiger, Cincy got goetta, Minneapolis and Milwaukee got bratwurst and socialism. I'm not sure where in Germany Minnesota's Germans came from but there are a lot of German Catholics here (in addition to Lutherans) so I would guess it is a mix of north and south.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Chef

When WWI broke out close to 20% of Minnesotans were born in Germany. Because of that the state was put under martial law and the rights to free speech and assembly were suspended. People (including newspaper editors) were thrown in jail for speaking out against the war. That alone meant that Germans in Minnesota experienced their entry into American society differently than the previous waves. This was one of the drivers of the rise of the socialist oriented Farmer Labor party that was one of the main governing parties in the state during the '20s and '30s (the FL eventually absorbed the state Democratic party to form the DFL). The WWI experienced alienated Germans (and others) here from the political establishment. The Farmer Labor party in turn had a profound impact on Minnesota's later political evolution.

who was running minneapolis then, the swedes?

[Chef]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

who was running minneapolis then, the swedes?

In Minneapolis it was WASP industrialists, immigrants weren't politically organized even though they had the numbers. It was the labor movement that broke the power of the old elite (the Teamsters Strike of 1934 was the penultimate event). St Paul was run by an Irish crony machine (they were the only Democrats in the state).