City: Minneapolis

[Dave//Eksvplot]

One could do worse.

Not crap.

[MWilke]

Minnesota has a lot of highways. There are very few routes of more than 7 miles in the metro that don't entail being in expressway traffic for a majority of it. The ramps very frequently allow a very short window of time to merge in and out of. This forces a lot opportunities for people to cut off others or get cut off. I think the driving is mostly fine, but the infrastructure almost encourages a culture of aggressive driving.

[MtHrtAttack]

Does anyone know of a good place to get hot subs (specifically like a good steak sub/cheesesteak) in the Twin Cities? I've heard of somewhere around St. Paul/St. Anthony, but other than that I don't really know of anywhere.

[MWilke]

I haven't heard this band yet. But people are talking about this dude spouting off about bands he doesn't like and how the Twin Cities has become an oldster's town hung up on their Husker Du/Replacements past.

http://blog.thecurrent.org/post/2012/03/howler-frontman-jordan-gatesmith-clarifies-his-views-minneapolis

“I mean, there’s definitely a Minnesota Nice thing about it,” he says. “But I think it’s fine. Personally, I just think some really good things have been looked over, and that’s what I’m angry about. That’s it,” he says, scoffing. “And I have a sort of strong opinion about that, and I come off as a prick sometimes, but you know, I’m a 20-year-old snot-nosed kid, so what do I know?”

[MtHrtAttack]

Yeah, he kinda just comes across as a bit of an over-privileged, un-educated prick, aside from the fact that his band isn't really very inventive (when he was criticizing the4onthefloor, who are really more creative and have probably had to work harder than him) either.

[Charlie D]

Does anyone know of a good place to get hot subs (specifically like a good steak sub/cheesesteak) in the Twin Cities? I've heard of somewhere around St. Paul/St. Anthony, but other than that I don't really know of anywhere.

Caffrey's over in Lyn-Lake.

[MtHrtAttack]

Does anyone know of a good place to get hot subs (specifically like a good steak sub/cheesesteak) in the Twin Cities? I've heard of somewhere around St. Paul/St. Anthony, but other than that I don't really know of anywhere.

Caffrey's over in Lyn-Lake.

My family and I went there a few months after I asked about this. It was a nice place, I liked it, it's got a lot of personality, but they don't make sandwiches here like they do in Pittsburgh-the portion sizes are a bit small at Caffrey's; maybe if I were coming for a small lunch they would be fine but they just weren't big enough for me.

[MWilke]

In the wake of the Surly Bill, I found this article significantly useful.

http://heavytable.com/minneapolis-st-paul-tap-room-directory/

[Uecker]

I've taken residence in Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison, and now Rochester MN... but have spent a ton of time over the years in the twin cities. Minneapolis really is a great mid western city with everything to offer that you could need. Music, food, arts/culture, green space & lakes, housing options, international airport, etc. For a smallish big city it has a substantial and accessible downtown, and well planned infrastructure accommodating folks who frequently bike or skateboard for transportation. Personally, I prefer the slightly less populated yet less rural feeling metro Milwaukee area to the twin cities due to it's proximity to Chi and Madison, but you can't go wrong with Minneapolis. One caveat; I too have noticed an inattentive and leisurely approach to driving in these parts as well. Still... definitely Not Crap.

[Angus Jung]

I've been to Minneapolis twice. Once was in around 2001/2002, and the other was on tour in 2009.

This last time, I felt like the downtown part of Minneapolis (we played @ 7th St. Entry) had gotten much more sterile and corporate in the years since I had been there. Shit just sucked. I was sad.

[zom-zom]

Downtown sucks. I avoid it.

Especially on weekend nights.. First Avenue, (the street), used to be cool. A few bars, some decent restaurants, a few galleries and shops. It's now filled with truly horrible meat-market clubs full of fighting, drunken, club-goer idiots. That and now there are two palaces of jockdom to avoid, Target Center with it's basketball jackasses and now baseball clods roaming the streets with Twins shirts and hats.

[MWilke]

That and now there are two palaces of jockdom to avoid, Target Center with it's basketball jackasses and now baseball clods roaming the streets with Twins shirts and hats.

zom zom, honest question:

If I walk around with a Twins shirt on, does that categorize me as a jock in these towns?

I know wearing Vikings gear definitely does. Even Jonathan Franzen made comments in 'Freedom.' But I was wondering if that goes for Twins gear too.

[same]

Been there many times. I've never liked Minneapolis. There's nothing really offensive about it, except maybe the weather, but there's nothing really inspiring about it either.

You could certainly do worse. Not Crap but for it being so, meh.

I do love those burgers with the molten lava cheese stuffed inside the patty.

[same]

This last time, I felt like the downtown part of Minneapolis (we played @ 7th St. Entry) had gotten much more sterile and corporate in the years since I had been there. Shit just sucked. I was sad.

Pretty sure the whole downtown is just one giant Target.

[Yodzinga Phazor]

Downtown was cool 70s-mid 90s, sucks ass now.
Music was best (to my ears in show-going since the mid 80s) about 2003-2009. Still pretty decent.
Not crap aside from people my age refusing to admit that the music of The Replacements has aged like a 20-year old baguette. Mid oughts beat the supposed 80s "heyday" hands down. 90s/early 2000s were a musical nadir.
There was a time when the record shopping was better here than it was inChicago. That is no longer the case. Still, not crap for a city this size by a long shot. We just need to stop patting ourselves on the back. The public radio music station especially. Now that is crap.

[same]

There was a time when the record shopping was better here than it was inChicago.

Forgot about that. Cheapo. So many great records found there in the past. Todd Trainer spottings.

[zom-zom]

If you wear sports-team clothing you are a jock to me.

But then again, all professional sports are offensive to me, the money, the mentality, the way these stadiums stomp all over formerly nice downtown areas and how we wind up helping to pay for them.

I don't know why anyone would find the weather here undesirable, especially winter-haters who still seem to think that it's a snowy wonderland, which just doesn't happen much anymore unfortunately.

[MWilke]

If you wear sports-team clothing you are a jock to me.

Thought so.

We just need to stop patting ourselves on the back. The public radio music station especially. Now that is crap.

It's such an awesome concept though. I'll agree that aside from Mary Lucia's shift I tend to avoid it. But there should be a public station with no commercials that makes an honest effort to promote relevant music in every city.

[same]

I don't know why anyone would find the weather here undesirable, especially winter-haters who still seem to think that it's a snowy wonderland, which just doesn't happen much anymore unfortunately.

Every time I'm in MPLS it's either like 90F and muggy, or 3F and windy, with a thin crust of ice and snow on everything (I am a snow lover. I don't mind the cold, as long as there is snow to go with it.). It's basically like a more extreme version of Chicago weather, perhaps because it doesn't have the lake to buffer it.

[zom-zom]

I cannot help that you come here when the weather is not to your liking.

Today it's about 65 and sunny. The winter before last we had like 4' of snow on the ground all winter, a really long, snowy winter. This past one sucked, but there was some snow.

I will complain about this past summer, but it appears to have sucked just about everywhere in the USA.