While waiting at the dentist's office this morning, I read on Popular Science that they ranked Minneapolis (yes, Minnesota) as the most high-tech city in the United States. I was –like– perplexed for a full sixty-second. Minneapolis? That so-called metropolis in the north where people with a Canadian accent and soda is called pop? The city that I call home even though I've only stayed there for a little bit more than a year?
MIN-NE-A-PO-LIS. Tell me if I'm right, these gotta be the words that come to your mind after reading that: cold, snow, fargo, cold again, blizzards, jesse ventura, more snow, ... Never would I have thought that the city could actually be in a ranking called technopolis found. And there it is, at numéro uno.
I needed a few minutes to let it sink in before it dawned on me that the news isn't really that surprising. I guess I've really taken it for granted all the privileges I enjoyed while living in the Cities. After reading the article, I pretty much agree with all the points he mentioned except for one thing: public transportation.
Well, one point in the article that I can soooo relate: in Minneapolis, you can swipe your plastics anywhere, taxis, chinatown restaurants, posh boutiques, you name it, they'll swipe your card (yes, even Discover). This, of course, really can't be said about other metropolises such as New York or even DC where they seem to miss the cashless society train.
As uplifting as the article was, it seemed to have failed to talk about [the lack of] public transportation in Minneapolis. Yes, yes, they've just opened the sleek yellow light rail that will wisk riders from the airport to downtown in minutes, but that really is not enough. The minimum cost of riding a bus is $2.00 the last time I checked and they run very infrequently (for a city with that size). Plus, if you live in the suburbs, then just forget all about helping the environment and congestion by taking the bus because it doesn't exist! Or most often, you drive 15-40 minutes to the commuter terminal and take the bus that could run as infrequent as twice a day!
I still think that the Twin Cities is a great place to live (especially the uptown area) but I guess I just can't tolerate people glossing over certain facts.
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2005/05/18Mpls: Most High-Tech City?4 Comments: |
wah kasihan ndak ada yg comment.... .. pa kabar Om luwi? gila gue abis baca blog loe.. panjang2... bikin mumet dengan bahasa yg berbelit2..
:haiz:
but it's entertaining tho... keep on writing deh biar ntar gue baca2 lagi kalo lagi strezz..
Public bus running TWICE a day? I am flabbergasted! I can't imagine how crowded the ride must've been. I guess that's why they installed those traffic density sensors. There must have been millions suburbanites DRIVING in and out of the city each day. Good thing they don't rank on the top 10 of the Nation's worst traffic, like DC does.
midwest people = high tech, heh? I always thought MN is just a cold state with lots of cows, moooooooooooooo......
i guess having a transit there for 4 hours on my way to CA will actually be worthed. i'm going to check out that mall of america. hmm i thought about using my 4 hours to milk the cow before i heard about that mall from you. hahaha...
/lu.wi.to/ says:
SINGLE GIRL LOVE LOOKINHASEYO
/lu.wi.to/ says:
U B TALLHASEYO
/lu.wi.to/ says:
SIPITHASEYO
/lu.wi.to/ says:
ATTITUDE ISSEOYEO...
>> maap gak nyambung sama entry blog yg bersangkutan. tapi i just have to do this. hauahuakakakak. so funny you are (ala yoda). cheers, ~putz