Minneapolis

Minneapolis is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the seat of Hennepin County, the state's most populous county.

Minneapolis and its neighbor Saint Paul make up the Twin Cities, with Minneapolis being the larger of the two. The Twin Cities metro and their surrounding suburbs contain about 3.64 million people, making it the third-largest economic and population center in the Midwest and the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States.

Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. The city is abundantly rich in water, with 13 lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls; many connected by parkways in the Chain of Lakes and the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway. Due in part to its high degree of accessibility, the city is routinely ranked as having the best park system in the United States.

THEATRE & PERFORMING ARTS

Minneapolis has been a cultural center for theatrical performances since the mid 1800s. Early theaters included the Pence Opera House, the Academy of Music, the Grand Opera House, the Lyceum, and later the Metropolitan Opera House, which opened in 1894.

The city is second only to New York City in terms of the number of theater companies per capita and is the third-largest theater market in the United States.

The Guthrie Theater, the area's largest theater company, occupies a three-stage complex overlooking the Mississippi, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel.

Minneapolis purchased and renovated the Orpheum, State, and Pantages Theatres vaudeville and film houses on Hennepin Avenue, which are now used for concerts and plays. A fourth renovated theater, the former Shubert, joined with the Hennepin Center for the Arts to become the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, home to more than one dozen performing arts groups.

The Minnesota Orchestra plays classical and popular music at the city's Orchestra Hall under music director Osmo Vänskä.

According to DownBeat, for 25 years the Dakota Jazz Club has been one of the world's best jazz venues. Newer on the scene, Crooners in northeast Minneapolis also won world's best in 2020.

PARKS & RECREATION

The Minneapolis park system has been called the best-designed, best-financed, and best-maintained in America. The city's Chain of Lakes, consisting of seven lakes and Minnehaha Creek, is connected by bike, running, and walking paths and used for swimming, fishing, picnics, boating, and ice skating. A parkway for cars, a bikeway for riders, and a walkway for pedestrians runs parallel along the 52 miles (84 km) route of the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway.

Parks are interlinked in many places and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area connects regional parks and visitor centers.

The country's oldest public wildflower garden, the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary, is located within Theodore Wirth Park. Wirth Park is shared with Golden Valley and is about 90% the size of Central Park in New York City.

Site of the 53-foot (16 m) Minnehaha Falls, Minnehaha Park is one of the city's oldest and most popular parks, receiving over 500,000 visitors each year. The five-mile, hiking-only Winchell Trail along the Mississippi River, with its gorge views and access, offers a rustic hiking experience in the city.

Runner's World ranks the Twin Cities as America's sixth best city for runners. The Twin Cities Marathon run in Minneapolis and Saint Paul every October draws 250,000 spectators. The 26.2-mile (42.2 km) race is a Boston and USA Olympic Trials qualifier.

In other sports, five golf courses are located within the city, with the nationally ranked Hazeltine National Golf Club and Interlachen Country Club in nearby suburbs. Minneapolis is home to more golfers per capita than any other major U.S. city.

The state of Minnesota has the nation's highest number of bicyclists, sport fishermen, and snow skiers per capita.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Minneapolis currently has two light rail lines and one commuter rail line. The METRO Blue Line LRT (formerly the Hiawatha Line) serves 34,000 riders daily and connects the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and Mall of America in Bloomington to downtown.

Most of the line runs at surface level, although parts of the line run on elevated tracks (including the Franklin Avenue and Lake Street/Midtown stations) and approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of the line runs underground, including the Lindbergh terminal subway station at the airport.

Minneapolis's second light rail line, the METRO Green Line shares stations with the Blue Line in downtown Minneapolis, and then at the Downtown East station, travels east through the University of Minnesota, and then along University Avenue into downtown Saint Paul.

The third line, the Southwest Line (Green Line extension), will connect downtown Minneapolis with the southwestern suburb of Eden Prairie. Completion is expected sometime in 2022.

Metro Transit recorded 81.9 million boardings in 2017, slightly down from 82.6 million in 2016. The Blue Line carried 10.7 million riders in 2017, breaking its previous record annual ridership total. About 13.1 million people rode the Green Line in 2017, up 3.5% from 2016. However, these increases in light rail ridership were offset by a lower number of bus boardings: 55.7 million in 2017, compared to about 58.5 boardings in 2016.

AIRPORTS

Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) sits on 3,400 acres (1,400 ha) on the southeast border of the city between Minnesota State Highway 5, Interstate 494, Minnesota State Highway 77, and Minnesota State Highway 62.

The airport serves international, domestic, charter and regional carriers and is a hub and home base for Sun Country Airlines and Compass Airlines. It is also the third-largest hub for Delta Air Lines, who operate more flights out of MSP than any other airline.