So Jewish blog Oy! Chicago is declaring their city’s superiority over the Gather The Jews in our nation’s capital. I’m not going to let The Windy City off that easy, so here is TC Jewfolk’s stake to the claim of Midwestern dominance.
And if you’re looking for more than 8 reasons, let me know and I’ll give you 8 more.
1. Even with the worst record in the American League last year, the Minnesota Twins have a better chance of winning the World Series in 2012 than the Chicago Cubs. And you are still paying Alfonso Soriano to play the outfield. The Curse of the Billy Goat Lives!
2. According to Fit Pregnancy magazine, Minneapolis/St. Paul is the 3rd best place in America to be pregnant, give birth, and raise a family. What makes it great:
- The Twin Cities lead the survey in access to children’s hospitals and fertility clinics.
- Minneapolis also has the most doulas per 1,000 live births of any city in the survey.
- Almost 22 percent of moms breastfeed for six months or longer (only two cities in the survey have higher success rates).
- Infant and maternal mortality are low.
- Minneapolis has the second-highest number of licensed home day-care centers of any city in the survey.
- It’s also the most affordable city for new parents of any surveyed.
3. Your former Governor (from Chicago) was just sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. But that’s nothing new – three other former Illinois governors have gone to prison. And over the past 40 years, 1,500 people in the Chicago area have been convicted for bribery, extortion, tax fraud, embezzlement, and other forms of corruption.
4. According to Klout, the most influential chef online is none other than Andrew Zimmern. Sure, he won a James Beard Award and he hosts one of the most popular food shows on TV. But more importantly, he writes a column for Mpls./St. Paul Magazine and he’s a Jew who lives right here in the Twin Cities.
5. According to Forbes, the Twin Cities is the healthiest metro in the country (Chicago didn’t even crack the top 20).
- Minneapolis residents breathe clean air, prioritize exercise and keep their weight down, supported by a city that was among the first to add bike trails and ban smoking in public places.
- If you live in Minneapolis-St. Paul, you and your neighbors are less likely to have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and asthma and are more likely to be in excellent or very good health.
- Minneapolis has lots of open spaces, parks, and walking areas, and you see people walking everywhere.
- The Twin Cities do their part by setting aside a high percent of the city as parkland, offering plenty of ball fields, tennis courts, playgrounds, dog parks, golf courses, and recreation centers.
6. While Blago tried to sell the vacant seat in Illinois, the state of Minnesota elected a nice Jewish boy from Minneapolis to the United States Senate – Al Franken.
7. According to the U.S. Census, the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. metro area has the fourth longest commute time in the country at 30.7 minutes. I’ve lived in the Twin Cities for over 3 years and have never even been in my car for 30.7 minutes at one time – let alone twice a day, 5 days a week.
8. No wonder The Mall of America had 40 million visitors in 2010 – no sales tax on clothes.
(Photo: Many Highways)
According to the most influential chef online, Andrew Zimmern. …We still need a good deli in the Twin Cities
http://blogs.mspmag.com/chowandagain/2011/11/ham-on-wry.html
And yet Mr. Zimmern still calls Minneapolis home. Go figure!
ROBERT and Andrew Zimmern are BOTH absolutely right. We STILL need a REAL decent delicatessen here in fly over land. We have everything better here EXCEPT for decent restaurants. Chicago has us beat gastronomically by miles and miles.
Every time I go to Chicago I hit a Jewish deli. I don’t even remotely consider deli here. Chicago wins. Sorry.
If deli is that important to you, why do you live in the TC?
I love it as much as the next Jew, but there are a few more important things in life.
You asked and answered your own question:
Q: why do you live in the TC?
A: there are a few more important things in life
Please don’t ask any more stupid questions. I have no time for petty bickering on a blog.
Relax Steve – you have plenty of time.
You’re the one who said “Chicago wins” based on the fact that you like a deli there (even though this piece isn’t about delis). If anything could be considered stupid, it was your comment.
Go have some latkes in Chicago and have a Happy Hanukkah.
Why is everyone always talking about delis? No offense to Crossroads – from which I ate my lunch today – but a deli make not the City for me.
Chicago vs. Minneapolis? It’s not even a toss up. Granted, I’ve never lived in Chicago – just visited, but although it’s a stunningly beautiful city, it’s pulse is far faster and crazier than that of our lovely, Minnesota-nice world.
I can’t imagine being in my profession in Chicago, and don’t even want to think about what the cost of housing must be there. Want to live in the City in Chicago? Check out Zillow and think again. Here, a ton of my friends live in Minneapolis proper, some for decades, and for those of us who choose to live outside of the City, our commute is tiny in comparison to that of “suburbian” Chicagoites. I can make it to Uptown or Downtown in no time when I want a little reprieve from my suburb’s quietude.
And our Jewish community? Yes, it has its quirks. The Minneapolis v. St. Paul side of the river debate is sometimes funny, and sometimes obnoxious. But we come together several times a year, and as more of us young people work up the ranks in our local Jewish community, there’s going to be even more collaboration across the river.
I love that we have a medium-sized Jewish community here. Whether you grew up here, or moved here, it’s not too hard to break in (I know people will disagree with me on that one), but in comparison to Chicago’s Jewish population, you have got to agree that it’s easier to find people and develop a community in our smaller, tighter circle. I love that when I meet Jewish neighbors they know my Jewish friends, or the other Jewish people I just met at a Jewish organization’s gala. This Jewish world is small, passionate, smart, dedicated and active. Ask Federation or the JCC – survey results show that we have more engagement than that of cities with Jewish populations twice our size.
Yes, our winter’s suck, but that’s a topic for a comparison to LA or Austin. Comparing us to Chicago? I’d rather bear out our winters in Minneapolis’ skyways than any other place in the Midwest.
Beat that, Chicago.
Where’s the Like button on this Leora? Although, Chicago *has* come up as a place we’d live sometime if Mpls isn’t our forever home. If and when I move, I’ll let you and Jeff know whether the comparison is spot on.
Interesting – it seems like the majority of our young Jewish college graduates from Minneapolis are living in Chicago. How do we get them to realize how great the Twin Cities are? I can’t imagine it is only because of the lack of a Jewish deli?