Early Winter in Uptown, Minneapolis

[Jennifat]

In an effort to get in some photos before the heavy snow comes (a major snowstorm is dumping the white stuff on Twin Cities as I write this), I did a bit of wandering around the neighborhood of Uptown, about two miles south of downtown.

Decades ago, Uptown was Minneapolis’ center of counter-culture and art, but in recent years has seen heavy gentrification due to its proximity to downtown, eclectic culture, and location adjacent the popular Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. These days, just about everyone hangs out here, including wealthy professionals, empty-nesters, hipsters, suburbanites, and plenty of oddballs.

There’s a little bit of Lake of the Isles and Lowry Hill mixed in here, too, but both are located so close it’s almost impossible not to just keep on wandering.

Uptown, Minneapolis
December 8, 2012

[chicagogeorge]

Very nice pictures!

[Jaybird]

Nice pictures! I didn't know Minneapolis had an uptown and it looks like the city has a lot of retail space, like Chicago.

I like the walking paths and houses near the river/lake! I can picture Mary Tyler Moore walking them, like she did in the opening credits on the later seasons of her show.

Forgive me, every time I see Minneapolis, I always think of the Mary Tyler Moore show!

[Jennifat]

Originally Posted by Jaybird

I like the walking paths and houses near the river/lake! I can picture Mary Tyler Moore walking them, like she did in the opening credits on the later seasons of her show.

Thanks, Jaybird! A couple of these photos were taken on Lake of the Isles, where Mary Richards is shown walking along the lake (it's an extremely wealthy area). A few others are along Lake Calhoun, and along the canal that connects them. Oddly enough, this area is one of the very few locations in Mary Richards' Minneapolis that doesn't look radically different today.

Since I'd forgotten, I had to look up the "later seasons" Mary Tyler Moore intro. Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis isn't even recognizable! IDS Center and the Crystal Court still looks exactly the same, though.

[ColDayMan]

Awesome.

[kwoldtimer]

Great pics! I've never been to Minneapolis but somehow have always had a very good impression of it. I could be totally wrong, but it seems to me to be one of the USA's most Canadian cities in terms of its appearance and street life.

[Jennifat]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I've never been to Minneapolis but somehow have always had a very good impression of it. I could be totally wrong, but it seems to me to be one of the USA's most Canadian cities in terms of its appearance and street life.

You're certainly not the first person to point out the "Canadianness" of Minneapolis, although I think a lot of those comparisons lean toward the climate and culture more than the actual urban environment.

Street life isn't as great as it could be in Minneapolis, but it's definitely getting better as we continue to densify. There are pockets of the city where there's nice street life like in Uptown, Old St. Anthony, Linden Hills, and Dinkytown, but even downtown leaves more to be desired due to the omnipresence and convenience of the skyway system. On the other hand, bicycle culture is HUGE in Minneapolis. We're light years ahead of most American cities in terms of bicycling infrastructure, and a lot of people travel by bicycle year-round—heat, rain, or snow.

Additionally, we have one of the biggest, most popular, and most well cared for park systems in the United States, so people in the Twin Cities definitely take pride in our natural amenities and go to great lengths to keep our lakes and rivers clean. The Twin Cities as a whole are more environmentally-minded than most American metropolitan areas.

[Mplsuptown]

Was fun to see my old neighborhood of 15 years. Can't believe I've been gone for nearly 7 1/2 years already. Wow, seems like yesterday. Things have changed a bit though.

[Jennifat]

Yeah, definitely! It's been pretty exciting to watch things evolve over the last several years in Uptown...although I can't say I'm too fond of the hulking monstrosity popularly known as "Mozaic".

[xzmattzx]

Great pictures!

[Avian001]

Ah Jennifat, photographer extraordinaire and Duck Wrangler!

How long did it take to get this shot? Great work as always!

Originally Posted by Jennifat

[Jennifat]

It took about two seconds, as the geese were just paddling through when I stopped.