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The Twin Cities
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and the nearby capital city of St. Paul make up the core of a metropolitan area with more than 3.5 million residents, the 16th largest in the United States. With a highly educated population, a diverse economy, nationally renowned cultural institutions and the beauty of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the Twin Cities area routinely ranks high on lists of the nation’s most livable communities.
The Twin Cities are home to a vibrant business community that features the Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping and entertainment complex, as well as 7of the Fortune Global 500 companies and 20 of the Fortune US 500 corporations, including Target, Best Buy and 3M. With our downtown location, the School of Law is right in the middle of the region’s lively legal community. The Twin Cities’ bench and bar has embraced the School of Law through the Mentor Externship Program, summer employment opportunities and by participating in a variety of conferences and events.
The Twin Cities area rates highly for its wide range of leisure activities, from outstanding theater to a hometown team for every flavor of sports fan. For the more active types, there are nearly limitless recreational opportunities to enjoy. The metropolitan area boasts 949 lakes, 22 lakes within the Minneapolis city limits alone, as well as extensive park systems, miles of bicycle and jogging trails and the beauty of the Mississippi River.
In a uniquely Minnesotan way to deal with winter weather, downtown Minneapolis and the St. Thomas Minneapolis campus are connected via a skyway system that is unmatched by any North American city. The skyway system includes 77 enclosed bridges that connect downtown buildings on the second level. Walking from one end of the skyway to the other, you can cover eight miles and pass hundreds of stores, dozens of restaurants and coffee shops, more than 1,500 apartments and condominiums, and almost 200 million square feet of office space.
Every year the Twin Cities are recognized nationally as great places. Here are just some recent rankings:
- Minnesota is home to the headquarters of 20 Fortune 500 companies, ranking 8th among the states.
- Target Field, home to the Minnesota Twins, was named “Sports Facility of the Year” in 2011 by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily. Target Field is located just blocks from the School of Law.
- Minneapolis was the only city in the country to be designated as a “gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community" by the League of American Bicyclist’s Bicycle Friendly America Program in 2011, joining 13 other cities with the designation.
- National Geographic Traveler magazine selected Minneapolis as one of their “10 best summer trips for 2011.” The list features destinations around the world, and Minneapolis is one of only three in the U.S.
- Minneapolis is the best city in the country for workers to find employment, according to 2011 study in Forbes. Minneapolis tops the list for having low unemployment and a variety of industries where people can find work.
- Minneapolis is one of the “coolest towns in America” according to Men’s Journal. The April 2011 issue calls Minneapolis the "Best Place to Live in a Big City Designed for Getting Outside.”
- The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area is the nation’s third best market according to Forbes magazine’s America’s Best Cities for Young Professionals 2010 survey.
- For the fourth year in a row, Minneapolis-St. Paul has been ranked the top metro area in the nation for volunteering by the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2010.
- The Minneapolis area ranks as the third-fittest metro area in the nation according to the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2010 American Fitness Index (AFI) report.
- Minneapolis is the sixth best ecocity in the world according to Mercer’s 2010 Quality of Living Worldwide survey.
- Portfolio.com rated the Minneapolis area third in its 2010 Quality of Life report.
