Bob CollinsWe’ve been on lists like this so long we probably know exactly what this latest ranking is going to say about us. But we like to read it anyway. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Surveys and trivia
Minneapolis-St. Paul ranked sixth in the nation of best places to live in the annual U.S. News & World report survey. Winning the whole thing would’ve been nice but we’re just happy to be in the same company as Des Moines, Fayetville, Austin, Denver, and Colorado Springs. Read more →
The Grand Forks Herald says these are tough times for single people in North Dakota. A WalletHub survey ranks the state 40th in the percentage of single adults, and ranks dead last for gender balance, probably because of the number of men who moved to North Dakota to work in the Oil Patch. Read more →
If some Minnesotans are fleeing the state for whatever reason, it’s OK. There are people to replace them.
Read more →
People change. Politics changes. Times change. But the one thing that seldom changes is the annual Gallup poll of most admired people.
That changed this year somewhat. Read more →
Minnesota loves a chance to pat itself on the back and in the last few decades, the health ranking of states has given us every opportunity. In the ranking released earlier this month, Minnesota is in the top 10 again.
But there’s another side of the story: We’re slipping from our once lofty perch. Read more →
The disquieting and oft-mentioned statistic that 1 in every 7 Minnesotans has a DUI conviction on their record maybe has a bright side. Because they’ve been nabbed, maybe Minnesota is safer than other states. Read more →
Minnesota and the Twin Cities usually rank high in almost every survey of life.
Except driving. Read more →
If Minnesota is the state of hockey, where is the city of hockey? Read more →
US News claims to use 80 indicators across 10 categories that drive health outcomes. ‘Population health and equity are the most heavily weighted categories, based on the assessments of more than a dozen leading experts on what matters most to a community’s health,’ it says. Read more →
We have no choice but to leave it to women to confirm whether a report from WalletHub is correct: Minnesota is the best state for women. That’s either an indication of how great Minnesota is or how poor 49 other states are. We cannot comment; we’re men. What do we know about what it’s like to be a woman anywhere? Read more →
The problem with rankings of states on overall factors is it allows us to be comfortable in our lofty second-place ranking while pretending that there isn’t a Minnesota that isn’t a good place to live. Read more →
Money practically declared this the year of the suburbs, as city housing prices are skyrocketing. You know who does suburbs like nobody’s business? Minnesota. Read more →
We’re going to go out on a limb and predict that Bemidji will not be in Minnesota Monthly’s final list of best Minnesota towns, not after a request to compete has caused a kerfuffle over whether the city is ‘Minnesota nice.’ Read more →
Take some data from Google, add a map, and voila! You’re in the news.
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