St. Paul, Minnesota -- Ranked as "Most Fun U.S. City" (with Minneapolis) (by Cranium, Inc. in 2003)
Named 3rd in Esquire magazine’s “Cities that Rock” list
More than 20 colleges & universities in Twin Cities
Home of the Mall of America, the largest enclosed shopping mall in U.S.Twin Cities ranks 4th as a college destination (Boston/Cambridge, Washington, D.C. & San Francisco Bay area rank higher)
Average number of sunny days each year is 250
Second largest Tibetan population in the United States
Ranked 2nd as “Coolest Community for Young Talent” by Next Generation Consulting
The Twin Cities has 58 live-performance theaters, 30 museums, 51 night clubs, nearly 1,000 lakes and 40,000 acres of parkland
Grand Avenue in St. Paul runs parallel to Summit Avenue and has 46 restaurants, a number of bookstores, retail shops, bakeries, coffee shops, art galleries, grocery stores (Whole Foods, Kowalskis), a movie theater and many beautiful apartment buildings.
Films made in Minnesota: Fargo, Grumpy Old Men, Grumpier Old Men, Untamed Heart, Joe Somebody, Ice Castles, Jingle All the Way, Airport, A Simple Plan, Beautiful Girls, North Country, Sweet Land
Popular Prairie Home Companion Radio Show with Garrison Keillor is based in St. Paul, Minnesota -- The first broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor took place on July 6, 1974, at the Janet Wallace Auditorium at Macalester College in Saint Paul. Admission was $1 (50 cents for kids). There were 12 people in the audience. Nevertheless, the show went on and now it is heard by over 4 million listeners each week on 590 public radio stations as well as abroad on America One and the Armed Forces Networks in Europe and Asia. The show's home base is the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. In 2006, Robert Altman directed the "Prairie Home Companion" movie with a number of big name Hollywood stars including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Tommie Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan and Woody Harrelson. The movie was shot in St. Paul.
Some Famous Minnesotans: Jesse Ventura (former pro wrester and former Minnesota Governor), Garrison Keillor (Prairie Home Companion), Jessica Lange, Prince, Bob Dylan, Al Franken, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Charles Lindbergh, Charles Schulz (creator of Snoopy), Walter Mondale, Winona LaDuke, Josh Hartnett, and Ann Bancroft.
The Great Gatsby & F. Scott Fitzgerald -- The movie "The Great Gatsby" with Robert Redford is based upon the book by the same name, written by St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald. This movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is based on a short story by the same author. Fitzgerald is considered to be one of America's greatest writers. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, to an upper middle class Irish Catholic family. His parents' house was at 559 Summit Avenue was described by Fitzgerald as "A house below the average on a street above the average." It is part of a brownstone row house that is still standing and is listed as a National Historic Landmark. It is located on Cathedral Hill, and when you drive along Summit Avenue, you can see a plaque on the home identifying it as the F. Scott Fitzgerald House. Not far away, at 481 Laurel Avenue, you will also see a plaque on the home where Fitzgerald was actually born. Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby" is considered to be his masterpiece. It was first published in 1925 and has sold millions of copies and is required reading in many high school and college classes.
The Best Wedding Entrance Dance Ever, Chris Brown-Forever - One of You Tube's most popular videos is Kevin Heinz and Jill Peterson's wedding video. The wedding took place in a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Makes you believe the rating of Minneapolis-St.Paul as one of the country's most "fun" cities.
Atmosphere SHHH Video -- A video on You Tube with song by Minnesota hip hop group Atmosphere singing the praises of their home state.