The London-based Institute for High quality of Life not too long ago launched its 2024 Comfortable Metropolis Index, a rating of the world’s happiest locations. It discovered that Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the happiest metropolis in america, and the one U.S. metropolis to earn a coveted “Gold” rating, alongside cities in Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and Canada.
As an East Coast transplant who fell in love with Minnesota throughout a 16-month, 40-state, 229-city street journey throughout America, this got here as no shock. My adopted hometown since 2018 has entry to nature that’s next-level, with most Minneapolitans residing inside six minutes of a public park or greenspace; our citizenry is numerous and civically engaged; our artwork, tradition, and restaurant scenes rival these of cities 5 occasions our measurement; gobs of prime corporations (Basic Mills, Goal, Finest Purchase, and many others.) are headquartered right here; and our worldwide airport—a hub for Delta and Solar Nation Airways—is among the most effective and well-connected within the nation.
And whereas I’ve lengthy recognized what makes Minneapolis so nice, now there’s empirical knowledge to again it up. The Institute for High quality of Life, a challenge by Comfortable Metropolis Hub Ltd, research points associated to the properly being of group members. That features residents, employees, dad and mom, youngsters, college students, seniors, and others. Evaluation of how community-impacted determination making such because the creation of social insurance policies and implementation of public providers components closely into its analysis, as do the methods during which cities react to numerous crises and challenges.
Thirty-seven world cities earned “Gold” rankings within the 2024 Comfortable Metropolis Index. Minneapolis stood out in a sea of largely European and Scandinavian winners together with Zurich, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Vienna, and Stockholm—the very best marks had been give to the town of Aarhus, the second-largest metropolis in Denmark located on the nation’s jap coast. The “Silver” and “Bronze” rankings noticed a a lot better variety of U.S. cities together with Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Salt Lake Metropolis, Pittsburgh, Portland, Oregon, and fellow Midwesterners Rochester, Minnesota, and Madison, Wisconsin.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all key to happiness, in fact—a proven fact that the Institute for High quality of Life is fast to acknowledge. “The idea of a top quality of life is extraordinarily subjective, conditioned by the historical past, custom, faith, or geopolitical location of the nation during which an individual lives,” it famous in its methodology report. Cities had been analyzed on the premise of 5 key classes of happiness—residents, governance, atmosphere, economic system, and mobility, in addition to 24 areas of exercise, concerning all the pieces from social inclusivity and entry to cultural assets to good public transportation and the planning and growth of greenspaces.
Wish to expertise this slice of happiness for your self? Then do as Anthony Edwards mentioned and “convey ya ass” to Minnesota. Right here’s how one can get probably the most out of a go to to America’s happiest metropolis.
The most effective issues to see, do, and eat in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Get exterior
One of many essential causes I fell so arduous for Minneapolis after a decade within the concrete jungle of New York Metropolis was its top-flight park system with 180 parks which might be dwelling to 22 lakes, 12 gardens, and 55 miles of motorcycle trails and strolling paths. My favourite walks are the 13.3-mile Chain of Lakes, considered one of seven segments comprising Grand Rounds Nationwide Scenic Byway, and the five-mile Winchell Path flanking the Mississippi River gorge. I additionally like seeing what’s in bloom on the Lyndale Park Rose Backyard and listening to who’s chirping on the neighboring Roberts Hen Sanctuary, consuming fish tacos subsequent to gushing Minnehaha Falls in Minnehaha Regional Park, and paddling round in a rented kayak from Mississippi River Paddle Share.
Become involved
No matter your pursuits, there’s most likely a gaggle of Minneapolitans hankering to satisfy you. From cross-country snowboarding, scuba diving, and log rolling to sci-fi books, classic clothes, and larger-than-life puppetry, this metropolis makes it simple to search out your tribe. Duck into A Bar of Their Personal, the Twin Cities’ first bar devoted completely to girls’s sports activities, or Marigold, Minnesota’s first non-alcoholic bottle store, to befriend like-minded patrons. Yr-round occasions and festivals like Artwork-A-Whirl, the nation’s largest open-studio tour; Twin Cities Pleasure, one of many nation’s hottest LGBTQ+ celebrations; and The Nice Northern, a multidisciplinary winter program with a laser-sharp give attention to local weather change and social justice, draw vacationers and locals in equal measure.
Get cultured
Making the museum rounds—to the Minneapolis Institute of Artwork, Walker Artwork Middle and the Minneapolis Sculpture Backyard, The Museum of Russian Artwork (which showcases a great deal of Ukrainian artists, too), Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery, and American Swedish Institute (with its to-die-for cardamom buns served on the FIKA Café)—is considered one of my favourite pastimes. All My Relations Arts is a gallery area devoted to modern Native artists; Norway Home and the Danish American Middle host occasions impressed by their respective diaspora communities; and the not too long ago revamped Somali Museum of Minnesota homes greater than 700 artifacts, together with a full-scale replica of a nomadic hut.
Our theater scene is equally spectacular, with the historic Orpheum Theatre drawing Tony Award-winning Broadway productions similar to The Guide of Mormon and the famend Guthrie Theater staging a number of the area’s greatest unique performs. Experimental performs reign at Blended Blood Theater and Courageous New Workshop, and nothing beats the kid-friendly choices at Kids’s Theatre Firm when you’ve got little ones in tow. For one thing extra low-key and intimate, there’s at all times the 90-seat cabaret theater at Bryant Lake Bowl, a Nineteen Fifties bowling alley made web well-known by a skillfully flown drone.
Get fed
Minneapolis could also be recognized for its Jucy Lucy, a burger full of molten cheese, however what’s actually scorching on this Twin Metropolis is its battery of badass girls cooks together with Korean American Ann Kim (Kim’s, Younger Joni), Lao American Ann Ahmed (Khāluna, Gai Noi), and Vietnamese American Christina Nguyen (Hola Arepa, Hai Hai), who simply received the title of Finest Chef Midwest on the 2024 James Beard Awards. Head to Diane’s Place, based by ridiculously proficient Hmong American pastry chef Diane Moua, for coconut pandan croissants and candy pork danishes with salted egg yolk, and rely your blessings if you happen to’re on the town when Heather Jansz, a.ok.a. The Curry Diva, is internet hosting considered one of her scrumptious Sri Lankan pop-ups. Additionally making noise on a world scale: Sean Sherman, the Oglala Lakota Sioux chef, activist, and cookbook creator working to decolonize Indigenous meals. In case you can’t seize coveted reservations to his fantastic eating restaurant Owamni, stomach as much as the counter on the Indigenous Meals Lab inside Midtown International Market. His slow-cooked bison, served birria-style in an Indigenous grain bowl, is unforgettable.
Get a room
Minnesota welcomed its first five-star property, 4 Seasons Resort Minneapolis, two summers in the past. Regional prospers abound, from Minnesota-made Faribault blankets to placing ceramic installations by native artist Juliane Shibata. Mara Restaurant & Bar, the resort’s Mediterranean eatery from embellished chef Gavin Kaysen, is a well-liked date night time spot. Winter programming on the 4 Seasons has included guided sauna experiences and a pop-up Nordic village with all the vacation trimmings. One other nice possibility is the boutique-y, 124-room Hewing Resort in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood with its rooftop sauna and spa pool.
