Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of my favorite areas of the country for lots of reasons, the least of which is their strong creative class and cultural opportunities at every turn (they incidentally have the largest funded public art program in the country and it shows!).

Some Minneapolis-St. Paul boosters have gotten together to start a website - http://mspmoretolife.com/ (Minneapolis-St. Paul: More to Life) which self-describes itself as “Minneapolis Saint Paul has so much to offer in just about every way. A thriving creative community. Abundant career opportunities. An exceptional educational system. Vibrant cultural, entertainment and leisure outlets. Here, there’s a high quality of life, without the high price.

It’s a place of contrasts - where the people are humble yet proud, driven yet friendly and committed to both work and play. What people experience in Minneapolis Saint Paul is extraordinarily - the best of all worlds.

Those who live here, love it. Those who visit are astonished by how wonderful it is. To put it simply, there’s more to life in Minneapolis Saint Paul.”

It got me thinking . . . should Jackson have a similar website? and if it did, what would you write for the description?

I’m particularly curious to see what you all come up with (in terms of describing Jackson).

I’ve been to MSP a few times, and I really like it.  (It’s so weird to see the Mississippi River no wider than the Pearl in downtown Minneapolis!) I think the big companies headquartered in MSP put a lot of money into arts and festivals and such because they know their cities have to offer a really good quality of life in order to get employees to want to live in a place where the winters are so harsh.

It’s too bad WorldCom did itself in, because they would have been the biggest company in Jackson with the pockets to do here what MSP firms do in Minnesota.  Is the revamped MCI still a big presence in the Jackson area?  I don’t know enough about any of the other big employers in Jackson to know what they might have the resources to do. 

I think there are some other things Jackson might be able to learn from MSP.  Minneapolis has capitalized on the fact the University of Minnesota campus is right next to downtown.  I think many in Jackson already realize that our college campuses can help spawn happening neighbrhoods. 

I can see a few things that Jackson has in common with the Twin Cities, even though MSP much larger.  Both Jackson and MSP are the largest metro areas in states that are otherwise mostly rural.  I think both places draw a lot of small town and rural kids who want city life but want to move all the way to New York.  I think those are the people who do a lot to make both metro areas interesting.

Much of MCI’s operations are in the Washington area. Their presence here isn’t nearly what is was during the WorldCom era.