Minneapolis & St. Paul Prepare for the Superbowl
Things are popping around the Twin Cities, as our two population centers get ready for February 4. We have our new stadium, built with 50% tax dollars, much of it on the backs of tobacco users, who will not be able to smoke anywhere inside or near it. We have a new light-rail system linking St. Paul to the more prosperous and sophisticated of the two cities.
There's a daily countdown to February 4 in our newspapers, and organizations of all types are working breathlessly trying to come up with some way to attract Superbowl visitors to whatever they are planning. St. Paul is building an ice castle that will cost almost $1 million, to attempt to draw people into the downtown area so they can spend some money in its restaurants and other venues.
Minneapolis has rushed the completion of its Nicollet Mall project that turns part of downtown into a "walking" area. There's a Winter Carnival, local attractions are shining up and polishing their facilities, and bars will be open until 4 AM in parts of Minneapolis near the stadium. Naturally, football fans will want a place to slam down a couple more drinks in anticipation, celebration or despair.
There's just one thing: It's freaking Winter in the Twin Cities in early February. It's as likely to be 10 degrees below zero as it is to be 32 degrees above zero. That's Fahrenheit, by the way. We don't do Centigrade in the upper Midwest, except when it's -40 degrees. Winter. Minnesotans take great pride in shrugging off Winter. People from much of the rest of the country and the world - not so much.
MSP airport will be busy around early February. Folks will be flying in from everywhere. They'll have their warmest jackets with them, because they heard it will be cold. But, where are their gloves, mittens and hats? And those jackets? Those are Fall jackets, folks. Here in Minnesota, we put those back in the closet in November, and drag out the 50 Below Parkas, insulated boots and heavy mittens to get us through the next three months.
Travelers are in for a shock, except for one thing: They don't have to go outside unless they want to. They'll catch a cab at the airport or ride the light rail. They'll go into their hotel or Air BNB lodgings. They'll get around Minneapolis through our almost unique Skyway system that connects most buildings so people don't have to go outdoors to move about in the city. That ice castle in St. Paul? Good luck, St. Paul. Oh, those of us who live here will go see it, but not the Superbowl visitors. They won't be there.
The Superbowl will bring countless millions of dollars into the Twin Cities, we are told. Did I say that you can take the warm, light rail train to the Mall of America? You can, indeed. The hotels, bars, light rail system, the Mall of America and any building on the Skyway system will do just fine. But all that other stuff? Fuggetaboutit.
Me? I'm staying at home during the Superbowl. My furnace is working just fine. Why would I go out? If I decide to, I'll watch it all on TV.
Welcome to the Twin Cities, folks!
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