Bob CollinsAnother post for our “They Like Us. They Really Like Us” file:
Kiplinger’s July issue is naming Rochester, Minnesota is #6 on its list of the Best Cities of 2010:
The result is a community of great hosts and hostesses. Rochester’s mayor, Ardell Brede, is proud of his community’s welcoming way. “The other day a woman came up to me and said, ‘You have a such a wonderful city, when I ask someone for directions, more often than not, they offer to walk me there themselves,’ ” he said. (That’s a phenomenon I experienced during my own visit — more than once.) To entertain its guests and residents, the city offers 60 miles of bike trails, more than 100 parks, and a civic center that attracts regional and national conferences and entertainment. And almost everything is accessible by skyway and underground walkways connecting many of the hospital, hotel, and retail buildings — a near-necessity during Minnesota winters. There are public art projects scattered throughout the city, and a huge art-glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly is installed in the Mayo Clinic’s Gonda Building. It all traces back to the Mayo brothers, the founders of the clinic, and their belief in the healing properties of art.
Who’s better? Salt Lake City (#5), Boulder Colorado (#4), Washington DC (#3), Seattle (#2), and Austin, Texas (#1).
A lot must’ve happened in Rochester we don’t know about in 2009, however, because only Washington and Austin were in last year’s list of top cities. Austin, Seattle, and Des Moines were all on the 2008 list.
