Yes, Virginia, Minnesota really is nice

Article by: JEFF STRICKLER , Star Tribune
Updated: December 24, 2012 - 8:35 PM

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hauts81Dec. 25, 1212:35 AM

That was kind of a confusing headline for those of us who live up in VIRGINIA, MINNESOTA.

pinky1933Dec. 25, 1212:47 AM

umm, why isn't the Virginia reference explained?

BallFourDec. 25, 12 2:06 AM

If it were about Virginia, Minn., the headline would read "Yes, Virginia, Minn., really is nice"

bizsmithDec. 25, 12 7:10 AM

The younger generation doesn't know about the classic article "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus". Their loss.

bandit228Dec. 25, 12 8:03 AM

Minnesota also tops the list on how obsessed we are with where we rank on these lists.

SorghastrumDec. 25, 12 8:07 AM

Native Minnesotans should be warned that non-natives living in Minnesota do not see Minnesota Nice as a positive attribute but as a passive-aggressive behavioral issue tinged with falsity and emotional coldness.

bjboydDec. 25, 12 8:35 AM

But that ethic is fraying, badly. I attribute much of it to Scandinavian Lutheran influence (and I am neither Scandinavian nor Lutheran). It has political manifestations: higher taxes, higher levels of service, appreciation for public amenities. In recent years, we've gotten away from that, to our detriment. I recall speaking with the ambassadors from Sweden and Norway and asking if we couldn't possibly arrange a new influx of, oh, say, a million new residents from those countries to reinforce what we are in danger of losing, something that makes Minnesota such a wonderful place to live.

Norminator75Dec. 25, 12 8:48 AM

It seems a bit ironic that this cub reporter writes about 'Minnesota Nice' on the 150th anniversary of the hanging of 38 Dakota warriors. People all over are pretty nice, I've found, and they dn't feel the need to proclaim their niceness. the impulse for such stories, is, I fear, a common parochialism.

jdlellis1Dec. 25, 12 9:32 AM

Paraphrasing a statement a native Minnesotan (not Native American) periodically expreses, "Even after 25 plus years, people who migrate to Minnestoa from outside Minnesota are not ture Minnesotans to native Minnesotans!"