On an 82-degree day, I parked myself in the shade of one of the few grassy areas in St. Paul to munch down a sandwich while listening to an audio book. Shortly thereafter, a security guard appeared in front of me, chatting.
"Excuse me?" I said, pulling out my headphones to hear him.
"Hi, ma'am. I just wanted to let you know that the owner has a strict 'No Loitering' policy on this lawn. You can stay for 5 to 10 minutes no problem, but then you have to move on."
This is the problem with St. Paul.
This Minneapolis girl previously was a St. Paul gal. I attended the University of St. Thomas — the St. Paul campus for undergrad and the Minneapolis campus for law school. I lived in St. Paul neighborhoods during six of my seven years in school. Like any good St. Paul team member, I hardly crossed the river. Who needed Minneapolis when you had Tea Garden (now Sencha), Blue Door, the Nook, Groveland Tap, and more? Not this girl, until I was given a 60-day notice to move out of my month-to-month lease. I scrambled to find a roommate because I was broke in law school. I ended up turning to Craigslist and found an amazing woman. The catch: She wanted to live in Minneapolis, specifically near the lakes.
I, like many other college students, had my fair share of nights out in Uptown. I had just recently bought a paddleboard and explored the lakes with it a couple times. With the trails and water in Minneapolis, I was willing to get over myself and cross the river from St. Paul. After all, I was desperate. But for the first six months, and when I was not at my downtown Minneapolis campus, I went back to St. Paul for everything but groceries and paddleboarding. When my roommate gave me flak for not visiting the area around our new West Calhoun place more, I caved. I tried Wakame down the street and soon the Harriet Brassiere. I then discovered my greatest love, Five Watt. Minneapolis hooked me with the food, the parks and the people. It was amazing, open and warm.
After passing the bar, I landed a gig in downtown Minneapolis. When I went to buy a house, I passed on Highland Park homes in St. Paul that I had once dreamed of owning, and instead focused on being as close as possible to the Kingfield neighborhood of southwest Minneapolis — home to Five Watt and Hola Arepa, among other fantastic gems.
But after I had begun settling into a permanent Minneapolis life, a dream opportunity opened up at Securian Financial in downtown St. Paul, and I jumped. It was a downtown environment in a town I used to love. How different could it be?