The editorial series "Growing Minneapolis" is interesting (Sept. 8, 15, 22). A strong central city is fundamental to a strong metropolitan area. Minneapolis has to be that city for this area.
The Twin Cities in its current state is really a misnomer. Minneapolis and St. Paul are no longer twins and now hold a minority of the metro's population. What the area has evolved into is the 150-plus-cities metro Minnesota. We are too many cities, villages and townships. This has led to redundancy in city halls, administrative staffs, underutilized equipment and numerous other costs.
The square footage of Minneapolis and St. Paul — 55 and 52 square miles — is too small. Compare that with Milwaukee (96), Charlotte (138), Dallas (333), Denver (111), Des Moines (66), Omaha (91), Oklahoma City (604) and Phoenix (324).
The issue of combining cities doesn't seem to get any attention from our leaders. If Minneapolis can't expand its footprint, its only choice to grow is in more density. Our metro area is one of the best in the country, but removing some of our redundancy would make it even better.
JOHN BREYFOGLE, Minnetonka
