There is no such place as Minneapolis St. Paul. There is the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. There is a Minneapolis Minnesota and a St. Paul Minnesota and there is a Twin Cities.
I can immediately tell when people are not familiar with the Twin Cities or if they are journalists because they call St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minneapolis – St. Paul, or even St. Paul – Minneapolis.
Also, I get a kick out of how when I write St. Paul it is sometimes rejected as part of an address, and sometimes “Saint Paul” is rejected. “St. Paul” seems to work online more often than “Saint Paul” but you just never know.
That reminds me there is no “East St. Paul” but there is an “East Side”. It isn’t a huge deal but we can tell the natives from the non-natives because there is no “East St. Paul”. South St. Paul, North St. Paul, and West St. Paul are outside the city limits of St. Paul and each is a city with its own city government and mayor.
St. Paul has a “West End” and a “West Side”. Two different neighborhoods on opposite sides of the river.
The Twin Cities are not really twins. Minneapolis has a nightlife and they even have public fireworks displays on July 4th. St. Paul is where people go to get a good night’s sleep except on July 4th when everyone has their own fireworks display.
Minneapolis has more bike lanes and paths too but to be fair Minneapolis is not nearly as hilly as St. Paul, which is why the real athletes bike in St.Paul.
St. Paul is the last great city of the East and Minneapolis is the first great city of the West. The cities are not in the same county but both are in Minnesota.
Minneapolis is larger than St. Paul but St. Paul is the state capitol.
