“NoLita,” “LoDo” . . . “SoFrank?!?” (Is That Descriptive?)
“Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven’t got: a diploma.”
–Wizard of Oz to Scarecrow
The Twin Cities is home to a thriving arts and music scene, great restaurants (really!), beautiful parks and lakes, and a state-of-the-art grid of urban bike trails (Midtown Greenway, Kenilworth Trail, etc.).
It also has a nucleus of young, well-educated professionals; a clutch of great colleges and universities; (more than) its share of major corporate headquarters; four major league sports teams; and a selection of trendy, up-and-coming neighborhoods.
So, what’s missing?
Hot, new names to go with those neighborhoods.
You know, fancy, truncated mashup names — like Manhattan’s NoLita (“North of Little Italy”), San Francisco’s SoMa (“South of Market”), and Denver’s LoDo (“Lower Downtown”).
Brand Name Neighborhoods
Unfortunately, trying to coin suitably sexy names for the Twin Cities . . . I got nuthin.’
For South and North Hennepin (border: Lake Street), the best I can come up with are . . . “SoHen” and its counterpart, “NoHen.”
Instead of the bland “Wedge” . . . “SoFrank” (South of Franklin).
That may describe plainspoken Midwesterners (or at least the characters in “Fargo”), but it’s certainly no marketing home run.
Stay tuned . . .
P.S.: Yes, I know that Minneapolis has the North Loop, Uptown, and Lowry Hill — plus red-hot Linden Hills and nearby Morningside and South Harriet Park in Edina.
Somehow, though, it’s just not the same . . .
See also, “Hmm . . . I Wonder Where Minneapolis’ “FiDo” Neighborhood Is.”
