THE CITY GRITTY >>

• BEST AMUSEMENT PARK
  Valleyfair
  Camp Snoopy was cute and all, what with its Peanuts characters and fairly large variety of rides. And its successor, Nickelodeon Universe, will certainly be fun for the little ones, but adults probably aren't going to be thrilled by Sponge Bob Square Pants and Dora the Explorer. Thankfully,... More >>
• BEST CHARITY
  Women Against Military Madness
  No matter who wins the election in November, the country will still be at war and military spending will continue. It's also a safe bet that the Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) will make sure the government is held accountable for the use and misuse of this country's military might. After... More >>
• BEST CITIZEN-BASED MEDIA OUTLET
  The Uptake
  "Will journalism be done by you or to you?" the UpTake's homepage ominously asks. The fledgling citizen-journo outfit, launched last fall, has opted for the former, riding the crest of the new media wave using on-the-ground video coverage with an unapologetic advocacy bent. Founded with the... More >>
• BEST COMMUNITY EDUCATION CLASS
  Tap Dance with Jan Puffer
  Year after year, Jan Puffer's tap dance classes draw an eager crowd to Pratt Elementary School. Why tap dance? It's the perfect aerobic activity; you don't have to possess amazing balance, grace, or flexibility to do it; and the clatter created by an entire room full of tap dancers conceals all... More >>
• BEST DMV (1 Comment)
  Midtown Exchange DMV
  The list of activities we'd rather do than wait in line for vehicle tabs could rival the contents of the Oxford English Dictionary. But as with any form of torture, there are degrees of misery, and what gets you through are the tiny graces. So it is at the Midtown DMV. The pampering starts with... More >>
• BEST FAN CONVENTION
  CONvergence
  Like September's Republican bacchanal or the American Atheist Society's convocation at the downtown Marriott back in March, most of the conventions the Twin Cities accommodate are onetime, fly-by-night affairs. No sooner do we fall in love with the visiting horde then it vanishes with nary a... More >>
• BEST FARMERS' MARKET
  Mill City Farmers' Market
  There are those who would argue that any farmers' market offering a didgeridoo brain massage is really more a festival for hapless hippies. The Mill City Farmers' Market gets away with it, mostly because everything else the market offers is so irresistibly perfect. Come for the all-natural... More >>
• BEST FESTIVAL
  Twin Cities Pride Celebration
  Each June in Minneapolis, folks of every sexual orientation and gender identity gather in sunny Loring Park in what has become the third-largest gay pride celebration in the country. Last year's festival drew nearly half a million people for two days of music and entertainment. The parade itself... More >>
• BEST LIBRARY
  Minneapolis Central Library
  A recent study by Central Connecticut State University declared Minneapolis to be the most literate city in America, finally edging out Seattle as king of the bookcase. It comes as no surprise, then, that the Minneapolis Central Library is such a jewel. Designed by Cesar Pelli, who also gave us... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BLOG
  Mediation
  Taylor Carik, local blogger and polymath, has created what may be the Twin Cities' most eclectic web log—and one of its oddest. Take the inscrutable title, for example, which appears nowhere on the home page. Or Carik's rigorously minimalist approach to blogging: Unlike so many bloggers,... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY GONE BAD
  Alex Pareene
  Alex Pareene's ascent has been steep and not undeserved. His first blog, dubbed "Buck Hill" and launched in 2004, deftly extolled the virtues of his native Minneapolis while skewering his classmates at NYU. It was quickly discovered by evil blog mogul Nick Denton, who within two years had... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOYS MADE GOOD
  Joel and Ethan Coen
  Like we had any other choice. After a couple of less-than-original films in the early part of the decade, the boys from St. Louis Park have found their stride again and are back on top of Hollywood. The duo earned Academy Awards this year for best adapted screenplay, best director, and best... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD
  Diablo Cody
  Diablo Cody would've easily earned her second consecutive BLGMG even minus the Juno Oscar...or any of the other awards and nominations her debut screenplay accumulated. The former City Pages blogger and Robbinsdale resident simply has too much momentum for us—or anyone else in... More >>
• BEST LOCAL WEBSITE
  MnSpeak
  There are many reasons not to visit MnSpeak. Like Minnesota itself, the website has a tendency to be hostile to outsiders, such as when a newbie asked where to find a good sports bar and was promptly accused of being everything from a frat boy to a repressed homosexual. But in a year that saw... More >>
• BEST MAKE-OUT POINT
  Fillmore Avenue, St. Paul
  A step-by-step guide to locking lips on your next date: 1) Take your date someplace nice for dinner and/or other entertainment. Compliment him/her frequently. 2) After the last stop on the date, tell him/her that you would like to show him/her something special. 3) Get in your car. Put on... More >>
• BEST MAYOR
  R.T. Rybak
  In post-Katrina America, all that an elected official needs to do to look better than the Bush administration is show up at a disaster site in a timely manner and not make things worse. Still, after the I-35W collapse, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak did a lot more than that. He was on the horrific... More >>
• BEST NEW BRIDGE (1 Comment)
  Hiawatha Bridge
  In a year of collapsing bridges, we have to take our hats off to a new bridge that got it right. This pedestrian and bicycle bridge spans Hiawatha Avenue and is as beautiful to look at as it is to cross. Thanks to its innovative suspension beam, the bridge looks like a sailing ship at full mast... More >>
• BEST NEW VIEW OF THE RIVERFRONT
  Guthrie Theater's "Endless Bridge"
  Sure, the new Guthrie Theater's edifice may be a bit imposing, the interior a tad too dark, and the HAL-like voice that welcomes you to the theater more than a bit unnerving, but that's forgotten once you step outside onto the theater complex's signature "Endless Bridge." On warm evenings, it's... More >>
• BEST PARKING LOT
  The one behind the Mixed Blood Theatre on the West Bank
  If you think there's no clear-cut, hands-down best parking lot in the Twin Cities, you're, uh...you're actually right. No parking lot stands curb-and-asphalt above the rest. But that's not stopping us from christening the one behind the Mixed Blood Theatre on the West Bank as the best. It meets... More >>
• BEST PET ADOPTION (1 Comment)
  Safe Hands Animal Rescue
  In February, the folks at Safe Hands Animal Rescue got into a car accident, their van crashing into a guard rail and cement pole on Interstate 90/39 near Edgerton, and the only thing on volunteer Lynne Bengtson's mind was what would happen to their precious cargo. Earlier that week, the... More >>
• BEST PLACE FOR A FIRST DATE
  Lake Elmo Park Reserve
  We once read somewhere that 87 percent of women want a man who appreciates the outdoors, and that 93 percent of ladies find a man's ability to protect them from harm to be "hot." For a fellow planning a first date, these figures point to one destination: the Lake Elmo Park Reserve. The five-mile... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO BREAK UP
  Science Museum of Minnesota
  Listen, honey, it's just not working out. See, you're like this 4,000-year-old stone slab of cuneiform, the world's first written language: Your communication skills are primitive. Or you're like the "Deadly Medicine" exhibit about Nazi eugenics. You're a traveling exhibit in the museum that is... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO GET ARRESTED FOR SOLICITING SEX IN PUBLIC
  Crosby Farm Regional Park
  The competition for this dubious honor was surprisingly robust. Sen. Larry Craig's airport arrest ensured that the Lindbergh terminal would become the most notorious public gay cruising spot in the country. But locals know that the airport bathroom stalls can't compete with Crosby Farm Regional... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL WITHOUT LEAVING TOWN
  Canoeing on Lake Nokomis
  Nokomis, southernmost of the Minneapolis lakes, is a happy medium between Hiawatha, which is too small to really lose one's sense of urbanity, and the larger bodies of Calhoun and Harriet, which draw too many people to their waters to allow any sense of peace. When the exhaust and cracked... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET OTHER PARENTS
  Riverview Café
  New parents, expecting parents, or parents new to town: What if we told you that there was a quiet and comfortable place where moms and dads are relaxing at the edge of a beautifully painted and lovingly stocked play area, waiting to answer your questions? And what if we told you that place was... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE MEN (GAY)
  The Minneapolis Eagle/Bolt
  This category should really be split into "Best Place to Meet Mr. Right" and "Best Place to Meet Mr. Right Now." In the online era, lots of gay men have perfected the latter. But there can never be a substitute for visceral, in-person chemistry. Hours of "meaningful conversation" tend to wilt if... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE MEN (STRAIGHT)
  Dave and Buster's
  Lovely yet single ladies, fret no more: We have found your beacon of hope. Dave and Buster's is a bit of a trek, but well worth the extra 15 minutes. The arcade/bar/restaurant is something like an adult Chuck E. Cheese, complete with bright, flashing lights that are only outdone by the even... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE WOMEN (GAY)
  Pi Bar and Restaurant
  Tucked into a quiet corner of south Minneapolis, Pi Bar and Restaurant has been making the best of its inaugural year. There are great daily drink specials, including $2 domestic bottled beer on Fridays and half-price bottles of wine on Mondays. And Pi is home to some of the best bar food in... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE WOMEN (STRAIGHT)
  Bolder Options
  If you answered the "(blank) is sexy, (blank) is sexier" question with "being athletic" and "helping kids," then cancel your online dating subscription and sign up to be a mentor with Bolder Options. The nonprofit organization, which began in Boulder, Colorado, runs yearlong mentor programs in... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE-WATCH
  Pizza Lucé downtown after 1 a.m. on a Saturday night
  For optimum people-watching experience, it's imperative to remain at least somewhat sober, as the dividing line between "spectator" and "subject" seems to fall right between the night's fourth and fifth beer. That said, grab a slice, pull up a chair, and behold the inebriated melodrama that can... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO TAKE OUT-OF-TOWN GUESTS
  Stone Arch Bridge
  Unless they walk, bike, or canoe to the Twin Cities, what our guests need most are exercise and fresh air. What they invariably want is pleasure. Why not take care of all three at once, using the Mississippi River and Stone Arch Bridge as your adventure's spine? (Just before sunset is best.)... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO WANDER INDOORS
  Marjorie McNeely Conservatory
  An enormous glass building rising out of Como Park like Atlantis re-emerging from the Mediterranean, this free-to-the-public greenhouse is just enough of a breath of the spring to come to stave away the dark thoughts of winter. The conservatory's dome, towering at 64 feet tall, houses enormous... More >>
• BEST POLITICIAN
  Neva Walker
  Most politicians don't know when to exit the stage. They've spent so much time in front of fawning crowds that they lose all perspective on their place in the political universe. Hence you get delusional jackasses like Rod Grams running for office long after their political viability has wilted.... More >>
• BEST SCANDAL
  Carol Molnau's shameless land deal
  Scandal is a perennial that comes in many varieties, but this year's yield has been a particularly rich and diverse one. There was the newspaper publisher who quit in order to work at a rival newspaper, bringing with him confidential advertiser information on his laptop before being humiliated... More >>
• BEST SELF-PROMOTER
  Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek
  What would you do with a spare $30,000 of public money? What's that you say? Produce a masturbatory 26-minute film detailing your heroic leadership in the aftermath of the 35W bridge disaster? That was Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek's answer. Framed by the carcass of the fallen bridge,... More >>
• BEST SILVER LINING TO THE 35W BRIDGE COLLAPSE
  Four lanes on 94
  Suggesting that anything positive might have emerged from a tragedy that took 13 lives is undoubtedly churlish on our part, if not outright offensive. But for all the traffic headaches that have ensued since the 35W bridge plunged into the Mississippi River, there has been at least one silver... More >>
• BEST SKYSCRAPER
  The Capella Tower
  With its metallic-blue hue and half-circle crown, the Capella Tower (formerly known as the US Bankcorp Center) has been the crown jewel of the Minneapolis skyline since its completion in 1992. Although it falls short of the soaring IDS Center by a foot—or by 16 feet, if you count a garage... More >>
• BEST SPEED TRAP (1 Comment)
  The bridges over the Mississippi near 35W
  Growing up, our hero was our elementary school's DARE officer. She taught us that only cowards smoke marijuana, and she presented us with a certificate after we'd learned to rat out anyone—parents included—if they exhibited the wrong kind of weakness. We're not sure what the DARE... More >>
• BEST STATE FAIR FOOD
  Walleye on a stick
  Choosing just one favorite state fair food is like asking Hugh Hefner to pick his favorite girlfriend. There are lots of options and no reason to pick just one—you'll probably be eating 20 different things at the fair. That said, when we contemplated the question this year, one item... More >>
• BEST USE OF NEON LIGHTING
  First National Bank Building
  There are a few pretty notable facts about the First National Bank building in downtown St. Paul: It has what is thought to be the world's first skyway, the basement used to house a firing range for bank guards to practice in, and the building had to compete with the Empire State Building for... More >>
• BEST USE OF TAXPAYER MONEY
  Land conservation grants
  A couple hundred years back, Minnesota was covered by 18 million acres of prairie. Today, less than 1 percent remains. Worth protecting, right? Enter land conservation grants, which reward landowners who pledge not to farm or build on their property. The grants also go toward offsetting tax... More >>
• BEST VIEW
  Lake Hiawatha at sunset on an autumn day
  The tiny park at the northeast corner of Lake Hiawatha houses a handful of park benches facing the southwest corner of the lake, strategically placed to provide an amazing sunset view without putting the sun directly in your eyes. On an autumn day when the wind is just chilly enough to catch at... More >>
• BEST VILLAIN
  Par Ridder
  Hollywood couldn't have cast a finer chap for the role of vile newspaper scion than Par Ridder. After all, the smug, chipmunk-cheeked son of Tony Ridder has been groomed for the post his entire life. When Par announced last year that he was resigning as publisher of the Pioneer Press to take an... More >>