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Ramp meter

A ramp meter, ramp signal, or metering light is a device, usually a basic traffic light or a two-section signal light (red and green only, no yellow) together with a signal controller, that regulates the flow of traffic entering freeways according to current traffic conditions. Ramp meters are used at freeway on-ramps to manage the rate of automobiles entering the freeway. Ramp metering systems have proved to be successful in decreasing traffic congestion and improving driver safety.

Ramp meters are claimed to reduce congestion (increase speed and volume) on freeways by reducing demand and by breaking up platoons of cars. Two variations of demand reduction are commonly cited; one being access rate, the other diversion. Some ramp meters are designed and programmed to operate only at times of peak travel demand; during off-peak times, such meters are either showing a steady green, flashing yellow (Maryland), or are turned off altogether. This allows traffic to merge onto the freeway without stopping. Other ramp meters are designed to operate continuously, only being turned off for maintenance or repairs.

Types
Some metered ramps have bypass lanes for high-occupancy vehicles, allowing carpools, buses, and other eligible vehicles to skip the queue and get directly on the highway. In other places such as Northern California, carpool lanes are still metered, but the queue is typically shorter in comparison to regular lanes. Meters often only operate in rush hour periods. Some ramp meters have only one lane of traffic at the signal; others may have two or more lanes of traffic. Generally, meters with multiple lanes only give one lane the green light at a time. In one common configuration, each entrance lane has two signals; a red-yellow-green signal perched overhead over each lane (or mounted high on a pole for a single lane), and a two-phase lamp mounted low on a pole next to the stop line.

The overhead lights are for cars approaching the metering point; the low-mounted two-phase lights are intended to be used by the vehicle at the front of the queue. In normal operation of the ramp meters, only the red and green lamps are used. However, when ramp metering is about to be enabled, the overhead lamps may show flashing or solid yellow to warn drivers to prepare to stop. (Once ramp metering is turned on, there is no further need for the yellow lamp.) In California, some meters allow two or three cars to proceed on a green light. These meters use red-yellow-green signals on both the upper and lower mounts on the pole, and operate in a standard green-yellow-red fashion.

In Ontario, the ramp meter lights are always green when there are no restrictions in place for traffic to proceed.

The sophistication and extent of a ramp metering system is based on the amount of improvement desired, existing traffic conditions, installation costs, and the continuing resource requirements that are necessary to operate and maintain the system effectively. The simplest form of control is a fixed time operation. It performs the basic functions of breaking up platoons into single-vehicle entries and setting an upper limit on the flow rates that enter the freeway. Presence and passage detectors may be installed on the ramp to actuate and terminate the metering cycles, but the metering rate is based on average traffic conditions at a particular ramp at a particular time. This type of operation provides the benefits associated with accident reductions, but is not as effective in regulating freeway volumes because there is no input about mainline traffic. Pre-timed control can be implemented on any number of ramps, and is often implemented as an initial operating strategy until individual ramps can be incorporated into a traffic responsive system.

The next level of control, traffic responsive, establishes metering rates based on actual freeway conditions. The local traffic responsive approach utilizes detectors and a micro-processor to determine the mainline flow in the immediate vicinity of the ramp and the ramp demand to select an appropriate metering rate. Traffic responsive control also permits ramp metering to be used to help manage demand when incidents occur on the freeway, i.e. reduce the metering rate at ramps upstream of the incident and increase the rate at ramps downstream.

System-wide control is a form of traffic responsive control but operates on the basis of total freeway conditions. Centralized computer controlled systems can handle numerous ramps in a traffic responsive scheme and feature multiple control programs and overrides. Control strategies can also be distributed among individual ramps. A significant feature of system control is interconnection that permits the metering rate at any ramp to be influenced by conditions at other locations. Denver showed that this type of control has significant benefits when properly applied.

System control need not be limited to the freeway and its ramps. The concept of integrated traffic control combines or coordinates freeway and arterial street control systems to operate on the basis of corridor wide traffic conditions. The potential advantages of integrated control include reduced installation and operating costs, corridor wide surveillance, better motorist information, and quicker and coordinated use of all of the control elements (meters, signals, signs, etc.) in response to real time traffic conditions. Simulation results from one study showed that, during an incident, coordination of arterial traffic signals and ramp meters can improve the traffic performance of a corridor.

Ramp metering signal controls
Ramp meter signals are set according to the current traffic conditions on the road. Detectors (generally an induction loop) are installed in the road, both on the ramp and on the main road which measure and calculate the traffic flow, speed and occupancy levels. These are then used to alter the number of vehicles that can leave the ramp. The more congested the main freeway, the fewer vehicles are allowed to leave the ramp, this is effected by giving longer red times to the traffic signals.

Much research is currently being carried out into the most appropriate algorithms for controlling ramp meter signals. Some algorithms that are in use or have been evaluated are ALINEA, demand control and fuzzy algorithms.

Demand control algorithms
The demand control algorithms are examples of feed-forward control. One version of the demand control algorithm is the RWS strategy used in the Netherlands. In this algorithm the number of vehicles that the signals allow off the ramp is calculated as the difference between the flow before the ramp and the pre-specified capacity of the road.

Ramp metering in North America
This first application involved a police officer who would stop traffic on an entrance ramp and release vehicles one at a time at a predetermined rate, so that the objectives of safer and smoother merging onto the freeway traffic was easier without disrupting the mainline flows.

Ramp metering was first implemented in 1963 on the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290) in Chicago by Adolf D. May, now a UC Berkeley professor. Development in systems control theory allowed for improved traffic regulation throughout the early 1970s, pioneered by Leif Isaksen in his paper "Suboptimal Control of Large Scale Systems with Application to Freeway Traffic Regulation." Since then ramp-meters have been systematically deployed in many urban areas including Los Angeles; San Diego; Sacramento; the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle; Spokane; Denver; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Salt Lake City; Portland, Oregon; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Milwaukee; Columbus; Cincinnati; Houston; Atlanta; Miami; Washington, DC (only along Interstate 270 in Montgomery County, Maryland and Interstate 395 and Interstate 66 in Arlington County, Virginia); Kansas City, Missouri; and along the Queen Elizabeth Way in Mississauga, Ontario (Toronto-bound ramps from Cawthra Road, Hurontario Street, Mississauga Road, Erin Mills Parkway, Winston Churchill Boulevard, Ford Drive) Canada since the 1970s. In the early 1970s, this traffic control practice drew the attention of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which was looking for innovative ways to reduce air pollution in California by make the transportation system more effective.

Ramp meters are commonplace in the New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Columbus, and Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan areas, and they are also found in more than two dozen smaller metropolitan areas. In the New York City metro area, locals refer to ramp meters as "merge lights" and in Houston they're known as "flow signals."

Ramp meters have been withdrawn after initial introduction in several cities, including Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas. Disused metering signals can still be found along some parkways surrounding New York City and Detroit. Although deactivated shortly after they were added, ramp meters have been reactivated at select interchanges of Interstate 476 in suburban Philadelphia.

Ramp meters were installed along Interstate 435 in Overland Park, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri in 2009. In 2017, ramp meters were installed along Interstate 35 in Kansas City.

Ramp meters in Mississauga, Ontario are designed in such a way so that if the queue waiting to enter the QEW grows to the point where it may back up onto city streets, the meter is lifted and all traffic entering the highway is able to move freely without waiting for the meter. The meter goes back into service once the ramp queue is reduced to a reasonable level. While this method may increase congestion on the highway itself, it has the benefit of keeping city arterials free of stopped traffic waiting in queue. Ramp queues are usually quite short, lasting only 5–6 seconds on average before the driver may continue to the freeway.

Minneapolis–Saint Paul ramp meter experiment
In 2000, a $650,000 experiment was mandated by the Minnesota State Legislature in response to citizen complaints and the efforts of State Senator Dick Day. The study involved shutting off all 433 ramp meters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area for eight weeks to test their effectiveness. The study was conducted by Cambridge Systematics and concluded that when the ramp meters were turned off freeway capacity decreased by 9%, travel times increased by 22%, freeway speeds dropped by 7% and crashes increased by 26%. However, ramp meters remain controversial, and the Minnesota State Department of Transportation has developed new ramp control strategies. Fewer meters are activated during the course of a normal day than prior to the 2000 study, some meters have been removed, timing has been altered so that no driver waits more than four minutes in ramp queue, and vehicles are not allowed to back up onto city streets.

Mainline metering
A mainline meter throttles traffic flow from one segment of a highway to the next by directly metering the highway's traffic. Such a scheme is typically implemented in specialized situations such as bridges and tunnels. A mainline meter was installed at the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge toll plaza in the early 1970s. Similar mainline meters have also been installed downstream from the toll plazas at two other San Francisco Bay crossings, the San Mateo Bridge and the Dumbarton Bridge. However, these mainline meters have not yet been activated (as of September 2006). A mainline meter also exists on California State Route 125 southbound at its junction with Interstate 8 in La Mesa, California.

Ramp metering in Europe
Ramp metering has been installed in several countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. A research project, EURAMP - European Ramp Metering Project, funded by the European Union was completed in March 2007. The EURAMP Project Deliverables included information about the results of ramp metering in a number of locations and situations, and whether they were helpful in those situations, and a Handbook of ramp metering.

United Kingdom
The first trial in the UK was on the M6 J10 near Walsall in 1986. No more sites were developed for the next two decades until a second 'pilot' study in 2006 by the Highways Agency (HA) concluded that ramp metering provides a net benefit under certain conditions - generally more congested junctions. A Summary Report by the HA, dated November 2007, includes an overview of the background and history, international experience, limitations, system operation, algorithms and implementation of ramp metering. In its conclusion it "envisaged ramp metering will be deployed more widely in the coming period." Ramp metering was then introduced widely in England - Phase 1 involved the implementation of approximately 30 sites and was completed by 2008. Phase 2 followed and as of March 2011 there are 88 Ramp Metering sites on the 4,500 miles (7,242 km) of strategic highways operated and maintained by the HA.

The Netherlands
The first ramp metering in the Netherlands was introduced in 1989. Ramp metering is being introduced more widely in the Netherlands after a pilot study by the AVV Transport Research Centre which concluded that ramp metering can provide a small benefit for the traffic flow on the highway, leading to a higher capacity. Ramp meters can also contribute to decreasing 'rat running'. By 2006 50 ramp meters were installed. This number increases by 4 to 5 each year.

Germany
Ramp metering has been implemented on Autobahns in several areas in Germany, including the Rhine-Ruhr area, Munich, and Hamburg.

Italy
Ramp metering has been implemented on Tangenziale di Venezia (A57) as temporary solution for the increased traffic before the definitive solution (building of the Passante di Mestre).

Ireland
There is one metered ramp in Ireland, located at J1 on the M1 Motorway (Ireland) Northbound. It is on the entry ramp from Coolock Lane, and is used when the M1 gets congested due to the M1 Port Tunnel and the M1 meeting further up.

Poland
The first two ramp meters in the country were installed in 2022 on two on-ramps on expressway S2 in Warsaw. These are the last on-ramps before the entrance of the Ursynów Tunnel both eastbound and westbound.

Japan
Ramp metering is being installed in Japan in the next few years to keep the flow of traffic moving in Japan. There are plans to install ramp meters on every on-ramp in the Japan motorway system.

Australia
The largest ramp metering network in the country is in Melbourne (managed and controlled through VicRoads) on the Eastern Freeway and most of all, on the entire inner-city M1 route which includes the Monash Freeway, the CityLink Tollway, the West Gate Freeway and the metropolitan section (south of the beginning of the Monash Freeway) for the Princes Freeway. There are also various ramp meters on the inner-city section of the Calder Freeway. Brisbane's Pacific Motorway and Bruce Highway (S/Bound Caboolture - Gateway Mwy) also uses ramp metering on some on-ramps, as does the northbound on-ramps of Perth's Kwinana Freeway between Roe and Canning Highways. On most motorways, ramp metering is activated when sensors indicate that traffic is heavy, however, some motorways without sensors use time-based activation.

The 2010 M1 Upgrade in Melbourne installed 62 ramp meters that are coordinated using the HERO suite of algorithms developed by Markos Papageorgiou and Associates from the Technical University of Crete. The system was built on the STREAMS platform and utilises the state-of-the-art ITS architecture. All the ramps can be linked when required to resolve motorway bottlenecks before they emerge. The results of a trial improved capacity by 9% over the previous fixed-time ramp-metering system, average speeds increased by 20 km/h (12 MPH) and traffic throughput at bottleneck locations can be reliably maintained around 2200 PCE per lane. The HERO system takes real time data every 20 seconds from the motorway, ramps and arterial road in order determine the best signal timing for the next 20 seconds. The data detection system comprises Sensys detectors in every freeway lane at 500 m (1,640 feet ) spacings with a minimum detectors at three locations on each ramp including the freeway entrance with the arterial road. The system also manages the arterial road interface with the freeway, balances ramp queues and delays across ramps, and is capable of managing bottlenecks 3–4 km (1.8 - 2.4 mi) downstream of a ramp entrance. The system is also supplemented by real-time travel-time information to key destinations and incident and congestion information displayed on specially designed full-colour VMS on the approaches to the freeway entrance ramps. This information provides sufficient advice for motorists to determine whether or not to use the freeway during incidents etc. The system also provides dynamic ramp closure in the event of a major incident.

Ramp metering was introduced on the Rozelle Interchange in Sydney in 2024 to alleviate congestion for Victoria Rd users, after lengthy delays and back-ups through Drummoyne and Rozelle and onto the Anzac Bridge. https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/current-projects/rozelle-interchange.

New Zealand
Auckland has currently 91 ramp meters across the Southern, South Western, Northern and North Western motorways making it the largest Southern Hemisphere ramp metering system. Ramp metering was installed Auckland-wide after a successful trial on Mahunga Drive in 2004, before the Mangere Bridge.

Traffic data collected from 25 ramp metering sites in 2007 (before ramp metering deployment) and 2009 (after) shows an average 25% improvement in both congestion duration and traffic speed as well as an 8% increase in traffic throughput. The data also shows an average reduction in crashes of 22%. This performance and safety data translates into estimated benefits of US$1.6M per ramp metering site per year.

The system controlling the ramps promotes the traditional coordination among on-ramps as well as real-time integration with traffic signals on the adjacent arterial network allowing the whole road network to be managed as a single integrated network. For example, when motorway incidents adversely impact the adjacent arterial roads, an automatic response to the arterial traffic signals can be triggered to mitigate the impacts of the incident and vice versa. Recurrent and excessive traffic queues at on-ramp and off-ramp can also be managed in an integrated way in real-time. This integrated management is possible in Auckland because the same adaptive SCATS system controls both arterial traffic lights and motorway ramp meters.

The term Ramp Signalling rather than Ramp Metering is purposefully adopted in New Zealand as a user-oriented name.

South Africa
Ramp meters were, for a while, installed on the Samrand South bound, Old Johannesburg South bound and on New Road North and South bound interchanges on the N1 Ben Schoeman highway. The ramp metering was part of the Intelligent Transport System launched in October 2007 to aid traffic flow between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

A ramp meter has also been installed on the northbound on-ramp from Blue Lagoon to the M4 Highway in Durban since early 2007.

Taiwan
Freeways in Taiwan use ramp meters during peak hours since 1993. Traffic enforcement cameras are deployed to deter running the red lights, but a bus lane at Taipei Interchange from northbound Chongqing North Road to southbound National Highway No. 1 in northern Datong District, Taipei allows buses and properly indicated emergency vehicles to bypass the traffic control imposed by the ramp meters.

Turkey
In 2016, two ramp meters were installed on a major highway in Istanbul. It has been noted that there is a 10% improvement in traffic provement along with 20% decrease in delays.

Enforcement
On some ramp meters, there is a singular red light on the backside of the signal that is synchronized with the red light on the traffic signal that the drivers see when queueing. When the queueing drivers see the red light on the traffic signal, the backside red light is on, when the traffic signal displays green or yellow, the backside red light is off. This allows highway patrol to enforce the metering lights by having an officer park their car or motorcycle on the shoulder a short distance past the targeted signal, watch the red light for any offenders, and pull them over. Additionally, if the given ramp has a carpool bypass lane, officers from that vantage point may also catch and pull over non-carpoolers who are illegally using the carpool lane to skip past the ramp meter queue. On westbound I-80 in Oakland, California just past the Bay Bridge toll plaza, there is a section with overhead metering lights that cycle when the freeway traffic volumes are high, equipped with cameras that capture license plate images of drivers who run the red light and then send a fine.

title: Ramp meter


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Minneapolis–Saint Paul

Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities after the area's two largest cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Minnesotans often refer to the two together (or the seven-county metro area collectively) simply as "the cities". The area is Minnesota's economic, cultural, and political center.

Minneapolis and Saint Paul are independent municipalities with defined borders. Minneapolis sits mostly on the west side of the Mississippi River on lake-covered terrain. Although most of the city is residential neighborhoods, it has a business-dominated downtown area with some historic industrial areas, the Mill District and the North Loop area. Saint Paul, which sits mostly on the east side of the river, has a smaller business district, many tree-lined neighborhoods, and a large collection of late-Victorian architecture. Both cities, and the surrounding smaller cities, feature lakes, hills, and creeks.

Originally inhabited by the Ojibwe and Dakota people, the cities were settled by various Europeans. Minneapolis was strongly influenced by early Scandinavian and Lutheran settlers, while Saint Paul was settled predominantly by the French, the Irish, and German Catholics. Both urban areas are home to new immigrant communities, including Mexicans, Somalis, Hmong, Indians, Oromo, Vietnamese, Cameroonians, and Liberians.

"Twin Cities" is sometimes used to refer to the seven-county region governed by the Metropolitan Council regional governmental agency and planning organization. The United States Office of Management and Budget officially designates 15 counties as the "Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington MN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area". It is the 16th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. and third-largest metropolitan area in the Midwest, with a population of 3,690,261 at the 2020 census. The larger 21-county Minneapolis–St. Paul MN–WI Combined Statistical Area, the nation's 16th-largest combined statistical area, had a population of 4,078,788 at the 2020 census.

European settlement
The first European settlement in the region was near what is now the town of Stillwater, Minnesota, about 20 mi from downtown Saint Paul and on the western bank of the St. Croix River, which forms the border of central Minnesota and Wisconsin. Another settlement that fueled early interest in the area was the outpost at Fort Snelling, which was constructed from 1820 to 1825 at the confluence of the Minnesota River and the Mississippi River.

The Fort Snelling military reservation bordered both sides of the river up to Saint Anthony Falls. The town of Saint Anthony grew just outside the reservation on the river's east side. For several years, the only European resident to live on the west bank of the river was Colonel John H. Stevens, who operated a ferry service across the river. When the military reservation was reduced in size, settlers quickly moved to the land, creating the new village of Minneapolis. The town grew, with Minneapolis and Saint Anthony eventually merging. On the eastern side of the Mississippi, a few villages such as Pig's Eye and Lambert's Landing grew to become Saint Paul.

Geography
Natural geography played a role in the two cities' settlement and development. The Mississippi River Valley in the area is defined by a series of stone bluffs that line the river. Saint Paul grew up around Lambert's Landing, the last place to unload boats coming upriver at an easily accessible point, seven miles (11 km) downstream from Saint Anthony Falls, the geographic feature that, due to the value of its immense water power for industry, defined Minneapolis's location and its prominence as the Mill City. The falls can be seen from the Mill City Museum, housed in the former Washburn "A" Mill, which was among the world's largest mills in its time. The phrase "St. Paul is the last city of the East, Minneapolis the first city of the West" alludes to the historical difference.

Farming
The state's oldest farms are in Washington County. The county borders the St. Croix River and Wisconsin on the eastern side of the metropolitan area. Joseph Haskell was Minnesota's first white farmer, harvesting the first crops in the state in 1840 on what is now part of Afton Township on Trading Post Trail.

Grand Excursion
The Grand Excursion, a trip into the Upper Midwest sponsored by the Rock Island Railroad, brought more than a thousand curious travelers into the area by rail and steamboat in 1854. In 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published The Song of Hiawatha, an epic poem based on the Ojibwe legends of Hiawatha. A number of natural area landmarks appear in the story, including Lake Minnetonka and Minnehaha Falls. Tourists inspired by the coverage of the Grand Excursion in eastern newspapers and those who read The Song of Hiawatha flocked to the area in the following decades.

Rail transport
At one time, the region also had numerous passenger rail services, including both interurban streetcar systems and interstate rail. Due to the river's width at points farther south, the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area was briefly one of the few places where the Mississippi could be crossed by railroad. Much commercial rail traffic also ran through the area, often carrying grain to be processed at Minneapolis mills or delivering other goods to Saint Paul to be transported along the Mississippi. Saint Paul was long at the head of navigation on the river, until a lock and dam facility was added upriver in Minneapolis.

Passenger travel hit its peak in 1888, with nearly eight million traversing to and from Saint Paul Union Depot. This amounted to approximately 150 trains daily. Soon, other rail crossings were built farther south and travel through the region began to decline. In an effort by the rail companies to combat the rise of the automobile, some of the earliest streamliners ran from Chicago to Minneapolis/Saint Paul and eventually served distant points in the Pacific Northwest. Today, the only vestige of this interstate service is Amtrak's Seattle/Portland to Chicago Empire Builder route, running once daily in each direction. It is named after James J. Hill, a railroad tycoon who settled on Summit Avenue in Saint Paul in what is now known as the James J. Hill House.

Socioeconomic history
Like many Northern cities that grew up with the Industrial Revolution, Minneapolis and St. Paul experienced shifts in their economic base as heavy industry declined, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. With the economic decline of those decades came population decline in the central city areas, white flight to suburbs, and, in the summer of 1967, race riots on Minneapolis's North Side. But by the 1980s and 1990s, Minneapolis and Saint Paul were often cited as former Rust Belt cities that had made successful transitions to service, high-technology, finance, and information economies.

In May and June 2020, the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area became a focus of international attention after MPD officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for almost ten minutes. The murder sparked local, nationwide and international protests against racism and police brutality, bringing considerable attention to the MPD. Minneapolis–Saint Paul was the site of the second-costliest act of civil disobedience in U.S. history, after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Local protests and riots caused an estimated $550 million in damages and affected around 1,600 businesses.

Rivalry
Minneapolis and Saint Paul have competed since they were founded, resulting in some duplication of effort. After Saint Paul completed its elaborate cathedral in 1915, Minneapolis followed up with the equally ornate Basilica of St. Mary in 1926. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the rivalry became so intense that an architect practicing in one city was often refused business in the other. The 1890 United States Census even led to the two cities arresting and/or kidnapping each other's census takers, in an attempt to keep each city from outgrowing the other.

The rivalry occasionally erupted into inter-city violence, as at a 1929 game between the Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints, both baseball teams of the American Association. In the 1950s, both cities competed for a major league baseball franchise (which resulted in two rival stadiums being built), and there was a brief period in the mid-1960s when the two cities could not agree on a common calendar for daylight saving time, resulting in a few weeks when people in Minneapolis were one hour "behind" those in Saint Paul.

The cities' mutual antagonism was largely healed by the end of the 1960s, aided by the simultaneous arrival in 1961 of the Minnesota Twins of the American League and the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League, both of which identified themselves with the state as a whole (the former explicitly named for both Twin Cities) rather than either city (like the earlier Minneapolis Lakers). Since 1961, it has been common practice for any major sports team based in the Twin Cities to be named for Minnesota as a whole. In terms of development, the two cities remain distinct in their progress, with Minneapolis absorbing new and avant-garde architecture while Saint Paul continues to carefully integrate new buildings into the context of classical and Victorian styles.

Geology
Like much of Minnesota, the Twin Cities area was shaped by water and ice over millions of years. The area's land sits atop thick layers of sandstone and limestone laid down as seas encroached upon and receded from the region. Erosion caused natural caves to develop, which were expanded into mines when white settlers came to the area. During Prohibition, at least one speakeasy was built into these hidden spaces—eventually refurbished as Saint Paul's Wabasha Street Caves.

Lakes across the area were formed and altered by the movement of glaciers. This left many bodies of water in the region, some with unusual shapes. For example, Lake Minnetonka, toward the western side of the Twin Cities, consists of a complex arrangement of channels and large bays. Elevations in the area range from 1376 ft above sea level in the northwest metro to 666 ft at the edge of the Mississippi River in the southeast.

Because it is relatively easy to dig through limestone and there are many natural and manmade open spaces, it has often been proposed that the area should consider building subways for public transportation. That could be less expensive in the Twin Cities than in many other places, but would still be much more expensive than surface projects.

Climate
Owing to their northerly latitude and inland location, the Twin Cities experience the coldest climate of any major metropolitan area in the United States. But due to their southern location in the state and the urban heat island, the Twin Cities are among Minnesota's warmest places. The average annual temperature recorded at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport is 45.4 °F; 3.5 F-change colder than Winona, Minnesota, and 8.8 F-change warmer than Roseau, Minnesota. Monthly average daily high temperatures range from 21.9 °F in January to 83.3 °F in July; the average daily minimum temperatures for those months are 4.3 °F and 63.0 °F respectively.

Minimum temperatures of 0 °F or lower are seen on an average of 29.7 days per year, and 76.2 days do not have a maximum temperature exceeding the freezing point. Temperatures above 90 °F occur an average of 15 times per year. Higher temperatures at or above 100 °F are recorded once every 4-5 years on average, and sometimes during a single summer. The lowest temperature ever reported at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport was −34 °F on January 22, 1936; the highest, 108 °F, was reported on July 14 of the same year. Early settlement records at Fort Snelling show temperatures as low as -42 °F. Recent records include -40 °F at Vadnais Lake on February 2, 1996 (National Climatic Data Center)

Precipitation averages 29.41 in per year, and is most plentiful in June (4.34 in) and least so in February (0.79 in). The greatest one-day rainfall amount was 9.15 in, reported on July 23, 1987. The cities' record for lowest annual precipitation was set in 1910, when 11.54 in fell throughout the year; coincidentally, the opposite record of 40.15 in was set the next year. At an annual average of 56.3 in, snowfall is generally abundant.

The Twin Cities area takes the brunt of many types of extreme weather, including high-speed straight-line winds, tornadoes, flash floods, drought, heat, bitter cold, and blizzards. The costliest weather disaster in Twin Cities history was a derecho event on May 15, 1998. Hail and wind damage exceeded $950 million, much of it in the Twin Cities. Other memorable Twin Cities weather-related events include the tornado outbreak on May 6, 1965, the Armistice Day Blizzard on November 11, 1940, and the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. In January 2019, Minnesota experienced its coldest temperatures since 1996, when a polar vortex dropped temperatures as low as -56 °F in Cotton, Minnesota, with wind-chill temperatures lower than -60 °F in much of the state. These temperatures are colder than those found on the surface of Mars. (See: Department of Natural Resources - Cold Outbreak: January 27-31, 2019)

A normal growing season in the metro extends from late April or early May through the month of October. The USDA places the area in the 4a plant hardiness zone.

Metropolitan Statistical Area
The '''Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington MN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area''', or Twin Cities, includes 15 counties, of which 13 are in Minnesota and two in Wisconsin. The Minnesota portion accounts for almost two-thirds of Minnesota's population.

Note: Counties that are bolded are under jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Council. Counties that are italicized were added to the metropolitan area when the Office of Management and Budget revised its delineations of metropolitan statistical areas in 2013. Sibley County was included in the metropolitan statistical area from 2013 to September 2018.

[[File:Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud Combined Statistical Area.svg|thumb|Map of the 21 counties of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI Combined Statistical Area as of 2018. {{legend|red|MSA counties under the Metropolitan Council}}{{Legend|orange|Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MSA counties defined by the Census as "central"}}{{legend|green|Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MSA counties defined by the Census as "outlying"}} {{legend|purple|Counties included in the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area}} {{legend|blue|Counties that are separate Micropolitan Statistical Areas}}
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Combined Statistical Area
The '''Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN–WI Combined Statistical Area''' is made up of 19 counties in Minnesota and two counties in Wisconsin. The statistical area includes two metropolitan areas and four micropolitan areas. As of the 2010 census, the CSA had a population of 3,682,928 (though a July 1, 2012 estimate placed it at 3,691,918). In 2013, the Owatonna Micropolitan Statistical Area was added.

Note: Owatonna MSA was not part of CSA in 2010.

Cities and suburbs
There are approximately 218 incorporated municipalities in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. This includes census-designated places and villages in Wisconsin, but excludes unincorporated towns in Wisconsin, known as civil townships in other states. Population numbers are from the 2020 census.

Principal cities
 * Minneapolis (429,954)
 * Saint Paul (311,527)

Places with 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants

 * Bloomington (89,987)
 * Brooklyn Park (86,478)
 * Plymouth (81,026)
 * Woodbury (75,102)
 * Maple Grove (70,253)
 * Blaine (70,222)
 * Lakeville (69,490)
 * Eagan (68,855)
 * Burnsville (64,317)
 * Eden Prairie (64,198)
 * Coon Rapids (63,599)
 * Apple Valley (56,374)
 * Minnetonka (53,781)
 * Edina (53,494)
 * St. Louis Park (50,010)

Places with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants

 * Shakopee (43,698)
 * Maplewood (42,088)
 * Cottage Grove (38,839)
 * Richfield (36,994)
 * Roseville (36,254)
 * Inver Grove Heights (35,801)
 * Brooklyn Center (33,782)
 * Andover (32,601)
 * Savage (32,465)
 * Fridley (29,590)
 * Oakdale (28,303)
 * Chaska (27,810)
 * Ramsey (27,646)
 * Prior Lake (27,617)
 * Shoreview (26,921)
 * Chanhassen (25,947)
 * Elk River (25,835)
 * Rosemount (25,650)

Places with 10,000 to 24,999 inhabitants

 * White Bear Lake (24,883)
 * Champlin (23,919)
 * Farmington (23,632)
 * New Brighton (23,454)
 * Crystal (23,330)
 * Golden Valley (22,552)
 * Hastings (22,154)
 * New Hope (21,986)
 * Columbia Heights (21,973)
 * Lino Lakes (21,399)
 * South St. Paul (20,759)
 * West St. Paul (20,615)
 * Forest Lake (20,611)
 * Otsego (19,956)
 * Stillwater (19,394)
 * Hopkins (19,079)
 * St. Michael (18,235)
 * Anoka (17,921)
 * Ham Lake (16,464)
 * River Falls, Wisconsin (16,182)
 * Buffalo (16,168)
 * Hugo (15,766)
 * Hudson, Wisconsin (14,755)
 * Robbinsdale (14,646)
 * Monticello (14,455)
 * Rogers (13,295)
 * Mounds View (13,249)
 * Waconia (13,033)
 * Vadnais Heights (12,912)
 * North St. Paul (12,364)
 * East Bethel (11,786)
 * Mendota Heights (11,744)
 * Big Lake (11,686)
 * Lake Elmo (11,335)
 * Little Canada (10,819)
 * North Branch (10,787)
 * Victoria (10,546)

Places with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants
 * Arden Hills (9,939)
 * Cambridge (9,611)
 * Mound (9,398)
 * St. Anthony (9,257)
 * Oak Grove (8,929)
 * Orono (8,315)
 * Minnetrista (8,262)
 * New Prague (8,162)
 * Saint Francis (8,142)
 * Mahtomedi (8,138)
 * Wyoming (8,032)
 * Albertville (7,896)
 * Shorewood (7,783)
 * Belle Plaine (7,395)
 * Dayton (7,262)
 * Spring Lake Park (7,188)
 * Medina (6,837)
 * Isanti (6,804)
 * Jordan (6,656)
 * Delano (6,484)
 * Zimmerman (6,189)
 * Corcoran (6,185)
 * Carver (5,839)
 * Chisago City (5,558)
 * Saint Paul Park (5,544)
 * Falcon Heights (5,369)
 * North Oaks (5,272)
 * Circle Pines (5,025)
 * Lindstrom (4,888)
 * Becker (4,877)
 * Oak Park Heights (4,849)
 * Elko New Market (4,846)
 * Princeton (4,819)
 * Lonsdale (4,686)
 * Watertown (4,659)
 * Nowthen (4,536)
 * Rockford (4,500)
 * Wayzata (4,434)
 * Prescott, Wisconsin (4,258)
 * Le Sueur (4,213)
 * Columbus (4,159)
 * Bayport (4,024)
 * Scandia (3,984)
 * Grant (3,966)
 * Deephaven (3,899)
 * Centerville (3,896)
 * Norwood Young America (3,863)
 * Newport (3,797)
 * Montrose (3,775)
 * Independence (3,755)
 * Hanover (3,548)
 * Annandale (3,330)
 * Montgomery (3,249)
 * Rush City (3,072)
 * Afton (2,955)
 * Greenfield (2,923)
 * Milaca (2,901)
 * Cokato (2,799)
 * Osseo (2,688)
 * Le Center (2,517)
 * Mayer (2,453)
 * Excelsior (2,355)
 * St. Bonifacius (2,307)
 * Lauderdale (2,271)
 * Lexington (2,248)
 * Maple Lake (2,159)
 * Howard Lake (2,071)
 * Cologne (2,047)
 * Clearwater (1,855)
 * Waterville (1,849)
 * Braham (1,820)
 * Maple Plain (1,743)
 * Long Lake (1,741)
 * Spring Park (1,734)
 * Lakeland (1,710)
 * Stacy (1,470)
 * Tonka Bay (1,442)
 * Waverly (1,410)
 * Dellwood (1,171)
 * Shafer (1,142)
 * Harris (1,111)
 * Taylors Falls (1,055)
 * Lake St. Croix Beach (1,043)
 * Vineland (1,001)
 * Hilltop (958)
 * Onamia (878)
 * Birchwood Village (863)
 * Landfall (843)
 * Lilydale (809)
 * Loretto (762)
 * Isle (751)
 * Greenwood (726)
 * Kasota (718)
 * Cleveland (700)
 * Hampton (687)
 * Center City (672)
 * Marine on St. Croix (664)
 * Elysian (650)
 * Clear Lake (573)
 * Gem Lake (567)
 * Hamburg (566)
 * Foreston (559)
 * Minnetonka Beach (546)
 * Sunfish Lake (522)
 * Willernie (515)
 * Bethel (476)
 * Randolph (466)
 * New Germany (464)
 * Vermillion (441)
 * Woodland (439)
 * Pine Springs (377)
 * Lakeland Shores (339)
 * Medicine Lake (337)
 * St. Marys Point (321)
 * Wahkon (256)
 * Pease (248)
 * South Haven (192)
 * Mendota (157)
 * Kilkenny (148)
 * Coates (147)
 * Miesville (138)
 * Heidelberg (137)
 * Bock (104)
 * New Trier (86)

Fine and performing arts
The Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area fine art museums include the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minnesota Museum of American Art and The Museum of Russian Art. Other museums include American Swedish Institute, Science Museum of Minnesota, Minnesota Children's Museum, Bell Museum (natural history and planetarium) and The Bakken Museum (science and technology). The Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are full-time professional musical ensembles. The Guthrie Theater is a world-class regional theater overlooking the Mississippi River. The Minnesota Fringe Festival is an annual celebration of theatre, dance, improvisation, puppetry, kids' shows, visual art, and musicals.

The Twin Cities is also the home of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), the nation's second-largest public radio station. It has both a classical station and a contemporary station, The Current, which plays music from regional and other contemporary artists. The MPR program A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Minnesota native Garrison Keillor, aired live for many years from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul. The show ended its run in 2016, with its successor Live from Here also airing from the same venue. This radio program was the basis of the 2006 film A Prairie Home Companion.

The Brave New Workshop Comedy Theater is a sketch and improvisational comedy theater in Minneapolis. It is the nation's oldest comedy theater.

The Current and the Walker Art Center also host the annual music festival Rock the Garden, which features nationally recognized and local artists. The festival has been held annually since 2008 and has featured artists such as Lizzo, Hippo Campus, Chance the Rapper, Bon Iver, The Flaming Lips, Wilco and Sonic Youth.

The Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis hosts the annual Basilica Block Party, another music festival, which has featured nationally recognized artists such as Weezer, Andy Grammer, Death Cab for Cutie and Panic! at the Disco. The festival is used as a fundraiser for the restoration of the basilica. The event draws about 25,000 people to the downtown area.

The Twin Cities area also has a number of venues where artists come to perform. Minneapolis is home to First Avenue. First Avenue is known for being the starting venue for many famous artists and bands from the area, including Prince, The Replacements, Atmosphere, and Manny Phesto. It became one of the most recognizable venues in Minnesota after the release of the Prince movie Purple Rain, in which it is featured.

Outdoors
There are numerous lakes in the region, and some cities in the area have extensive park systems for recreation. Organized recreation includes the Great River Energy bicycle festival, the Twin Cities Marathon, and the U.S. pond hockey championships. Some studies have shown that area residents take advantage of this, and are among the most physically fit in the country, but others have disputed that. Medicine is a major industry in the region and the southeasterly city of Rochester, as the University of Minnesota has joined other colleges and hospitals in doing significant research, and major medical device manufacturers started in the region (the most prominent is Medtronic). Technical innovators have brought important advances in computing, including the Cray line of supercomputers.

Many Twin Cities residents own or share cabins and other properties along lakes and forested areas in central and northern Minnesota, and weekend trips "up North" happen in the warmer months. Ice fishing is a major winter pastime, although overambitious fishers sometimes find themselves in danger when they venture onto the ice too early or too late. Hunting, snowmobiling, ATV riding and other outdoor activities are also popular. This connection to the outdoors also brings a strong sense of environmentalism to many Minnesotans.

In 2011 and 2012, the American College of Sports Medicine named Minneapolis–Saint Paul the nation's healthiest metropolitan area.

Sports

The Twin Cities is one of 13 American metropolitan areas with teams in all four major professional sports—baseball (MLB), football (NFL), basketball (NBA) and ice hockey (NHL). Including Major League Soccer (MLS), it is one of 11 metro areas with five major professional sports teams. To avoid favoring either city, most teams based in the area use only the word "Minnesota" in their names, rather than "Minneapolis" or "St. Paul".

Minneapolis was the site of two Super Bowls—Super Bowl XXVI in 1992 and Super Bowl LII in 2018. It is the farthest north that a Super Bowl has ever been played. The Minnesota Vikings have played in four Super Bowls—IV in 1970, VIII in 1974, IX in 1975 and XI in 1977.

The World Series has been played in the Twin Cities three times—1965, 1987 and 1991—as have three Major League Baseball All-Star Games—1965, 1985 and 2014. NHL All-Star games were hosted in 1972 and 2004, NBA All-Star game in 1994, WNBA All-Star game in 2018 and MLS All-Star game in 2022.

The Stanley Cup Finals have been played in the Twin Cities twice, in 1981 and 1991. The NHL Stadium Series had a game in the Twin Cities in 2016, and the NHL Winter Classic was played at Target Field in 2022.

The Final Four Men's National College Athletics Association (NCAA) basketball tournament has been hosted by Minneapolis four times—1951, 1992, 2001 and 2019—and the Women's twice, in 1995 and 2022.

The Frozen Four Men's NCAA hockey tournament has been hosted by the Twin Cities nine times—1958, 1966, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2002, 2011, 2018 and 2024.

Major golf tournaments hosted in the Twin Cities include: U.S. Open—1916, 1930, 1970, 1991; U.S. Women's Open—1966, 1977, 2008; PGA Championship—1932, 1954, 2002, 2009; Women's PGA Championship, 2019; Walker Cup, 1957; Solheim Cup, 2002; and the Ryder Cup, 2016. The Ryder Cup is scheduled to return in 2028.

The 1998 World Figure Skating Championships were held at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

The 2017, 2018 and 2019 X Games were held in Minneapolis. The 2020 X Games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Twin Cities host three nationally competing Roller Derby leagues: the Minnesota Roller Derby of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 1, the North Star Roller Derby of WFTDA Division 2, and Minnesota Men's Roller Derby, a league of the Men's Roller Derby Association. MNRD and NSRD have four home teams each: the Dagger Dolls, Garda Belts, Rockits, and Atomic Bombshells of MNRD and the Banger Sisters, Delta Delta Di, Kilmores, and Violent Femmes of NSRD, as well as two traveling teams each. MMRD has three home teams: The Gentlemen's Club, Destruction Workers, and Thunderjacks, and two traveling teams.

The annual Twin Cities Marathon is held in the fall with a course running through Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Minneapolis was the birthplace of Rollerblade and is a center for inline skating, as well as home to the most golfers per capita of any U.S. city. Additionally, water skiing got its start on Lake Pepin, a lake southeast of the metropolitan area, in the Mississippi River about 50 mi downstream from Saint Paul.

Some other sports teams gained their names from being in Minnesota before relocating. The Los Angeles Lakers get their name from once being based in Minneapolis, the City of Lakes. The Dallas Stars also derived their name from their tenure as a Minnesota team, the Minnesota North Stars.

Professional sports teams in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
The Twin Cities are also home of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers who play in the Big Ten Conference.

Print
The Twin Cities have two major daily newspapers: the Star Tribune and the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. The Minnesota Daily serves the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus and surrounding neighborhoods. There is one general-interest neighborhood weekly newspaper still in the cities: The East Side Review, devoted to the 90,000 residents in St. Paul's eastern third. Other weekly papers are devoted to specific audiences/demographics, including (until 2020) City Pages.

Television
The region is the 15th-largest television market, according to Nielsen Media Research. Three duopolies exist in the Twin Cities: Twin Cities PBS operates KTCA and KTCI (channels 2.1 and 2.4), Saint Paul-based Hubbard Broadcasting (founded by Stanley E. Hubbard) owns ABC affiliate KSTP-TV (channel 5) and independent station KSTC-TV (channel 5.2), and Fox Television Stations operates Fox owned-and-operated station KMSP-TV (channel 9) and MyNetworkTV O&O WFTC (channel 9.2) Diversified from radio, KSTP-TV was the first television station to operate in the region and the 17th to sign on in the U.S., initially reaching 3,000 sets when Hubbard signed on the station in April 1948.

The only local television station in the area that operates its main studio in Minneapolis is CBS O&O WCCO-TV (channel 4), while Saint Paul is home to KSTP/KSTC, KTCA/KTCI, and CW affiliate WUCW (channel 23, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group). The other major television stations are based in nearby suburban areas: NBC affiliate KARE (channel 11, owned by Tegna) operates a broadcasting complex in Golden Valley, while KMSP/WFTC operates from a facility in Eden Prairie.

For much of the last two decades, WCCO and KARE have had the most popular evening newscasts in the area, while KSTP has struggled to maintain decent ratings on its news programs. Since becoming an independent station in 1979, after losing the ABC affiliation to KSTP in a three-station affiliation swap that resulted in NBC moving from KSTP to then-independent WTCN (now KARE), KMSP has carried a nightly prime time newscast (originally airing at 9:30 p.m. before moving to 9:00 p.m. upon trading time slots with the now-canceled Independent Network News in 1982). It remained the top-rated newscast in the 9:00 hour long after it gained competition from then-Fox affiliate WFTC (which launched a standalone news department in April 2001, later absorbed into KMSP's existing news operation after Fox acquired both stations that year from Clear Channel Television and United Television, respectively) and independent KSTC (which began airing a newscast produced by sister station KSTP in 2001).

Communities in the region have their own public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable television channels. One, the Metro Cable Network, is available on channel 6 on cable systems across the seven-county region.

Several television programs that originated in the Twin Cities have aired nationally on broadcast and cable networks. KTCA created the science program Newton's Apple and distributes a children's program today. A few unusual comedic shows also originated in the area. In the 1980s, KTMA (later KLGT and KMWB, now WUCW) created a number of low-budget shows, including Mystery Science Theater 3000, a satirical B-movie showcase that achieved cult classic status during its 1989–96 national cable run on Comedy Central. The short-lived Let's Bowl started on KARE and later ran on KLGT and St. Cloud-licensed KXLI-TV (channel 41, now Ion O&O KPXM-TV), before airing on Comedy Central from 2001 to 2002; it was a panel discussion featuring critical and humorous analysis of TV commercials. The advertising-focused panel discussion series Mental Engineering originated on the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) cable access channel in 1997 before being syndicated nationally to PBS member stations from 2001 to 2008.

From 1984 to 2002, Hubbard Broadcasting and Viacom operated CONUS Communications, a satellite news gathering and news video-sharing service for local television stations throughout the nation. In 1989, the venture launched All News Channel (ANC), a syndicated television news service that operated from the company's St. Paul broadcast facility and used some on-air staff previously employed by KSTP. Similar in format to then-competitor CNN Headline News (now HLN), ANC produced rolling half-hour national newscasts that were syndicated to local stations (most of which, as KSTP did throughout its existence, aired them as overnight filler programming); Hubbard shut down most of CONUS's operations and ANC in 2002, citing the dominance of network-run affiliate wire services (such as CNN Newsource), but it maintains a digital archive of its news library.

In 1994, Hubbard launched United States Satellite Broadcasting (USSB), a satellite television provider offering premium channels from Home Box Office, Inc. and Showtime Networks, pay-per-view movies and events, a limited selection of basic cable channels (mainly those in which Viacom held full or partial ownership interest, such as MTV, Lifetime and Nickelodeon), and All News Channel. Founded in 1981 by then-Hubbard President Stanley S. Hubbard, USSB and competitor DirecTV used the Digital Satellite System (DSS) infrastructure, allowing customers to optionally subscribe to both services. Hubbard sold USSB's assets to then-DirecTV parent Hughes Electronics in 1999, leading the latter provider to add USSB's remaining channels. (Viacom moved its basic channels over to DirecTV the previous year.)

Radio
The Twin Cities radio market was ranked 15th by Nielsen in 2018. In November 2018, the area's top five morning radio shows were all FM stations: KSTP (94.5), KFXN (100.3), KQQL (107.9), KDWB (101.3), and KXXR (93.7). Three of those stations are owned by iHeartRadio. Most stations broadcast on air and online, as livestreams from their websites.

In addition to owning KSTP television, Hubbard Broadcasting also operates two radio stations that share call letters (which reference their shared licensed city, St. Paul) with its co-owned television outlet: KSTP (1500 AM) maintains a sports radio format as an ESPN Radio affiliate, and KSTP-FM maintains a pop music format. In 1985, Hubbard—valued at $400 million—was one of the nation's larger corporate media companies; in 2005, valued at $1.2 billion, Hubbard was a fairly small major-market media operation.

The Twin Cities have a mix of commercial and non-commercial radio stations. The market is dominated by iHeartMedia, which operates seven stations (including contemporary hits outlet KDWB, sports radio outlet KFXN, classic hits outlet KQQL, and news/talk station KTLK). Two small, independent stations are award winners—KUOM (770 AM; relayed in St. Paul on 100.7 FM and in Minneapolis on 104.5 FM), operated by the University of Minnesota, and community radio outlet KFAI (90.3) in Cedar–Riverside.

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)—a regional public radio network that transmits on 46 affiliate stations across the state—broadcasts on three stations in the area, each with distinct programming formats: KNOW (91.1 FM) serves as the flagship station of MPR's news and information service, MPR News, featuring locally produced and NPR-distributed news and talk programs; KSJN (91.5 FM) serves as the flagship of MPR's classical music service, "YourClassical MPR"; and Northfield-licensed KCMP (89.3 FM) maintains an adult album alternative format branded as "The Current". (In addition to being relayed on MPR stations in Duluth and Rochester, KCMP's "Current" programming is also carried in the Los Angeles market on an HD subchannel of educational FM station KPCC.) MPR was first nationally known for the variety show A Prairie Home Companion, which ceased production in 2016. Doing business as American Public Media, the company is the second-largest producer of NPR content, after National Public Radio (of which MPR is an affiliate).

Independent media
The Twin Cities is home to many independent media organizations, including The UpTake and MinnPost.

Place of birth
About 93% of the metropolitan area's population is native to the United States, including 0.6% born in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, or abroad to American parents. The rest of the population is foreign-born.

The highest percentages of immigrants came from Asia (38.2%), Latin America (25.4%), and Africa (20.1%); smaller percentages of newcomers came from Europe (13.1%), other parts of North America (3.0%), and Oceania (0.2%).

Religion
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a major center for religion in the state, especially Christianity. The state headquarters of five major Christian churches are there: the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, the Presbyterian Synod of Lakes and Prairies, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The Presbyterian and LDS churches both have missions in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and Bloomington, as does the Orthodox Church in America.

The headquarters of the former American Lutheran Church (ALC), Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lutheran Free Church and the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church were in Minneapolis; the headquarters of Augsburg Fortress publishing house still is. The Minneapolis Area Synod and the Saint Paul Area Synod are the largest and third-largest synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), respectively.

The Evangelical Free Church of America is headquartered in Bloomington, and the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations is headquartered in Plymouth, along with its seminary and a Bible School.

The Twin Cities are home to a Jewish population of approximately 64,800, with about 31% of Jewish households in Minneapolis suburbs, 24% in Minneapolis, 16% in St. Paul, 14% in the St. Paul suburbs, and 15% in outer suburbs. There is also a Hindu temple in the Twin Cities suburb of Maple Grove. The Twin Cities' sole Sikh gurdwara is in Bloomington. A recent influx of immigrants from Laos and Northern Africa has brought many more religions to the area. There are several Islamic Masjids in the area. There is a temple for the religion of Eckankar in the suburb of Chanhassen known as the Temple of Eck. In addition, many Hmong and Tibetan Buddhist peoples live in Saint Paul; a Hmong Buddhist temple opened in suburban Roseville in 1995. The LDS St. Paul Minnesota Temple opened in Oakdale, a suburb east of Saint Paul, in 2000. There are several Unitarian Universalist communities, such as the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, as well as several Pagan and Buddhist groups. Minneapolis–Saint Paul has been called Paganistan due to the large numbers of Pagans living there. An estimated 20,000 Pagans live in the area.

Minneapolis is where the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association started and was its home for more than 50 years.

Politics
The 2008 Republican National Convention was held at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. Minneapolis and Saint Paul had submitted combined bids to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. Minneapolis hosted the 1892 Republican National Convention.

Like most major metropolitan areas, the Twin Cities is a stronghold for the Democratic Party, known in Minnesota as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. At the state level, DFLers in the Minnesota legislature have increasingly relied on the Twin Cities to build majorities. Outside of the staunchly liberal urban core, the suburbs of the Twin Cities have been historically competitive for both the DFL and the Republicans.

Economy
The Minneapolis–Saint Paul area is home to 24 Fortune 1000 headquarters. The 2022 rankings are:

Private companies headquartered in the Twin Cities area include Cargill, the country's largest private company, Carlson, Radisson Hotel Group, Holiday Stationstores, and Andersen. Foreign companies with U.S. headquarters in the Twin Cities include Aimia, Allianz Life, Canadian Pacific, Coloplast, Medtronic, Pearson VUE and Pentair.

The Twin Cities' economy is the nation's 13th-largest and ranks second in the Midwest after Chicago. The Minneapolis–Saint Paul area is also North America's second-largest medical device manufacturing center and the fourth-largest U.S. banking center, based on total assets of banks headquartered in the area, after New York, San Francisco, and Charlotte.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis covers the 9th District of the Federal Reserve System, which is made up of Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Its geographical territory is the third-largest of the 12 Federal Reserve banks.

Colleges and universities

 * Adler Graduate School – Minnetonka
 * Anoka-Ramsey Community College – Coon Rapids and Cambridge
 * Anoka Technical College – Anoka
 * Augsburg University – Minneapolis
 * Bethany Global University - Bloomington
 * Bethel University – Arden Hills
 * Capella University – Minneapolis
 * Century College – White Bear Lake
 * Concordia University – Saint Paul
 * Crown College – St. Bonifacius
 * Dakota County Technical College – Rosemount
 * Dunwoody College of Technology – Minneapolis
 * Hamline University – Saint Paul
 * Hennepin Technical College – Eden Prairie and Brooklyn Park
 * Inver Hills Community College – Inver Grove Heights
 * Luther Seminary – Saint Paul
 * Macalester College – Saint Paul
 * Metropolitan State University – Saint Paul and Minneapolis
 * Minneapolis College of Art and Design – Minneapolis
 * Minneapolis College – Minneapolis
 * Minnesota State University – Edina
 * Mitchell Hamline School of Law – Saint Paul
 * Normandale Community College – Bloomington
 * North Central University – Minneapolis
 * North Hennepin Community College – Brooklyn Park
 * Northwestern Health Sciences University – Bloomington
 * Rasmussen University – Bloomington, Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Eagan and Lake Elmo
 * St. Catherine University – Saint Paul and Minneapolis
 * St. Cloud State University – St. Cloud and Maple Grove
 * St. Mary's University of Minnesota – Minneapolis
 * Saint Paul College – Saint Paul
 * United Theological Seminary – Saint Paul
 * University of Minnesota – Minneapolis and Saint Paul (Falcon Heights)
 * University of Northwestern – St. Paul – Roseville
 * University of St. Thomas – Saint Paul and Minneapolis
 * University of Wisconsin – River Falls and Hudson
 * Walden University – Minneapolis

Libraries, with numbers of branches

 * Anoka County Library - 9
 * Bayport Public Library - 1
 * Carver County Library - 6
 * Dakota County Library - 10
 * East Central Regional Library - 8
 * Hennepin County Library - 41
 * Ramsey County Library - 7
 * St. Paul Public Library - 13
 * Scott County Library - 7
 * Stillwater Public Library - 1
 * Washington County Library - 7

Buildings and structures
The 11 tallest buildings and 16 of the 17 tallest buildings in the area are in downtown Minneapolis. There is some dispute over which building is the tallest—most Minnesotans think of the IDS Center if asked, but most sources seem to agree that Capella Tower is slightly taller. In early 2005, it was found that the IDS Center is taller by a 16 ft washroom garage on top, bringing its height to 792 ft. Capella Tower and the Wells Fargo Center differ in height by a foot or two. The tallest building in St. Paul is Wells Fargo Place, at 471 ft.

Buildings have gone up and been torn down rapidly across the region. Some city blocks have been demolished six or seven times since the mid-19th century. No single architectural style dominates the region. The cities have a mishmash of different designs, although structures from a few eras stand out. There were once many stone buildings in the Richardsonian Romanesque style (or at least Romanesque-inspired variants). Minneapolis City Hall is one prominent example of this, though buildings of all types—including personal residences such as the James J. Hill House—were similarly designed. A few decades later, Art Deco brought several structures that survive today, including St. Paul City Hall, the Foshay Tower, and the Minneapolis Post Office. The style of buildings in the two cities varies greatly. In Minneapolis, the trend has been toward sleek lines and modern glass facades, while Saint Paul tends to follow a more traditional style to better accompany its older structures.

Saint Paul and especially Minneapolis underwent massive urban renewal projects in the post-World War II era, so a vast number of buildings are now lost to history. Some of the larger and harder to demolish structures have survived. In fact, the area might be signified more by bridges than buildings. A series of reinforced concrete arch spans crossing the Mississippi River were built in the 1920s and 1930s. They still carry daily traffic. A number have undergone major repair work, but retain the original design. Several are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the 10th Avenue Bridge, Intercity Bridge (Ford Parkway), Robert Street Bridge, and the longest, the 4119 ft Mendota Bridge. The area is also noted for having the first known permanent crossing of the Mississippi. That structure is long gone, but a series of Hennepin Avenue Bridges have since been built at the site. Both downtowns have extensive networks of enclosed pedestrian bridges known as skyways.

Several prominent Minneapolis buildings helped modernize the city. These include the Walker Art Center, Central Public Library, Weisman Art Museum and the Guthrie Theater. Opening in April 2005, the new Walker Art Center, nearly double its former size, includes increased indoor and outdoor facilities. The Walker is recognized internationally as a singular model of a multidisciplinary arts organization and a national leader for its innovative approaches to audience engagement. The Guthrie received a large amount of media coverage for its opening in June 2006. It was designed by Jean Nouvel and is a 285000 sqft facility that houses three theaters: the theater's signature thrust stage, seating 1,100; a 700-seat proscenium stage; and a black-box studio with flexible seating. In 2002, the National Trust for Historic Preservation put the old Guthrie building on its list of the most endangered historic properties in the U.S. in response to plans the Walker announced to expand on the land occupied by the theater. The original Guthrie building was torn down in 2006.

Hospitals with Numbers of Beds
Trauma Centers - Level I *; Level II **

Allina Health
 * Abbott Northwestern Hospital - Minneapolis - 686
 * Mercy Hospital - Coon Rapids - 271 **
 * Mercy Hospital (Unity Campus) - Fridley - 164
 * Phillips Eye Institute - Minneapolis - 8
 * Regina Hospital - Hastings - 43
 * United Hospital - St. Paul - 556

Children's Minnesota - 381
 * Children's Minnesota Hospital - Minneapolis
 * Children's Minnesota Hospital - St. Paul

Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
 * Gillette Children's Hospital - St. Paul - 60

HealthPartners
 * Lakeview Hospital - Stillwater - 90
 * Methodist Hospital - St. Louis Park - 361
 * Regions Hospital - St. Paul - 452 *
 * St. Francis Regional Medical Center - Shakopee - 89

Hennepin Healthcare
 * Hennepin County Medical Center - Minneapolis - 484 *

M Health Fairview
 * M Health Fairview Lakes Medical Center - Wyoming - 61
 * M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital - Burnsville - 171
 * M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital - Edina - 334
 * M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center - Minneapolis - 828 **
 * M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital - Minneapolis - 212
 * St. John's Hospital - Maplewood - 184
 * M Health Fairview Woodwinds Hospital - Woodbury - 86

North Memorial Health
 * Maple Grove Hospital - Maple Grove - 130
 * North Memorial Health Hospital - Robbinsdale - 353 *

Ridgeview Health
 * Ridgeview Medical Center - Waconia - 124

Veterans Administration Health Care
 * Veterans Administration Medical Center - Minneapolis - 845

Roads and highways
In the 20th century, the Twin Cities area expanded outward significantly. Automobiles made it possible for suburbs to grow greatly. The area now has a number of freeways, and many traffic cameras and ramp meters to monitor and manage traffic congestion. There is some use of HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) express lanes, which is becoming more common. To use an express lane, a driver must have a MnPASS transponder or at least one passenger. MnPASS rates are determined by the amount of traffic on the road and/or the time of day. During non-peak times, the MnPASS express lanes, except those on Interstate 394 (I-394) between Minnesota Highway 100 (MN 100) and I-94, are open to all traffic.

I-94 comes into the area from the east and heads northwest from Minneapolis. Two spur routes form the I-494/I-694 loop, and I-394 continues west when I-94 turns north. I-35 splits in Burnsville in the southern part of the region, bringing I-35E into Saint Paul and I-35W into Minneapolis. They rejoin to the north in Columbus (just south of Forest Lake) and continue to the highway's terminus in Duluth. This is one of only two examples of an interstate highway splitting into branches and then rejoining; the other is in Dallas–Fort Worth, where I-35 also splits into east and west branches.

On August 1, 2007, much of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge near downtown Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River around 6:05pm CDT. A replacement bridge opened on September 18, 2008.

 * Interstates

 * I-35 (MN).svg I-35
 * I-35E (MN).svg I-35E
 * I-35W (MN).svg I-35W
 * I-94 (MN).svg I-94
 * I-394 (MN).svg I-394
 * I-494 (MN).svg I-494
 * I-694 (MN).svg I-694

 * U.S. Highways

 * US 10.svg US 10
 * US 12.svg US 12
 * US 52.svg US 52 (Lafayette Freeway)
 * US 61 (MN).svg US 61 (Blues Highway)
 * US 169 (MN).svg US 169 (Johnson Memorial Highway)
 * US 212 (MN).svg US 212 (Minnesota Veterans Memorial Highway)

 * Major state highways

 * MN-3.svg MN 3
 * MN-5.svg MN 5
 * MN-7.svg MN 7
 * MN-13.svg MN 13
 * MN-36.svg MN 36
 * MN-47.svg MN 47
 * MN-51.svg MN 51 (Snelling Avenue North)
 * MN-55.svg MN 55 (Olson Memorial Highway)
 * MN-62.svg MN 62 (Crosstown Highway)
 * MN-65.svg MN 65
 * MN-77.svg MN 77 (Cedar Avenue)
 * MN-100.svg MN 100
 * MN-101.svg MN 101
 * MN-120.svg MN 120
 * MN-149.svg MN 149
 * MN-252.svg MN 252
 * MN-156.svg MN 156
 * MN-280.svg MN 280
 * MN-610.svg MN 610

Air travel
The main airport in the region is Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), a major hub for Delta Air Lines. The airport is also the main hub and operating base for Sun Country Airlines. There are six smaller (relief) airports in the area owned and operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission (the same agency operates MSP). Some people commute by air to the Twin Cities from northern Minnesota.

Relief airports in the metropolitan area are:

 * Airlake Airport (LVN) – Lakeville
 * Anoka County-Blaine Airport (ANE) – Blaine
 * Crystal Airport (MIC) – Crystal
 * Flying Cloud Airport (FCM) – Eden Prairie
 * Lake Elmo Airport (21D) – Lake Elmo
 * St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) – St. Paul

Public transit

Metro Transit, by far the area's biggest bus service provider, owes its existence to the old streetcar lines in the area. Metro Transit provides about 95% of the public transit rides in the region, with over 900 buses, while some suburbs have other bus services. The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities operates a free bus system between its campuses. This system includes the Campus Connector bus rapid transit line, which travels between the Minneapolis and Saint Paul campuses by a dedicated bus line and throughout the two campuses on normal access roads. The METRO Blue Line LRT (light rail) began operations in June 2004, connecting downtown Minneapolis, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and the Mall of America in Bloomington. It was followed by the METRO Red Line BRT (bus rapid transitway) in 2013 connecting the Mall of America with Lakeville along Cedar Avenue through the southern suburbs. The METRO Green Line LRT connecting downtown Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota campus and downtown Saint Paul along University Avenue opened in 2014. Metro Transit operates all three lines. The Northstar Line commuter rail line connecting Minneapolis with Big Lake opened in 2009.

The METRO system consists of six separate projects. There are two light rail lines: the Blue Line, which runs from Target Field in downtown Minneapolis past Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport to the Mall of America; and the Green Line, which runs from Target Field past the University of Minnesota to Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul. The BRT Red Line serves as an extension of the Blue Line across the Minnesota River, where it connects with southern suburbs at four different stations. The BRT Orange Line connects downtown Minneapolis with Burnsville along I-35W. The arterial BRT A and C lines serve as upgrades to existing local bus routes and connect with the Blue and Green lines at certain shared stations.

METRO

 * Blue Line LRT: Target Field Station – Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – Mall of America
 * Green Line LRT: Target Field Station – University of Minnesota – Union Depot
 * Orange Line BRT: Downtown Minneapolis – Burnsville Heart of the City
 * Red Line BRT: Mall of America – Apple Valley Transit Station
 * A Line BRT: 46th Street station – Rosedale Transit Center
 * C Line BRT: Downtown Minneapolis – Brooklyn Center Transit Center
 * D Line BRT: Mall of America – Brooklyn Center Transit Center

A variety of rail services are being pondered by state and local governments, including neighborhood streetcar systems, intercity light rail service, and commuter rail options to exurban regions. Minnesota is one of several Midwestern states considering high-speed rail service, using Chicago as a regional hub.

The Minneapolis–Saint Paul area has been criticized for inadequate public transportation. Its public transportation system is less robust than those of many other cities its size. As the metro area has grown, the roads and highways have been updated and widened, but traffic volume is growing faster than the projects needed to widen them, and public transportation has not expanded commensurate with the population. Minneapolis–Saint Paul is ranked the fifth-worst for congestion growth of similar-sized U.S. metro areas. Additional lines and spurs are needed to upgrade public transportation in the Twin Cities. Construction is underway for Green Line extension connecting downtown Minneapolis to the southwest suburb of Eden Prairie. A northwest LRT (Blue Line extension) along Bottineau Boulevard is being planned from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park. The METRO Orange Line BRT will eventually be extended to Lakeville. The METRO Gold Line BRT is planned to connect downtown Saint Paul to the eastern suburbs within the next few years.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Minneapolis–Saint Paul


text:
Angel Manfredy

Angel Manfredy (born October 30, 1974) is a Puerto Rican-American former professional boxer. Angel Manfredy was a popular fighter in the late 1990s.

Personal
Manfredy, nicknamed El Diablo (The Devil) because of his reckless lifestyle and of his boxing style converted to Christianity after trying to commit suicide in his bed while on cocaine.

He wears a tattoo of the Puerto Rican Flag on his shoulder. Also he has a tattoo of the cross and a naked lady.

Amateur career
Manfredy had an amateur record of 48–8.

Professional career
Manfredy was known for his walk-ins to his matches wearing a latex mask depicting Satan, which he used until his fight with Floyd Mayweather and conversion to Apostolic Pentecostalism.

During his career, Manfredy defeated notable fighters, such as Arturo Gatti (by technical knockout), Ivan Robinson (by knockout), Jorge Páez, and Julio Díaz (by a split decision). He also fought notables Floyd Mayweather Jr., Paul Spadafora and Diego Corrales. A frequent contender, Manfredy was a former WBU Super Featherweight champion, but lost in each of four attempts to capture a World Title. Manfredy currently has a record of 43-8-1 (32 knockouts).

Manfredy lost two of his first five fights, but then won 23 in a row, including wins over former champions such as Calvin Grove, and Jorge Páez, and top contenders such as Wilson Rodriguez, before landing his first major fight against Gatti, in the latter's hometown of Atlantic City. Manfredy, who was an underdog, dominated the fight, knocking Gatti down in the third round, and eventually stopping him on cuts in round 8.

Following this fight, Manfredy fought twice before fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a major HBO television event. Manfredy was stopped in the second round after a barrage of punches. Manfredy called the stoppage premature and stated he was not injured. This was one of Manfredy's first fights in his new Christian personality, and celebrated having Kid Rock appear at the match singing for him during his walk-in.

Following this fight, Manfredy knocked out Ivan Robinson in what had been HBO's Boxing After Dark's highest-rated show of 1999. Manfredy then received another world title shot against Stevie Johnston in 1999, but was thoroughly outboxed. In 2002 Manfredy challenged Paul Spadafora for the International Boxing FederationWorld lightweight title. Spadafora beat Manfredy in a close decision. Manfredy last fought in 2004.

Training and Promoting
In 2017 Manfredy took a position as a trainer and promoter in Crown Point, Indiana in a gym owned by boxer Ricky Carr.

As of 2023 Manfredy has been teaching boxing as a personal trainer. He currently trains his clients at Premier Mixed Martial Arts in Schereville.

title: Angel Manfredy


text:
User:Chuggnutt

chuggnutt.com is my primary web page/online identity. I also have two other blogs that I've been focusing a lot of time on:
 * The Brew Site: Where I write about beer
 * Hack Bend: Where I write about Bend, Oregon

title: User:Chuggnutt


text:
Dana Carvey

Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer.

Carvey is best known for his seven seasons on Saturday Night Live, from 1986 to 1993, which earned him five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Carvey is also known for his film roles in comedies such as Tough Guys (1986), Opportunity Knocks (1990), Trapped in Paradise (1994), and The Master of Disguise (2002), as well as reprising his role of Garth Algar in the SNL spin-off film Wayne's World (1992) and its sequel Wayne's World 2 (1993).

Early life
Carvey was born in Missoula, Montana, the fourth of five (with three older brothers and one younger sister ) born to Billie Dahl, a schoolteacher, and William John (Bud) Carvey,  a high school business teacher. Carvey is the brother of Brad Carvey, the engineer/designer of the Video Toaster. The character Garth Algar is loosely based on Brad. Carvey was raised Lutheran.

In 1957, his family moved to Anderson, California, where his father got a teaching job. When he was three years old, his family moved to San Carlos, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended Tierra Linda Junior High in San Carlos, Carlmont High School in Belmont, California (where he was a member of the Central Coast Section champion cross country team), College of San Mateo in San Mateo, California, and received his bachelor's degree in broadcast communications from San Francisco State University. In 1977, he won the San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition.

Early career
Carvey had a minor role in Halloween II in 1981, and co-starred in One of the Boys in 1982, a short-lived television sitcom that also starred Mickey Rooney, Nathan Lane, and Meg Ryan. In 1984, Carvey had a small role in Rob Reiner's film This Is Spinal Tap, in which he played a mime, with fellow comedian Billy Crystal (who tells him "Mime is money!"). He appeared in the music video for the Greg Kihn song "Lucky" in 1985. He also appeared in the short-lived film-based action television series Blue Thunder. His big break came in 1986, when he co-starred opposite Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster in Tough Guys. As a lifelong Douglas fan, Carvey threw in an affectionate impression of his mentor, while describing a hairy scene they did together on a moving train.

Carvey was a finalist for the hosting role on the Nickelodeon TV game show Double Dare. He ultimately withdrew his name from consideration after he was cast on Saturday Night Live. The job would go to Marc Summers.

Saturday Night Live
In 1986, Carvey became a household name when he joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live. He, along with newcomers Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks, and Victoria Jackson, helped to reverse the show's declining popularity and made SNL "must-see" TV once again. An important part of the show's revival was Carvey's breakout character, the Church Lady, the uptight, smug, and pious host of Church Chat. Carvey said he based the character on women he knew from church while growing up, who would keep track of other churchgoers' attendance. He became so associated with the character that later cast members such as Chris Farley referred to Carvey simply as "The Lady". The Church Lady's discontinuation was mentioned in a sketch which satirized the film Misery with host Roseanne Barr playing the role of Annie Wilkes.

Carvey's other original characters included Garth Algar (from Wayne's World), who was based on his brother; Hans (from "Hans and Franz"); the Grumpy Old Man (from Weekend Update appearances); and Ching Chang, a Chinese poultry store owner. Throughout the election and presidency of George H. W. Bush, he was the designated impersonator of the president, making him the lead actor of the regular political sketches on SNL.

During the 1992 US presidential election campaign, Carvey also did an impression of independent candidate Ross Perot; in a prime-time special before the election, Carvey played both George H. W. Bush and Perot in a three-way debate with Bill Clinton, played by Phil Hartman. As Perot—recorded and timed to give the appearance of interacting with the live Bush and Clinton—Carvey eschewed the show's signature "Live from New York" opening line, telling Bush "Why don't you do it, live-boy?" Carvey left SNL in 1993.

In 1992, Carvey joined Mike Myers in Wayne's World, the film. A sequel, Wayne's World 2, was filmed and released in 1993.

Carvey's SNL work won him an Emmy Award in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. He has a total of six Emmy nominations. Carvey has returned to host SNL four times, in 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2011 in addition to numerous cameo appearances.

After SNL
In 1994, Carvey starred in the film Clean Slate. The following year, Carvey filmed his first HBO stand-up special Critic's Choice. The show featured Carvey doing many of his SNL impersonations, as well as making fun of the premium channel's name, pronouncing it "hobo".

He had to turn down a role in Bad Boys because he felt overwhelmed as a new father.

He reprised many of his SNL characters in 1996 for The Dana Carvey Show, a short-lived prime-time variety show on ABC. The show was most notable for launching Robert Smigel's cartoon "The Ambiguously Gay Duo", as well as the careers of Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.

In 2002, he returned to films in the spy comedy The Master of Disguise. Released a week after former colleague Mike Myers' successful film Austin Powers in Goldmember, most critics compared the movies and panned Carvey's effort. However, the movie did manage about $40 million at the North American box office. In March 2007, review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film as the 18th worst-reviewed movie of the 2000s decade, with an approval rating of 1% based on 103 reviews. Comedian and former Mystery Science Theater 3000 host Michael J. Nelson named the film the third-worst comedy ever made. Carvey did not appear in a film again until 2011's Jack and Jill.

In 2004, he ranked number 90 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.

After The Master of Disguise
Carvey eventually withdrew from the limelight to focus on his family. He later said in an interview that he did not want to be in a career in which his kids would already be grown with him having neglected spending time with them, a major reason for his declining the hosting spot for Late Night that ultimately went to Conan O'Brien. Carvey has said that he generally prefers stand-up comedy to acting in movies and regularly performs lucrative corporate dates, boasting of "a few million-dollar months" during a 2016 Howard Stern interview.

Carvey made an appearance at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, reprising his SNL character Garth Algar with host Mike Myers for a "Wayne's World" sketch. On June 14, 2008, Carvey filmed a second HBO stand-up special, the first in 13 years, entitled Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies.

In 2010, Carvey appeared in the Funny or Die original comedy sketch Presidential Reunion. He played the role of President George H. W. Bush alongside other current and former SNL president impersonators.

In early 2010, Carvey and comedian/writer Spike Feresten created and starred together in Spoof, a sketch comedy pilot for Fox. This included a sketch of a trailer for "Darwin", a mock film in which he played the evolutionary biologist, as well as a spoof of the hit TV series Lost. Both of these sketches can be seen on YouTube. On the animated TV series The Fairly OddParents, Carvey voiced Cosmo Cosma's con artist brother Schnozmo.

On April 29 and 30, 2016, Carvey recorded two live performances at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts for a Netflix special released later in the year. His two sons, Tom and Dex, opened the show for him.

Carvey was a guest on Conan O'Brien's podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, on January 27, 2019. Carvey was subsequently featured in a six episode mini-series of the podcast titled "Deep Dive with Dana Carvey", released in August 2019.

Carvey has regularly done sketch impressions on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert playing, among others, President Joe Biden and former national security advisor John Bolton.

On August 1, 2019, Carvey appeared on the guest panel of the fourth episode of Lights Out with David Spade and also in costume as Tony Montana in a number of later episodes.

In 2021, Carvey began hosting the comedy podcast "Fantastic! with Dana Carvey". The podcast features mini sketches involving Carvey's many celebrity impressions, as well as interview segments with Carvey's family members and other friends from the stand-up comedy world. That same year, Carvey reprised his role of Garth Algar alongside Myers' Wayne Campbell in a series of commercials for Uber Eats. The original spot first ran during Super Bowl LV.

In 2022, Carvey began co-hosting the Fly on the Wall podcast with fellow Saturday Night Live alum David Spade. Guests include former cast members and hosts of SNL.

Personal life
In 1979, Carvey married his childhood sweetheart Leah. During his marriage, while performing at The Other Cafe in San Francisco, Carvey met and became romantically involved with Paula Zwagerman. Subsequently, Leah and Dana divorced in 1980. Dana and Paula became engaged in 1981 and married in 1983. The couple has had two children. The elder son, Dex, died from an accidental drug overdose on November 15, 2023, at the age of 32.

In 1995, Carvey had a home in the San Fernando Valley, and his parents relocated to Murrieta, California, to be near his mother's sister, Shirley Miller.

In 1997, Carvey underwent heart bypass surgery for a blocked coronary artery. The artery was buried deep in myocardium and difficult to find; the surgeon mistakenly performed the bypass on another accessible artery that was unblocked. As a result, Carvey continued to suffer from angina pectoris and successfully sued for $7.5 million in damages, which he donated to charity; he later underwent additional corrective surgery. He told Newsday that, while he was in the hospital for his final angioplasty, Frank Sinatra died in the room adjacent to his. In the late 1990s, Carvey took a break to raise his two sons.

Carvey and his family live in Mill Valley in Marin County, California.

title: Dana Carvey


text:
Matra Marconi Space

Matra Marconi Space (MMS) was a Franco-British aerospace company.

History
Matra Marconi Space was established in 1990 as a joint venture between the space and telecommunication divisions of the Lagardère Group (Matra Espace) and the GEC group (Marconi Space Systems). The merged company was announced in December 1989 and was owned 51% by Matra and 49% by GEC-Marconi. It would have annual sales of £300 million, with £8.7 million in assets from Marconi Space Systems and £10.7 million in assets from Matra Espace.

Claude Goumy, the Managing Director of Matra Espace was the first Managing Director. The first deputy Managing Director was Richard Wignall, the former Managing Director of Marconi Space Systems. The space industry was important to France - almost half the budget of the European Space Agency (ESA) came from the French government.

Acquisitions
In 1991, British Aerospace was discussing with MMS how to merge their space interests, as well as Robert Bosch GmbH and Deutsche Aerospace.

On 19 July 1994, it acquired British Aerospace Space Systems (a subsidiary of BAe Dynamics with 900 workers) for £56 million. On 11 August 1994, it bought Ferranti Satcomms (from administration), which was based in Poynton in Cheshire. Ferranti Satcomms brought satellite ground station, component and subsystem technologies to the group.

In July 1995, GEC bought 45% of shares in the National Remote Sensing Centre for the company. Also in July 1995, the company was looking to link up with Aérospatiale of Toulouse and DASA of Germany to form a Europe-wide space company. The company would (five years later) link up with DASA.

By 1996, the company was turning over more than £1 billion. In the late 1990s, it developed a partnership with the University of Sheffield's Sheffield Centre for Earth Observation Science (SCEOS), which researched interferometry.

In November 1997, it announced that it would close the Filton site (former BAe Dynamics) in August 1999, with the planned transfer of 300 of 400 personnel and staff from Bristol to Stevenage. The Filton site specialised in scientific satellites and their computer software; projects included Ulysses, Hubble Space Telescope Solar Arrays, Giotto, Envisat / Polar Platform, Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO) and the Cluster spacecraft destroyed in the first flight of Ariane 5. Over 380 staff left the Company and, as a result, MMS lost the ESA prime contract for the Rosetta spacecraft. British Aerospace regained an interest in the company when it merged with GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems to form BAE Systems in November 1999.

Astrium
In late 1998, it was discussing a possible merger with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA). In 2000, it was merged with the space division of DASA to form Astrium.

Management

 * Jean-Bernard Lévy (1993-1994)
 * Roger Wood (1994-1996)

Products

 * Skylark (rocket), sounding rocket designed earlier in the 1960s, last launched on 2 May 2005 (its 441st flight - Maser 10) from the Esrange site of the Swedish Space Corporation
 * Radar for the European Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS-1)
 * Altitude and orbit-control system for XMM-Newton, which was launched on 10 December 1999
 * Advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR) on the Envisat
 * Propulsion systems (built at Filton) for four Cluster satellites, which were destroyed on 4 June 1996 on the Ariane 5G, Flight 501
 * Technologies for Artemis satellite

Satellites

 * Ariel 6
 * AfriStar, constructed with Alcatel Space
 * AsiaStar, constructed with Alcatel Space
 * Hélios (Europe's first) spy satellite
 * Hipparcos, constructed with Alenia Spazio
 * Hot Bird 2, the largest satellite made in Europe at the time and launched in November 1996, and other later Hot Bird satellites for Eutelsat
 * Humidity Sounder for Brazil - launched in May 2002
 * Early Inmarsat satellites
 * Nilesat 101 - launched in April 1998, for ERTU
 * Nilesat 102 - launched in August 2000
 * Skynet satellite
 * Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHo) - launched on 2 December 1995
 * Three satellites for 1worldspace, launched in 1999

title: Matra Marconi Space


text:
GEC

GEC or Gec may refer to:

Education

 * Gedo Education Committee, in Somalia
 * Glen Eira College, in Caulfield East, Victoria, Australia
 * Goa Engineering College, India
 * Government Engineering College (disambiguation)
 * Guild for Exceptional Children, in New York City, US

Other uses

 * Aleksandar Gec (1928–2008), Serbian basketball player
 * General Electric Company, a former British engineering conglomerate
 * General entertainment channel, a type of TV or radio channel
 * Global Environment Centre, Malaysia
 * Golden Empire Council, of the Boy Scouts of America
 * Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana, a Catalan-language encyclopedia
 * Greater Egyptian Conference, an athletics conference in Illinois, US
 * Green Electronics Council, US
 * Grêmio Esportivo Catanduvense, a former Brazilian football club
 * Grounding electrode conductor
 * Lufthansa Cargo, a German cargo airline, ICAO code
 * Mount GEC, in Jasper National Park, Canada
 * 100 gecs, a musical group
 * 1000 Gecs, the 2019 debut studio album by 100 gecs
 * 10,000 Gecs, the 2023 second studio album by 100 gecs

title: GEC


text:
British Aerospace Space Systems

British Aerospace Space Systems Ltd was a subsidiary of British Aerospace.

In 1994, it was sold to Matra Marconi Space, which also acquired Ferranti Satcomms at the same time. British Aerospace regained an interest in the company when it merged with GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems to form BAE Systems. In 2000, Matra Marconi was merged with the space division of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) to form Astrium. BAE sold its 25% stake in June 2003 and the company became EADS Astrium.

Projects which BAe Space Systems was involved in include the earliest Eutelsat satellites.

title: British Aerospace Space Systems