Minnesota

Over half of Minnesota’s population, about 2.9 million people, live in the southeastern metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The Twin Cities, with about 700,000 people, are surrounded by sprawling suburbs, often having over 50,000 people apiece. As for many other metro areas in this region, Kurtz et al. (2020) find that a foodshed of between 500 and 1000 km radius is required to feed this area now, but that local supply would be possible with a diet lighter on meat. Still, it’s already larger than desirable for a metro area, and known for police brutality. If you insist on living in a megalopolis, this might be better than most; otherwise, look elsewhere.

 

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Kentucky

Kentucky is very rural, except for the metro areas of Louisville on the northwestern border (well over a million people) and the Lexington-Frankfort-Fayette area (well over half a million). There are many tiny unincorporated communities and “historically black hamlets.” Most counties are “dry” (still prohibiting alcohol sales) or “moist” (permitting sales only at certain businesses in certain cities, typically businesses owned by the rich or corporations, e.g., only restaurants with 100 seats or more). There are some local intercity bus services, but no central source of information about service. Only Maysville, South Portsmouth and Ashland in the north and the tiny Fulton in the southwest have Amtrak stops, though thruway service from several towns is available. Even Greyhound service is rather meager, with only 15 stops now listed in the state, including Berea.

 

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