The Metro Area
The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are seperated by about 10 miles along the Mississippi river, which also flows through the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus. Both cities straddle the Mississippi, which flows almost due east between them. The metropolitan area around the twin cities has about 2.3 million residents. Besides the river, about 200 of the state's over 10 thousand lakes are located in the metro area as well as about 150 parks. The twin cities is a pleasant place to live with affordable housing, one of the shortest average commute times for a major metro area in the country and many interesting things to see and do. The twin cities area is consistently rated as one of the best places to live in the country. Minneapolis is known as a center for finance, industry, trade, and transporation for the Upper Midwest and is home to many Fortune 500 companies. Winter sports are a major attraction but summer activities such as sailing and other water sports are also very popular. Minnesota has the largest number of boats per capita in the nation.
Travel
The Twin Cities is served by the Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport (MSP). This airport is the home of Northwest Airlines and thus can be reached directly from most cities that Northwest serves. American Airlines and United Airlines service is also available but this typically involves a plane change in Chicago. TWA services the twin cities from their hub in St. Louis. USAir and Delta also have a few flights per day. Local information is available from the Metropolitan Council which includes public transportation information such as bus schedules. Visitor Information is available for the metro area and for the U of M Campus. The Twin Cities Campus of the University of Minnesota is just across the Mississippi river and to the east of downtown Minneapolis.
Directions to the AEM
Department
The AEM Department is housed in Akerman Hall, which is just north on Union St. off of Washington Ave. To get to Akerman Hall from the MSP airport, follow the signs to downtown Minneapolis, which is west and north of the airport. Once you are on I-35W heading north towards downtown Minneapolis, stay on I-35W as you cross through the speghetti junction interchange with I-94. The next exit after the I-94 commons is MN-122. Follow MN-122 (which turns into Washington Ave.) to the U of M east bank campus. The second stop light after you cross the Mississippi river on the covered bridge, is Union St. However, because it is a one-way you cannot turn onto it. Continue on to the next stop light at Harvard Ave and turn left. You will now circle the Washington Ave. parking ramp, which is the closest public parking to Akerman Hall. To enter the parking ramp continue three-quarters of the way around the parking ramp until you are back on Union St. Akerman Hall is the building directly to the North of the relatively new Electrical Engineering-Computer Science building that is on the corner of Washington Ave. and Union St. The Washington Ave. parking ramp also provides parking for the Radisson MetroDome Hotel, which is just east of the ramp on Washington Ave. A sketch showing the area between the airport and Akerman Hall and a campus map showing Akerman Hall are available.
Maps for the rest of the Twin Cities Campus are available.
Foreign Visitors
Foreign visitors should contact the International Student and Scholar Services for information regarding visas and other regulations. You may contact the International Student and Scholar Service at
190 Hubert H. Humprey Center 301-19th Ave. S. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612) 626-7100 or fax (612) 626-7361
Last Modified: 2007-08-28 at 12:36:58 -- this is in International Standard Date and Time Notation