THE CITY GRITTY >>

• BEST LOCAL BOY MADE GOOD
  Joe Mauer
  Is there anyone more embarrassingly cornpone in these parts than the face of the local baseball franchise? Let us count the ways: The quasi-muttonchops were so over about 15 years ago. The Kid endorses Land O' Lakes milk by barely muttering the motto "Pour It On." He generally answers any... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL GONE BAD
  Former Minneapolis Fire Chief Bonnie Bleskachek
  Bonnie Bleskachek's commendable rise through the ranks of the Minneapolis Fire Department culminated in June 2004, when she was named the city's first female and first openly gay fire chief. Bleskachek was one of the first female firefighters hired by the city of Minneapolis, and in 1992 was... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY GONE BAD
  William McGuire
  Of the countless appalling statistics about our absurd health care industry, none is more damning than this one: Americans now spend approximately $400 billion a year on health care paperwork, or roughly a thousand dollars per person. Who is to blame for this perverse state of affairs is a... More >>
• LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD
  Diablo Cody
  Let's get the disclosure out of the way right now. Diablo Cody has written more than 50 pieces for City Pages since 2004, and her popular blog, Pussy Ranch, is a part of this newspaper's multimedia empire. These two accomplishments, while definitely noteworthy, would rank at the bottom of Ms.... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET OTHER GAY FAMILIES
  Rainbow Families
  Places where parents meet and connect: Potlucks. Bowling parties. Movie screenings. Annual conferences. Yes, conferences, complete with nametags and packets of conference swag. Rainbow Families does all that, hosting three or four events every month where GLBT parents and prospective parents can... More >>
• BEST USE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS
  Highway 100
  City Pages praising the highway? That prairie-destroying, Hummer-enabling, anti-neighborhood expanse of sameness leading only to more sameness? Yes, this year we've dropped to one knee for a ribbon of asphalt: the newly rehabbed Highway 100. It's resurfaced—so smooth and flat we've... More >>
• BEST ARCHITECTUAL TIME CAPSULE
  St. Paul Union Depot
  Before Minneapolis became the big-time cow town we all know and love today, there was St. Paul: the final glittering cosmopolitan outpost on the edge of a northern wilderness. For proof, we offer the Union Depot. Completed in 1923 and designed by then-hotshot architect Charles Frost (who... More >>
• BEST RESCUED LANDMARK
  Midtown Exchange
  Last year, our major cultural institutions opened their sparkling new facilities, designed by the world's star architects, and dazzled the international press. Meanwhile, a renovated behemoth on Lake Street in the heart of Minneapolis revitalized an urban neighborhood with a stunning array of... More >>
• BEST ARCHITECTURAL RENOVATION OF AN OLD BUILDING
  The Chambers Hotel
  A generation ago, the stretch of Hennepin Avenue through downtown Minneapolis was notorious. Seedy bars and adult businesses drew a regular stream of hustlers, drunks, and thieves. One particular harrowing night at a cafe in the area prompted Tom Waits to write a song, "9th and Hennepin," where... More >>
• BEST BOONDOGGLE
  Corn ethanol
  In case you haven't caught a whiff of the stink from one of those brewery/ refineries, Minnesota's ethanol industry is booming. Its unprecedented growth has slowed the last couple of years, thanks mainly to lower gasoline prices and higher construction costs. But with four more ethanol plants in... More >>
• BEST CAREER MOVE
  Keith Ellison's run for Congress
  After longtime Minneapolis Congressman Martin Sabo unexpectedly decided to call it quits last spring, he set off a wild scrum among ambitious DFLers. At the time, Ellison—an attorney in private practice and a second-term state legislator from the north side of Minneapolis—seemed... More >>
• BEST VICTIM
  Tammy Lee
  Poor Tammy. In her hopeless bid to replace retiring Congressman Martin Sabo, some people had the unmitigated gall to make fun of her. The most egregious offense, at least in the eyes of Lee and her supporters, was a parody of the Independence Party candidate's website. "After all, she's... More >>
• BEST CHARITY
  American Refugee Committee
  When you hear the phrase "American Refugee Committee," what do you picture? Sally Struthers teaching a big-eyed, bony-kneed child? Jimmy Carter reading poetry off the back of a white U.N. Jeep? Push those images aside, if you will. Because when you give your money to this Minneapolis-based... More >>
• BEST HELLRAISER OR ACTIVIST GROUP
  AlliantACTION
  Every Wednesday at 7:00 a.m.—come rain, snow, bitter cold, or summer heat—members of Veterans for Peace and Women Against Military Madness, and many other peace activists, gather outside the front entrance of the Alliant TechSystems corporate headquarters in Edina. The mission is to... More >>
• BEST FESTIVAL
  Grand Old Day
  Much like the dew on the new blossom marks the beginning of spring, for many Minnesotans, Grand Old Day marks the start of summer. Or at least the summer festival season. It is, in fact, the largest one-day festival in the Midwest, as approximately 225,000 hearty souls walked the 30 blocks of... More >>
• BEST LOCALLY GENERATED BLOG (RIGHT-WING)
  Faith Mouse
  Most political blogs have one common goal, and that's to beat the reader about the head and shoulders with the strident opinions of the author. Be it through truthiness or hyperbole, these sites deliver the red meat their followers demand, while excoriating the opposition for every infraction,... More >>
• BEST LOCALLY GENERATED BLOG (LEFT-WING)
  The Cucking Stool
  In a concerted effort by us to appear fair and balanced, it's only right that the best local left-wing blog, like its counterpart Faith Mouse, should feature an animal as protagonist. Written by an anthropomorphized Dalmatian from Edina named Spot, and MNObserver, a lawyer and mother from St.... More >>
• BEST LOCALLY GENERATED WEBSITE
  Bus Tales
  St. Paul web designer Rett Martin spends each workday morning and evening riding the No. 50 bus between the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul and his job at Capella University in downtown Minneapolis. When Martin would share interesting tales of his travels with his friends, they would offer... More >>
• BEST MAYOR
  Chris Coleman
  Count us among the cynics when it came to Chris Coleman's 2005 mayoral campaign. The former St. Paul City Council member, renowned for his moderation and ambition during the six years he served on that body, suddenly emerged as a beacon of liberalism. With voter ire at then-Mayor Randy Kelly... More >>
• BEST POLITICIAN
  Becky Lourey
  Granted, Lourey's two bids for governor are textbook examples of how not to get elected to higher office. To her credit, the now retired state senator from Kerrick has always been more interested in good policy than easy politics. You know how no one ever says good fish tastes "fishy"? It's kind... More >>
• BEST GADFLY
  Tom Emmer
  Tom Emmer wasted no time in making a name for himself at the state Capitol when he first took office in 2005. Upon joining the Legislature, he immediately drew headlines by introducing legislation that would allow for chemical castration of sex offenders. He then attempted to strip the Minnesota... More >>
• BEST PICKUP SPOT FOR PARENTS
  Casper & Runyon's Nook
  Every neighborhood bar has its crowd. At the Nook, it's burgers and fries for college kids and their adult, mortgage-laden neighbors. Except on Sundays. Sundays are, after all, "Nookster" nights, meaning not only do kids eat free, but Casper & Runyon's Nook becomes the pickup scene of the... More >>
• BEST PLACE FOR A FIRST DATE
  The roof of the Tate Laboratory of Physics
  There are competing schools of thought about the best place for a first date. The dim light/strong drink theorists typically favor supper clubs. Hearty-partiers prefer bars. Tree huggers like nature hikes. They all have it wrong. Face facts: Statistically, there is a damn good chance a first... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO BE SEEN WITH YOUR MOTORCYCLE
  Dulono's Pizza
  Come on, admit it. You like to ride but you also like to park and stand next to your bike, hoping the "cool" is dripping off you like sweat in the summer, eyeing members of the opposite sex or that wicked new custom. For better or worse, the place to do this is the "First Thursday" gathering at... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE MEN (STRAIGHT)
  Spyhouse
  When they're not out scouring the bars for attractive women, many single guys spend their weeknights at a local independent coffee shop. One of the more popular hideouts is Spyhouse, an Eat Street cafe that regularly serves up oodles of available men. They can be found curled up in red leather... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE WOMEN (LESBIAN)
  Twilight
  Named for the two times of day when the sky and earth are illuminated by a sun hidden below the horizon, Twilight is a monthly lesbian dance and cocktail night about the mysterious beauty of in-between—or how to shine out of your hiding place. With no permanent residence, the event has... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE MEN (GAY)
  19 BAR
  This dark, unassuming Loring Park watering hole has been around since 1953, purportedly making it the oldest gay bar in the Twin Cities. The 19, however, defies all gay stereotypes. The bleary environs boast the finest pool tables in town, dartboards, pull tabs, and a jukebox with a diva... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE WOMEN (STRAIGHT)
  Twins games
  With the exceptions of the Minnesota Lynx and Gopher women's basketball, local sports franchises don't draw significant female crowds, but that's exactly what happens during those magical summer nights at the old ball game. And no wonder, just look at the beefcake on the field: Johan Santana?... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE-WATCH
  Minnehaha Park on a warm spring day
  It's true that bars and nightclubs, just after closing time, can present some very entertaining spectacles. On the other hand, a parade of drunken sad sacks, stumbling into the night on their way to another DWI or just off to their sorry hovels, where they will collapse on their sofas, too drunk... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO TAKE OUT-OF-TOWN GUESTS
  Mill Ruins Park
  The ruined remains of the world's greatest flour empire may not stack up to, say, the Roman Colosseum or the Khmer temples of Angkor Wat. But the excavated tunnels, tailraces, trestles, and other 19th-century stone relics of Mill Ruins Park are still a sight to behold, more so than any other... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC RESTROOM
  The facilities at Lock and Dam 1
  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may not have been able to prevent New Orleans from flooding, but you've got to give the Corps credit for one thing: It knows how to maintain a restroom. On the trip along West River Parkway from downtown Minneapolis to Lock and Dam 1, comfort stations are in... More >>
• BEST URINALS
  Stasiu's
  Men, have you ever peed into something that was not meant to be peed into? Of course you have. Gatorade bottles. Coffee cans. We have even heard tales involving cat boxes. Now, there is no shame in going when you really need to go, but we believe that a good leak merits a certain level of... More >>
• BEST SCANDAL
  Norm Coleman Sr.'s special delivery
  What's this nation coming to when the unbridled passions of an 81-year-old man are scorned and not celebrated? St. Paul Police were called to Red's Savoy Inn and Pizza on East Seventh Street last July to find Norman B. Coleman Sr., the father of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, canoodling with... More >>
• BEST VILLAIN
  Kimanie Carter
  Thanks to the polarized nature of these times, there are few matters of morality about which we all agree. Precious few. For this reason (and no other), we owe a debt to 20-year-old Kimanie Carter of St. Paul. Carter's name may not ring a bell, but his deed probably does. Remember last summer... More >>
• BEST STATE FAIR RIDE
  The Space Tower
  First things first. The Space Tower is not really a tower—it's less a proper building than a giant metal erection—and it doesn't take you into space. Not even remotely close to space. Roughly speaking, space starts at around 100 km above the Earth's surface; the Space Tower is 340... More >>
• BEST WEEKEND GETAWAY
  Trempealeau, Wisconsin
  The drive to Trempealeau, along Wisconsin's Great River Road, is one of the most stunning in the area. Indeed, it is considerably more scenic than the parallel route on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi—further evidence that Wisconsin almost always edges Minnesota in a beauty contest.... More >>
• BEST STATE FAIR FOOD
  Mac 'n' Cheese on a Stick
  It's easy to just hit up the obvious favorites when eating your way through the State Fair each year: the pronto pups, the pickles-on-a-stick, the sweet corn, the miscellaneous fried potato products, and of course, that golden cradle of fat known as the cheese curd. But sometimes the best food... More >>
• BEST LIBRARY
  St. Paul Central Library
  It's a sad state of affairs that this seems unusual, but: an urban library that's open seven days a week! Actually, that's true of a couple of St. Paul neighborhood branches too, and the downtown location does have limited evening hours—just Mondays till 8:00—but that seems to fit... More >>
• BEST FARMERS' MARKET
  St. Paul Farmers' Market
  During the summer, this place is a bounteous paradise of vegetables, but the real clincher that won it the category is this: year-round local bacon. That's right, even in deepest winter, intrepid area growers are out here from 9:00 to noon on Saturdays selling their wares, which in the frozen... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO SMOKE INDOORS
  Mainstreet Bar and Grill
  There are some nights when a tap beer and a cig are the salve needed for a hard day's hustle, but smoking bans in Minneapolis and St. Paul make that a challenge to accomplish with any amount of convenience. So Hennepin County commissioners gave tobacco enthusiasts a gift last year when they... More >>