Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,352, making it the second-most populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat and largest city is Saint Paul, the state capital and the twin city of Minneapolis. The county was founded in 1849 and is named for Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of the Minnesota Territory.
Hennepin County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named for the 17th-century explorer Louis Hennepin. It extends from Minneapolis to the suburbs and outlying cities in the western part of the county. Its natural areas are covered by extensive woods, hills, and lakes. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565. It is Minnesota's most populous county and the 34th-most populous county in the U.S.; more than one in five Minnesotans live in Hennepin County. It is included in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul–Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Anoka County is the fourth-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, its population was 363,887. The county seat and namesake of the county is the city of Anoka, which is derived from the Dakota word anoka meaning "on both sides", referring to its location on both banks of the Rum River. The largest city in the county is Blaine, the tenth-largest city in Minnesota and the sixth-largest Twin Cities suburb.
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 simply as "The Cities". The area is Minnesota's economic, cultural, and political center.
Anoka is a city in and the county seat of Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 17,142 at the 2010 census. Anoka is the "Halloween Capital of the World" because it hosted one of the first Halloween parades in 1920. It continues to celebrate the holiday each year with several parades. Anoka is a northern suburb of the Twin Cities. U.S. Highways 10 / 169 and State Highway 47 are three of Anoka's main routes, and it has a station on the Northstar Commuter Rail line to Minneapolis.
Champlin is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,919 at the 2020 census. Champlin is a northern suburb of Minneapolis.
Coon Rapids is a northern suburb of Minneapolis, and is the second-largest city by population in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 63,599 at the 2020 census, making it the fifteenth largest city in Minnesota and the seventh largest Twin Cities suburb.
North Hennepin Community College (NHCC) is a public community college in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. It was founded in 1966 and is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
Manomin County was a county in Minnesota that existed separately for 13 years from 1857 to 1869. The land was originally split off from Ramsey County. When it was formed, it was the smallest county in the United States at roughly 16 square miles. It comprised the Fridley Township, named for Minnesota legislator Abram M. Fridley. Abram Fridley was the chairman of the county commissioners during the lifetime of the county. The population in 1860 was 136. It was merged into Anoka County in 1869. This land area currently makes up the unusual southward extension of Anoka County between Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The Manomin County Park in Fridley, at the confluence of Rice Creek and the Mississippi River remains near the former Manomin town site.
The Go-To card is a contactless smart card used to pay fares for bus, light rail, and commuter rail lines operated by Metro Transit and other transit agencies in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. The system has significantly sped up boardings on area buses while alleviating wear and tear on existing ticket machines and fare boxes. The old magnetic strip reading machines were weather sensitive and could not be placed out in the elements like at the Hiawatha Line light rail stations.
University Avenue is a street that runs through both Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It begins near the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul and extends westward into neighboring Minneapolis, where it passes the University of Minnesota, and then turns north to pass through several suburbs before its main portion ends in Blaine, Minnesota, although there are stretches of road designated as University Avenue that are north of the Blaine terminus, the final stretch ending near Andree, Minnesota. For many years, the road carried U.S. Highway 12 and U.S. Highway 52, and University Avenue is still a significant thoroughfare in the area.
Minnesota State Highway 47 is a 126.872-mile-long (204.181 km) highway in east–central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with Central Avenue in Minneapolis and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with U.S. Highway 169 in Aitkin.
The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a 72-mile (116 km) and 54,000-acre (22,000 ha) protected corridor along the Mississippi River through Minneapolis–Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota, from the cities of Dayton and Ramsey to just downstream of Hastings. This stretch of the upper Mississippi River includes natural, historical, recreational, cultural, scenic, scientific, and economic resources of national significance. This area is the only national park site dedicated exclusively to the Mississippi River. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is sometimes abbreviated as MNRRA or MISS, the four-letter code the National Park Service assigned to the area. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is classified as one of four national rivers in the United States, and despite its name is technically not one of the 40 national recreation areas.
Anoka-Ramsey Community College is a public community college in Cambridge and Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Founded in 1965, the college annually serves more than 12,500 students as they pursue associate degrees that transfer as the first two years of a bachelor's degree, as well as certificate programs. Anoka-Ramsey Community College is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. The college also focuses on providing professional development and continuing education programs for working adults. Over 5,570 registrants enroll in these courses each year.
Minneapolis College is a public community college in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It has one of the most diverse student populations in the state and enrolls nearly 11,100 credit students annually. Minneapolis College is part of Minnesota State, which offers two-year associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas.
The Anoka-Hennepin School District 11 is a school district in Minnesota, northwest of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The district serves 13 communities: All of Anoka, Champlin and Coon Rapids, and parts of Andover, Blaine, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Dayton, Fridley, Ham Lake, Nowthen, Oak Grove and Ramsey. The district's name refers to its geographic span over two counties: it covers the southern portion of Anoka County and the northeast part of Hennepin County. The district was formed in 1920 and in 1952 after dozens of small rural school districts voted to consolidate.
The Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) was a Joint Powers Board established in March 2008 which will control an estimated $100 million annually in transit funds for the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. The board was responsible for granting the funds under its control to major transit infrastructure projects around the Twin Cities. In 2016-2017 a series of events led to the formal vote by members of the CTIB to dissolve the board effective September, 2017. Individual counties then developed county level transit taxes to replace funding streams that had been allocated by the CTIB.
Anoka Technical College is a public two-year technical college in Anoka, Minnesota, founded in 1967. The school is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
Barbara J. Goodwin is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she represented District 41, which included portions of Anoka, Hennepin, and Ramsey counties in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area.
