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. 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. As of the 2020 census the population was 1,281,565. It is the most populous county in Minnesota and the 32nd-most populous county in the United States; more than one in five Minnesotans live in Hennepin County. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. Hennepin County is included in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The center of population of Minnesota is in Hennepin County, in the city of Minneapolis.
Anoka County is the fourth-most-populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 363,887. The county seat and namesake of the county is the city of Anoka, which is derived from the Dakota word anokatanhan meaning "on both sides," referring to its location on the banks of the Rum River. The largest city in the county is the city of Blaine, the thirteenth-largest city in Minnesota and the eighth-largest Twin Cities suburb.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a major metropolitan area built around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in east central Minnesota. The area is commonly known as the Twin Cities after its two largest cities, Minneapolis, the most populous city in the state and home of the largest university in the state, and Saint Paul, the state capital, which directly borders Minneapolis to the east. It is an example of twin cities in the sense of geographical proximity. Minnesotans often refer to the two together simply as "the Cities".
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.
Brooklyn Park is the sixth largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, upstream from downtown Minneapolis in northern Hennepin County. Brooklyn Park is a northwest suburb of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Its population was 86,478 at the 2020 census.
Champlin is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,089 at the 2010 census. Champlin is a northern suburb of Minneapolis.
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 or Minnesota State System, previously branded as MnSCU.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system or Minnesota State System, previously branded as MnSCU, comprises 30 state colleges and 7 state universities with 54 campuses throughout Minnesota. The system is the largest higher education system in Minnesota and the fourth largest in the United States, educating more than 375,000 students annually. It is governed by a 15-member board of trustees appointed by the governor, which has broad authority to run the system. The Minnesota State system office is located in the Wells Fargo Place building in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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 the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metro 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 assigned to the area by the National Park Service. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is classified as one of four national rivers in the United States, and despite its name it 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 Community and Technical 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.
Gerald F. "Jerry" Newton is a Minnesota politician and member of the Minnesota State Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represents District 37, which includes portions of Anoka County in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area. He is also a former grocery store owner, college professor, and career soldier.
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.
