Downtown

I really enjoyed this book. Being a resident of the Twin Cities for virtually my entire life (over 40 years) I could relate to most of the places mentioned in the book. The book itself is actually a fine collection of stories from people that actually lived in Minneapolis and St. Paul from the late 1800's thru the mid 1900's. These stories are interspersed with comments and background from the author/editor, who does a marvelous job of tying them all together. More than just a dry, factual history of the area, it brings alive what daily life was like for residents back then, and how it changed over the decades with the introduction of the car, movies, and even bathtubs. From the heydays of the 1890's to the Urban Renewal days of the 1950's, it made me aware of how much we've lost from those days, how far we've come over the years, and the wrong turns and detours we've made along the way.