This afternoon I just went to see a new opera that premiered yesterday at the Minnesota Opera Company (The Manchurian Candidate). I hardly feel deprived living in Minneapolis with the The Minnesota Orchestra, The Minnesota Opera, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Schubert Club, and a dozen other ensembles I'm forgetting. And that's just classical music, which is what I'm interested in.
If you're into live theater there's a dozen or more shows going at any one time. I'm sure there's a visual arts scene of which I'm happily unaware, jazz performances, dozens of small clubs, and more.
There's more than enough culture to fill my available time and interest. Living in NYC, I'm not sure I'd go see all that much more of it. Yes, I'd be spoiled for choices (and I miss the American Composers Orchestra) but I'm not really suffering in Minneapolis.
Right, if your tastes line up with mainstream cultural production, you're probably all set wherever you live. I happen to find it odd that people are interested in recapitulating the same music from the 18th and 19th century over and over again irrespective of what happened in music in the past 100 years (from serial music to minimalism, spectralism, post-minimalism, Wandelweiser, whatever, not to mention electronic music), but it is what it is. Not that no contemporary music happens in smaller cities – I know of a lot of great stuff in St. Louis and Minneapolis especially – but it usually scales with the size and prestige of the local universities and doesn't extend much past there. If your interests are more specific, you might get stuck with a few events per year.
That's actually the most important thing from my perspective. Somebody called me a hipster, but what I love about having access to a huge array of contemporary art, music, etc. is that it gives me the opportunity to see a lot and really understand what it is that moves me and that I can express myself through. As I learn more, my tastes become more specific and "obscure." On the flip side, knowing more also helps me appreciate more different things on a new level.
Actually, I only like 20th century music or newer for the most part. I think our local orchestras and chamber ensembles do a pretty good job of including new music. There are also new music ensembles here. More would be good for my tastes, but it's enough to satisfy my interests. I just don't think I'd go to a new music concert every week even if I did live in NYC.
Did you miss the part of my comment where I mentioned seeing a new opera commissioned by the Minnesota Opera that premiered this past Sunday?
> if your tastes line up with mainstream cultural production, you're probably all set wherever you live.
Up to a point, and then you're selling Cleveland short. The points on Broadway and the Orchestra both bear repeating - literally world-class in both regards, at half (or less!) the ticket price. On the hipster/contemporary side of things, I was spoiled for choice as a student in Cleveland - fantastic craft beer (I prefer it over most on the West Coast), concert venues like the Grog Shop[0] that rival most places in Seattle, and Ohio City (Cleveland suburb) is nigh indistinguishable from any other yuppie district over here (well, until you look at the prices).
In fact, the only thing that sticks out as missing is the lack of good clubs and an LGBT district, although Cleveland did just host the Gay Games last year. I'll echo other comments here - if someone offered me a 5% pay cut to move to Cleveland, I'd actually give it some thought.
Minneapolis also has an incredible local music scene (greatly bolstered by The Current[0] and Radio K[1]). If it weren't for the weather, Minneapolis would be a lot higher on city "tier" lists.
I'm from the Minnesota. I lived in Minneapolis from age 18 to very recently. I played in bands, my friends played it bands, etc. But let me tell you, after 10 years in that town you realize it really is very small.
@msutherl is completely right. If you have any creative bent outside of pop culture even a town the size of Minneapolis does not really provide the kind of creative stimulation you need. The kind of diversity and culture mixing that comes from a metropolis like NYC is on a whole other level entirely.
(By the way, the current is a crap radio station and they haven't played anything other than indie top 40 for years. Radio-K is cool, but every town with a university has a college radio station </hipster>)
If you're into live theater there's a dozen or more shows going at any one time. I'm sure there's a visual arts scene of which I'm happily unaware, jazz performances, dozens of small clubs, and more.
There's more than enough culture to fill my available time and interest. Living in NYC, I'm not sure I'd go see all that much more of it. Yes, I'd be spoiled for choices (and I miss the American Composers Orchestra) but I'm not really suffering in Minneapolis.