University of Minnesota

St. Paul

The University's St. Paul campus is actually located north of the city of St. Paul, surrounded by the suburb of Falcon Heights. The campus is primarily associated with agriculture, and has a suburban setting. However, the University has some farm fields around it. It is by far the quieter campus. It has a grassy mall of its own and can be seen as a bit of a retreat from the busier Minneapolis campus.

Related Topics:
Falcon Heights - Agriculture

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Students have commuted between the two sites for many decades. Early on, a streetcar line between the campuses was established, but it went away along with the rest of the area's trolleys in the 1950s. Buses were used from then on, and a busway was created in 1992 to improve the speed between campuses. Unfortunately, the rate of collisions was fairly high with 32 crashes piling up over the years. So, in 1997, new stop signs were added that would illuminate when a bus, bicycle, or pedestrian was approaching an intersection along the corridor. As of 2002, no additional accidents had been reported.

Related Topics:
Streetcar - 1950s - 1992 - 1997 - Stop sign - 2002

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The St. Paul campus also borders the fairgrounds where the Minnesota State Fair is held every year. Minnesota's Fair is one of the largest in the United States, usually lasting twelve days, from late August through Labor Day in early September. Because of the heavy traffic associated with the Fair, classes do not start on either campus until after it is over (the Fair also makes extensive use of the Minneapolis campus parking).

Related Topics:
Fairgrounds - Minnesota State Fair - Labor Day

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Due to the workings of the U of M phone system, both campuses have 612 area code (Minneapolis) telephone numbers instead of the 651 code that would be expected for the Saint Paul portion.

Related Topics:
Area code - Telephone number

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