What’s in, what’s out in Minnesota for 2025

What a year.

No doubt 2024 brought its fair share of highlights, from the Minnesota Frost winning the inaugural PWHL championship to the outsized attention the state got as a result of its governor landing on the presidential ticket. But there were also some customs and happenings we’d like to leave in the rearview.

That’s why we tapped four Minnesota Star Tribune writers to offer a take on what’s in and what’s out in Minnesota in 2025:

As national election season ends, local election season begins. All 13 city council seats and the mayor’s office will be on the ballot for Minneapolis voters in 2025. Several candidates have already announced they will be running for mayor. Get informed early and stay informed so you aren’t scrambling to read candidate bios in the booth come November.

All of us transplants are guilty of talking ad nauseam about cultural differences in our relatively new home state. But it is not doing you any good if you aren’t going to do anything to find community.

There’s also a fair chance that it’s just hard to make friends in adulthood, anywhere.

Say yes more than you say no to plans in 2025. Join a club or take a community education class. Turn an internet friendship into an IRL friendship. Don’t be afraid to host. If your friends were expecting restaurant vibes, you guys would just go to a restaurant!

— Zoë Jackson, Today Desk reporter

What is “Skibidi Ohio rizz” besides a symptom of generational brain rot? Parents, when your kids spew this gibberish, quiet ‘em down with an “Uffda Minnesota You Betcha.” That or serve lutefisk for supper.

It may not look that way, what with 25-plus vacant buildings surrounding Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue’s crossing in south Minneapolis. But once you’ve bottomed out, the only place to go is up. (And frankly, that hot tub dangling over Lake Street was probably a sign Uptown’s party scene was due for a reboot.)

Before civil unrest damaged storefronts and construction annihilated roadways, Uptown leaned heavily on shopping and nightlife. Now several new concepts — a roller rink and LGBTQ+ center, for starters — have given the formerly image-conscious neighborhood a more welcoming, community-oriented vibe.

We’re not saying you should be a jerk. (Or an a**, as ANT might say). But rather than settle for polite agreeability (sometimes tinged with passive-aggressiveness), our state should strive for Minnesota Kind, a more generous, empathetic approach to how we treat others.

— Rachel Hutton, features reporter

When’s the last time you saw a Minnesota men’s pro sports franchise bring home a national championship? Meanwhile, the Minnesota Frost won the inaugural PWHL title the same year the Lynx made it to the WNBA Finals.

I may be shooting myself in the foot here — after all, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed taking in women’s basketball games for about $25 per ticket — but maybe it’s time we all hop on these winning bandwagons.

It’s all too common to ride past the Minneapolis Convention Center and find yourself forced into merging with car traffic because some doofus parked in the bike lane. I’ve had to hop onto the sidewalk to avoid vehicles barreling toward me in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

I know our faithful readers are more considerate than this, so tell all your friends to quit putting cyclists in danger.

The Twin Cities got plowable snow just before Christmas and the forecast is looking characteristically chilly for a Minnesota winter.

After 2024 brought a dearth of snowfall, it would be nice if Mother Nature gifted us the kind of weather that makes it possible to hold cross-country skiing classes and tournaments with natural snow or to have the Luminary Loppet take place entirely atop lake ice.

The extensive construction in Uptown made the neighborhood difficult to navigate for much of this year. And local businesses bore a heavy burden as the $34 million project wore on and detour-ridden, ripped up streets became a fact of life.

The resulting infrastructure upgrades are gradually coming online and have made bicycling down W. Lake Street a more pleasant experience. But to whoever needs to hear this at the city of Minneapolis: One street at a time from now on, please.

This one’s personal. I’ve resisted Tater Tot hot dish for too long, largely as a response to the baffling array of casserole recipes I’ve heard that call for cans and cans of cream of mushroom soup.

But my intense infatuation with the Minnesota State Fair led this Pacific Northwesterner down a more adventurous culinary path. Now, I’m ready to explore. I just tried Top the Tater for the first time. What’s next?

— Eder Campuzano, Today Desk reporter and Essential Minnesota lead writer

We came into 2024 thinking it would be a year of transition for the Vikings as they evaluated rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy and created future salary cap space. Most experts thought they would win seven or eight games but that the future was bright.

The future still looks good, but there’s no time like the present. The Vikings have made believers out of even the most jaded fans this season as they vaulted into legitimate Super Bowl contention.

On the flip side, the Wolves’ run to the Western Conference finals feels like forever ago. The Karl-Anthony Towns trade right before training camp hurt both the vibe and the Wolves’ stature in the short-term.

Fans of this franchise are conditioned to look into the future, and things could get good again with another roster move or two.

Fans spent the last few years complaining (rightfully so) as the Twins disappeared permanently from monthly streaming subscription services and temporarily from cable TV.

In 2025, Twins games will be distributed by Major League Baseball. In addition to being available on cable/satellite for traditional subscribers, games will also be available as a stand-alone streaming package expected to cost about $20 per month.

Fans can’t complain about access. But they can still complain about the on-field product.

We spent a good portion of 2024 wondering if the Lynx could keep winning, and they did right up until a controversial final sequence in the deciding game of a thrilling WNBA Finals.

Napheesa Collier is a superstar. Her supporting cast is a great fit. The Lynx should be good again (and again and again).

— Michael Rand, sports reporter and Daily Delivery host