Alexandria featured in Minnesota Monthly as Best MN Town!

By Tara Bitzan, Executive Director, Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce

Last fall, our community was notified that Alexandria was named “Best Minnesota Town” by Minnesota Monthly magazine. Of course, we already knew our community was great, but this honor gave us the opportunity to tell others about all the special things that make Alexandria “the ultimate destination to live, work, play and prosper.”

​Along with the honor came a 12-page feature in Minnesota Monthly. Journalist Erik Tormoen traveled to Alexandria to find out first-hand what made us stand out from other communities. His feature article was just released in the May/June issue. While one can easily complain that the timing of this “stinks” and that Alexandria lost the spotlight to the Coronavirus, we at the Chamber are sticking with our 2020 theme of “Be Positive, Do Positive.” We are very proud of this community, and we are thrilled about all the great things going on here that were spotlighted in the article.

Tormoen wrote about our highly ranked health care and education systems, our dining and beverage options that are anything but small town, our abundant outdoor recreational opportunities, and the incredible diversity of business and industry in our area.
Our many lakes and our tourism industry are a focus in the article, to which Tormoen writes: [Alexandria is] “where Minnesota really earns that friendly, outdoorsy reputation.”

​Tormoen was in the process of writing this article in February when Alexandria experienced a devastating fire that destroyed some of our historic downtown buildings, displacing some businesses and residents. He talks about that in the article, commenting on the collaborative spirit and helping hands attitude of the people of Alexandria, which is one of the main things that makes our community stand out.

​The lead-in to the article states: “Beauty, progress and resilience make Alexandria Minnesota Monthly’s Best Minnesota Town.” We couldn’t agree more! 

The May/June issue of Minnesota Monthly is available on these local newsstands:
Elden’s Fresh Foods & Downtown Floral
Alexandria Cub Foods
Target
Walmart Supercenter
Walgreens