St. Cloud Finalist in Best Minnesota Town Voting

ST. CLOUD -- Do you love living in St. Cloud? If so you can cast your vote to help give St. Cloud the title of Best Minnesota Town.

Minnesota Monthly has chosen St. Cloud as one of the Top 10 finalists for the best city in the state.

The criteria for the contest included scenic beauty, great access to nature, rich history, a charming downtown, and lively arts and culture scenes.

Spokesman Arthur Morrissey says they were blown away by how the finalists portrayed their town.

"Some of the things that stood out were how they were describing obstacles they were facing and how they were solving them. Or in some way they were partnering as a community of all different backgrounds to do a special project."

You can vote up to 10 times per day until Midnight on October 13th. From there, the votes, along with a group of judges, will narrow the field to five.

The 10 finalists include:

1. Austin
2. Bemidji
3. Duluth
4. Grand Marias
5. Hopkins
6. New Ulm
7. Owatonna
8. St. Cloud
9. Waconia
10. Walker

Morrissey says they were shocked in the amount of votes they received in the first few hours of voting Monday.

"The towns including St. Cloud that have been thoughtful in spreading the word, and how passionate people have been. We've had over 12,000 votes in the first six hours of voting."

The winner will be showcased in a multi-page editorial feature, receive a media campaign valued at over $50,000, and have a party thrown in their honor thrown in their town.

Over 30 towns were nominated for the contest. A winner will be chosen on November 30th.