Minnesota’s Twin Cities West Metro Area to Rebrand Itself “Westopolis”

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area is an area that includes not only the two main cities, but of suburb and outer ring communities.

For us in Greater Minnesota -- we just call it "The Cities."

And that's kind of the problem for a number of Twin Cities suburbs who have been trying to have their own identify in the shadow of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Or by being lumped in with "all the rest" of the 'burbs.

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Discover St. Louis Park -- the folks that market for St. Louis Park and Golden Valley -- has been working on this very problem for a while and they think they've come up with a solution.

Westopolis.

That's the name they're using to rebrand the west metro area. In fact, the destination-marketing organization (DMO) is changing its name to "Westopolis" which they call "an official merger of west of Minneapolis."

Why?

Discover St. Louis Park/Westopolis President and CEO Becky Bakken told the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal the rebranding gives them the opportunity to market and promote this as a place."

"We believe that this name gives us an edge."

But, "Westopolis"?

Bakken says it shows the proximity of SLP/Golden Valley to Minneapolis and gives it a more cosmopolitan vibe.

(It's also the name of a city in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" universe. So that may be an issue in getting first page search engine results. But we digress...)

But the name has some marketing merit.

It places it in the west metro west of Minneapolis and gives that area a special name that's unique and sort of hip and it incorporates an "area" -- not just a single city.

"Hey, I'm going to hit a few stores in Westopolis this weekend..."

It sounds fancy and it says where you're going. Let's see if people run with it.

The rebrand is expected to roll-out in early October.

(H/T -- Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal - paywall)