It occurred to me that I might not have explained that New Ulm, and Minnesota, is economically prosperous. Hence why "graffiti" is in a designated park, why we are getting a gazillion dollars worth of road and bridge updates, why we even small towns have outdoor pools and waterparks, why there is low crime - people have jobs. There are actually more decent paying jobs than people available. Velveeta for the whole country is produced here (ew), but also 3M, which you may not have heard of but go ahead and start looking at the products you buy, much of it 3M. From safety vests, to tape, to paper products.....Places that make gaskets, just gaskets, and companies that do expertise manufacturing for specialty mechanical stuff.
What else? New Ulm, is actually an oasis in the midst of hundreds of miles of farmland. More on that later.
Importantly, it is not only economically well off, but there a strong cultural heritage that is very much vibrant and alive.
Hermann's "footprint". Rub it as German's have more fun. A contemporary sculpture, based on the Hermann monument.
Hermann the Cheruscan, conqueror of the Romans. The third largest copper statue in the US after the Statue of Liberty and Portlandia, supposedly. It is the official symbol of all citizens of "Germanic" heritage.
A1930s gas station, the tower an exact replica of a mill that used to be on the hill a block away from where I am sitting that was burned by the Dakota in the US Dakota War. Fully restored, now is an office. My point, the heritage is preserved and celebrated, not just in old things, but contemporaneously too.
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