I have always enjoyed UST’s great location within downtown Minneapolis. Our campus is a two-block walk from Nicollet Mall, a long pedestrian street that runs north to south through downtown. In the summer, there are dozens of restaurants where students and staff can enjoy an outdoor lunch or happy hour. This time of year, however, the skyways are where the action is—and you can walk for miles through downtown without setting foot outdoors.
In a way, the skyways form a city within a city. From street level, you might not realize that there are hundreds of shops and restaurants lining the skyways linking the St. Thomas campus to downtown. Need to go to the bank, shop at Macy’s, pick up something at Target, grab lunch at Quizno’s? You can do it all without having to dodge traffic, carry an umbrella, or wear a coat—it’s always dry and 70 degrees inside the skyways, whether the temperature outside is 90 above, 20 below, or anywhere in between.
The skyways also connect St. Thomas to countless area businesses; US Bancorp and Target headquarters are just a couple of minutes away by skyway. Our students can intern in the morning and be in class minutes later, or schedule an informational interview during lunch hour with one of our alumni working downtown. I had lunch yesterday with one of our MBA alumni at Macy’s Skyroom—it was great to catch up with him (we both highly recommend the all-you-can-eat salad bar there as well) and an easy walk back to work, entirely avoiding this week's frigid temperatures!
