Cold Regions 2009 - Destination

About Duluth

History

Physical Data

Population: 87,000; within 30-mile radius, population is 184,134.
Located at the westernmost tip of Lake Superior, halfway between Minneapolis/St. Paul and the Canadian border.
2,342 freshwater miles from the Atlantic Ocean to Duluth via the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway.
Area: 43,067 acres.
Altitude: Ranges from 605 feet (at Lake Superior’s shoreline) to 1,485 feet above sea level.
Terrain: City is built into a steep, rocky cliffside; almost mountainous for the Midwest.
Rated by Money magazine as one of the top four Midwestern small cities, based on livability.

Industry

Industries include tourism, healthcare, financial/banking, mining, paper, communications, education and shipping.
City’s harbor welcomes over 1,000 ocean-going and Great Lakes freighters annually.
Seaway Port Authority of Duluth provides foreign trade zone and economic development services.
Interlake cargoes of iron, grain, coal and stone combine to make this the top volume port on the Great Lakes with a total of $250 million in annual economic impact.
Home to the College of St. Scholastica, the University of Minnesota Duluth, Lake Superior Community College, Fond du Lac Community College and across the bay, the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Regional medical center for surrounding states and provinces.
Physician population of over 400; one of every seven residents is employed in healthcare.
Rated first in the United States for quality healthcare in communities of its size.

Weather

Visitor Information

3.5 million tourist visitors per year accounting for a $700 million economic impact.
4,200 hotel rooms in the city.
50 restaurants in the downtown area.
Extensive, climate-controlled skywalk connects downtown facilities.
105 city parks, sculpture gardens and rose gardens.
"State of the Air 2002" report places Duluth among the top 10 metropolitan areas in the United States with the least smog pollution according to data released by the American Lung Association from EPA Air Quality Index research.

General Attractions: