Flowers for Coon Rapids, MN

The Mississippi makes a slow westward bend as it passes Coon Rapids, and the Coon Rapids Dam footbridge is where a lot of the city gathers on a warm evening. Everything else strings out from there: Coon Rapids Boulevard cutting diagonally through the middle, Highway 10 hauling commuter traffic along the north side, the Riverdale shopping district out east, and long residential grids of ramblers and split-levels off Foley, Hanson, and Round Lake Boulevard. Delivery in a city shaped this way is less about distance than about knowing which entrance a townhome cluster uses and which streets flood with school traffic at three o'clock. Mercy Hospital on Coon Rapids Boulevard keeps a steady pull of get-well and new-baby orders through the week.

Other Minnesota cities.