The Wall Street Journal recently released a list of the top places to travel to in 2018; a city close to home ranked fourth on the list. Out of the ten destinations on the list, only one of them was in the United States: Minneapolis.

The list consisted of the Faeroe Islands; Puebla, Mexico; Kuelap, Peru; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dundee, Scotland; Grenada; Madagascar; Montenegro; Shanghai, China; and La Rioja, Spain.

Minneapolis is a culturally unique city, known for its parks and lakes, and the only United States destination featured in the list. The city also houses many cultural landmarks such as the Stone Arch Bridge, the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

“Minneapolis makes me think of the future, and it’s a good reminder that Orono is a big part of our lives right now but there’s always more and always something different,” junior Ingrid Landgraver said.

This “City of Lakes” is now luring curious foodies to the city, according to the Wall Street Journal list. In 2017 alone, Minneapolis has claimed 13 James Beard Awards–awards given to individual chefs and specific restaurants.

The James Beard Awards are annual awards presented for excellence in cuisine, culinary writing and culinary education in the United States. They have a mission of honoring chefs around the United States to maintain the American food culture and create more diverse, delicious and sustainable food for the public, according to the James Beard Foundation.

“Minneapolis is having its moment. It’s becoming such a great city to live in and to spend time in,” social studies teacher Jeff Aman said, “It’s a very affordable city with a great mix of fun things to do and great things to eat.”

The Wall Street Journal also mentions many well known chefs that have moved their restaurants to Minneapolis. Gavin Kaysen opened the modern bistro Bellecour last spring; Thomas Kim left Los Angeles to establish his restaurant, Rabbit Hole, in Minneapolis and Erik Anderson moved from Nashville to the Twin Cities earlier this year to take over Minneapolis’s Grande Cafe.

“There are so many different things to do all year round; in the winter I can go to all my favorite coffee shops and thrift stores and in the summer I can walk around the Walker Art Center or go to Uptown and spend time at the lakes,” senior Ellie Burr said.

Minneapolis was also named the 47th best city in the world with more than one million residents; based on place, product, programming, people, prosperity and promotion; according to Resonance Consultancy’s  “2018 World’s Best Cities Report.”

“It is a great city to live in because of the diverse community. I have had the opportunity to meet so many unique people and do certain things that I normally wouldn’t be able to experience if I were to live anywhere else,” Orono graduate and University of Minnesota Twin Cities student Ashley Johnson said.

In September, Minnesota was ranked the happiest state in the United States, according to a study conducted by Wallethub. The study was based on three dimensions–emotional and physical well-being, work environment and the community–that went further into 28 specific key metrics. Wallethub used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Disease Control and Prevention and United Health Foundation.

“I like spending time in Minneapolis because it is really unique; it is a modern music and art scene which is really cool,” Burr said.