Walking to lunch meeting on Friday from the new Star Tribune building at Sixth Street and Third Avenue, you could see a big group of people seated on what's apparently now called Canadian Pacific Plaza. They were enjoying a patch in the bright sun and their lunches purchased from the food trucks lined up Second Avenue.

On Nicollet Mall the crowds really thickened. Hundreds of teenage girls in volleyball uniforms, with place names on bags showing they came from as far away from here as Nebraska and Michigan, were strolling with their parents and coaches up and down the mall.

Office workers are out as well, and the outdoor seating areas of all of the restaurants and cafés were full. Zelo, Barrio, the Local, Chipotle, the Dakota and on down the mall past the WCCO-TV building. All full.

Okay, you would not see that kind of street life on an overcast day in February. But the numbers also tell you how lively it's become downtown. In the last year the population of downtown continued to grow, more than 150,000 square feet of office space was absorbed and traffic in and out of downtown on light rail surged.

Employers are far more likely to be in the news these days for moving people into downtown, rather than out.

The Twin Cities area has also enjoyed a nice little run of publicity. We've recently been named the best place for millennials, the place for the most affordable housing, the friendliest city and number two for fitness.

In the last week Minneapolis topped the list as the most literate city in America. St. Paul came in at number four.

There's a little Sid Hartman in all of us columnists here at the Star Tribune, pulling for the hometown team. But the thought crossed my mind on Friday, taking in the street scene from my table at the Local, that just about anybody would have to conclude we live in vibrant and prosperous community.

In fact, based on more than 30 years in the Twin Cities, it feels safe to make this sweeping statement:

It's never been better here than it is right now.