Although the two areas have very different histories and housing stock, they have grown more similar over the 20th and 21st centuries due to their proximity and convenience for commuters to both downtowns and to the University of Minnesota.

Saint Anthony Park was home to three Minnesota governors (William Rainey Marshall, 1866–70; Andrew Ryan McGill, 1887–1889; and Elmer L. Andersen, 1961–63), all members of the Republican Party.

[3] The organization allowed women to join as voting members in 1972, and a few years later became recognized by the City of Saint Paul as part of its District Council system.

Other well-known former Saint Anthony Park residents include author, humorist and radio show host Garrison Keillor; Nobel Peace Prize-winning scientist Norman Borlaug;[4] Nobel Prize-winning author Saul Bellow; children's author Carol Ryrie Brink; John F. Kennedy Chairman of Council of Economic Advisors Walter Heller; physician, poet, etymologist, and essayist Lewis Thomas; psychologist B.F. Skinner; presidential advisor Eugene Z.

The 9.6-acre (39,000 m2) park includes a recreation center offering hockey, baseball, basketball, indoor and outdoor soccer and tennis, and contains a playground, two tennis courts, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, and two baseball fields that are flooded in the winter to make two hockey rinks and one general skating rink.