Minneapolis is officially defined by its city council as divided into 83 neighborhoods. Informally, there are city areas with colloquial labels. Residents may also group themselves by their city street suffixes, North, Northeast, South, Southeast, and Southwest. The neighborhoods are grouped into 11 defined communities. [2]
The local community defines several general areas based on the directional suffixes added to streets in the city. These city areas do not necessarily correlate with official community or neighborhood definitions.
Downtown Minneapolis refers to the street grid area aligned on a diagonal with the Mississippi River bend, as opposed to the true north-south grid orientation. The area north of downtown on the west bank of the Mississippi River is considered North Minneapolis. The part of Minneapolis on the east bank of the Mississippi River is divided by East Hennepin Avenue into Northeast and Southeast, approximately aligned with the communities of Northeast and University, respectively.
The entire area south of downtown is widely called South Minneapolis. The westerly portion surrounding the city's Chain of Lakes is loosely labeled Southwest Minneapolis, bounded on the east by I-35W and on the north by 36th St W, which extends west from Bde Maka Ska to the city limits.
Common conceptions of Minneapolis neighborhoods do not always align with official city maps, especially since much of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area's population now lives outside of the cities. Residents on the borders of surrounding cities may sometimes say they live in a bordering community. Twin Cities residents and visitors frequently use generalized names based on geography, such as "North Minneapolis". What most people would consider North Minneapolis is a combination of the Near North and Camden communities, each of which is made up of several neighborhoods. [3] This also applies to neighborhoods, with residents living by definition in one neighborhood, but classifying themselves in another.
The city council, made up of one representative from each of the city's 13 wards, has legislative authority to define neighborhood boundaries. Community and neighborhood boundaries are not the same as the Ward boundaries, which are adjusted after each decennial census. [4] [5]
Minneapolis consists of 83 neighborhoods. [6] On creating the neighborhood designation, the city grouped these neighborhoods into 11 communities, containing between 4 and 13 neighborhoods each. The official neighborhoods have a variety of origins; some were formed out of the attendance areas for elementary schools, while others are the areas of coverage of neighborhood associations activists formed between 1901 and the 1980s. Most of these neighborhoods are represented by one of 69 Neighborhood Associations, some of which cover multiple neighborhoods. [7] In 2023, the organizations serving Beltrami and Northeast Park merged, taking the number down from 70. [8]
The division of the city into official neighborhoods and communities occurred as part of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) in the early 1990s. They remain associated with this community-based funding program [9] and are also used for statistical purposes. [10] For NRP purposes, some of the neighborhoods have combined forces, leading to a total of 67 NRP neighborhood action plans. [11] The NRP is now nested under the Neighborhood and Community Relations department, [12] which also oversees neighborhood organizations, community engagement projects, and language services for the city. [13]
Neighborhoods historically defined themselves around schools and commercial hubs, and many trace their identities to community organizations formed in the early 20th century. The oldest, the Prospect Park Association, formed in 1901 to oppose city plans to level Tower Hill. [14] In other neighborhoods, the current official neighborhood association was formed in the 1970s and 1980s; in Linden Hills, the organization was formed in 1972 in response to proposed changes in the park, but several social and commercial organizations in the neighborhood dated to the neighborhood's development at the turn of the 20th century. [15]
Calhoun-Isles is in western Minneapolis. It is named after Lake Calhoun, the former name of Bde Maka Ska, and Lake of the Isles. It includes the city's Uptown area.
Camden is in far northwest Minneapolis. "North Minneapolis" comprises the communities of Camden and Near North.
The Central community of Minneapolis sits southwest of the bend in the Mississippi River, comprising neighborhoods in and near the downtown area.
The Longfellow community is in southeast Minneapolis. It is named after poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Near North is northwest of downtown Minneapolis. "North Minneapolis" comprises the communities of Camden and Near North.
The Nokomis community is in south Minneapolis. It takes its name from Lake Nokomis.
The Northeast Community sits east of the Mississippi River and north of a combination of streets, highways and rail lines running from 3rd Avenue Northeast on the southwest to I-35W on the southeast.
The Phillips Community is south of downtown Minneapolis. It is named after the 19th-century abolitionist Wendell Phillips. [16]
Powderhorn is a south Minneapolis community, named for the eponymous park and lake in its center.
The Southwest community surrounds Lake Harriet in southwest Minneapolis.
The University community is named for the University of Minnesota. It sits on the Mississippi River's east bank and includes the parts of the West Bank surrounding the University of Minnesota and Augsburg University campuses.
Official neighborhoods in the University community:
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Many of the city's major business districts sit on major thoroughfares, and since these thoroughfares also form the boundaries of official neighborhoods, local identity may not correspond with these official neighborhoods. Lake Street, running the entire width of the city in south Minneapolis, is a string of commercial districts that includes Uptown, Lyn-Lake, and Midtown, while forming a border of 12 neighborhoods. Other streets with similar linking and bordering qualities include Nicollet Avenue, stringing together Nicollet Mall, Eat Street south of Franklin Avenue, and smaller districts south of Lake Street; Central Avenue, which links downtown to Old St. Anthony Village via the Third Avenue Bridge and then continues to form a core commercial district of Northeast around Lowry Avenue; and University Avenue, which joins Old St. Anthony to Dinkytown, then continues into Midway and the State Capitol in Saint Paul.
Little Earth is a 9.4-acre (3.8 ha), 212-unit housing complex at approximately East 24th Street and Cedar Avenue. The Little Earth community and surrounding area has been at the center of the American Indian Movement. [17]
Uptown is probably the best-known business district in Minneapolis besides downtown. It centers at the intersection of West Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue, but is not officially recognized as it includes parts of four neighborhoods: South Uptown, East Bde Maka Ska, East Isles, and Lowry Hill East. The Uptown Business Association focuses on the area within a few blocks of Lake and Hennepin, [18] but the "Uptown" identity can stretch as far north as Franklin Avenue and as far east as Lyndale Avenue, where it merges into Lyn-Lake.
Eat Street is the newest of Minneapolis's commercial districts, named in the late 1990s by the Whittier Alliance to promote the international variety of restaurants along Nicollet Avenue South between Grant St. and 29th St. [19] Nicollet was historically a central commercial district in the Whittier neighborhood, but the end of the streetcar system and the construction of a K-Mart at the intersection of Nicollet and Lake Street disconnected the area in the 1970s. [20] The named district was an effort to give the neighborhood a fresh identity.
The Old St. Anthony district, also called Northeast or the Riverfront District, [21] straddles the neighborhoods of Marcy-Holmes and Nicollet Island/East Bank. It was the downtown for the city of St. Anthony before it joined Minneapolis in 1872. [22]
Several areas around the University of Minnesota have additional names. Dinkytown is an area just north of the University of Minnesota within the official Marcy-Holmes neighborhood, heavily populated by students. [23] A row of historic fraternity houses along University Avenue is called "fraternity row." [24] Similarly, Stadium Village on the east end of campus in Prospect Park is named for the now-demolished Memorial Stadium and current Huntington Bank Stadium. [25]
The Warehouse District was a 19th and early 20th-century rail and truck shipping center for the region. In the 1970s and 1980s it became an artists' quarter, and then a nightlife and entertainment district, which the southern portion (between I-394 and Hennepin Ave) remains. The district is largely in the North Loop neighborhood, but the heart of the entertainment district is in the Downtown West neighborhood.
Homewood is a historically significant neighborhood within Willard-Hay in Near North, spanning from Penn to Xerxes Avenues North between Plymouth Avenue and Oak Park Avenue. The State Historic Preservation Office deemed the district eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It is architecturally and culturally significant due primarily to settlement by Jewish families during the first half of the 20th century, when Minneapolis was openly antisemitic. In the 1930s the Homewood subdivision was the center of the North Side Jewish community, populated by middle- and upper-middle-class families. The City of Minneapolis began a formal review process for potential historic designation of the district in 2016. [26]
As the Mississippi riverfront downtown has been redeveloped since the 1980s, there have been several attempts to rebrand it. The "Mississippi Mile" spanned both sides of the river, but never really caught on locally. "Saint Anthony Main", the name of a commercial development on Main Street Southeast, can refer to the section of the East Bank around it. More recently, people have come to call the West Bank between 3rd Avenue and the University "The Mill District", though the name more properly applies to both sides of the river.
Some neighborhoods enjoy nicknames. Lowry Hill East is also known as "The Wedge" because of its shape. [27] Local amenities are also taken on as nicknames: "Minnehaha" refers to the businesses by Minnehaha Falls rather than along Minnehaha Avenue, and "Tower (Hill)", along University Avenue Southeast in Prospect Park, refers to the Witch's Hat Tower.
City officials in 2020 designated seven new cultural districts along major commercial corridors to promote racial equity, preserve cultural identity, and promote economic growth. [28] [29] Due to their location on major roads, many of these districts straddle the borders between neighborhoods. [30] The seven cultural districts are defined by the city as 38th Street, Cedar Avenue South, Central Avenue, East Lake Street, Franklin Avenue East, West Broadway, and Lowry Avenue North. [31]
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Whittier is a neighborhood within the Powderhorn community in the U.S. city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, bounded by Franklin Avenue on the north, Interstate 35W on the east, Lake Street on the south, and Lyndale Avenue on the west. It is known for its many diverse restaurants, coffee shops and Asian markets, especially along Nicollet Avenue. The neighborhood is home to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and the Children's Theatre Company.
Uptown is a commercial district in southwestern Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota, that is centered at the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and West Lake Street. It has traditionally spanned the corners of four neighborhoods, Lowry Hill East, East Bde Maka Ska, South Uptown and East Isles neighborhoods, which are all within the Calhoun Isles community. Historically, the boundaries of Uptown are Bde Maka Ska to the west, Dupont Avenue to the east, 31st Street to the south, and 28th Street to the north; though these borders often vary. Uptown is a popular destination for retail, nightlife, and cultural events, and the district was famously written about by recording artist Prince.
The Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway is a linked series of park areas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that takes a roughly circular path through the city. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board developed the system over many years. The corridors include roads for automobile traffic plus separate paths for pedestrians and bicycles, and extend slightly into neighboring cities. About 50 miles (80 km) of roadway and paths are in the system, and much of it was built in the 1930s as part of Civilian Conservation Corps projects.
Lowry Hill East, also known as the Wedge because of its wedge-like shape, is a neighborhood in southwest Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, part of the Calhoun Isles community. Lowry Hill East developed in the 1880s along a horse-drawn streetcar line built by Thomas Lowry. The interior of the neighborhood is residential, with large early 20th century homes and multi-unit apartment buildings, while the border streets are lined with bars, restaurants, grocery stores, coffeeshops, and other small businesses. Most housing is renter-occupied.
Lake Harriet is a lake in southwest Minneapolis, south of Bde Maka Ska and north of Minnehaha Creek. The lake is surrounded by parkland as part of Minneapolis’ Chain of Lakes. The lake has an area of 335 acres (1.36 km2) and a maximum depth of 85 feet (26 m).
Calhoun-Isles is one of the official communities in the U.S. city of Minneapolis. It contains the Uptown business district and the name "Uptown" is frequently used to refer to the entire community. The name of the community refers to its most prominent physical features, the large and publicly accessible lakes, Bde Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles.
East Bde Maka Ska is a neighborhood within the Calhoun-Isles community in the U.S. city of Minneapolis. It was formerly known as East Calhoun prior to August 2021. The neighborhood is located south of the East Isles neighborhood and its northern portion along with parts of the East Isles, Lowry Hill East, and South Uptown neighborhoods forms the city's Uptown district. East Bde Maka Ska is bordered on the north by Lake Street, on the east by Hennepin Avenue, on the south by West 36th Street and on the west by Bde Maka Ska.
South Uptown is a residential neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2018, the neighborhood voted to change its name to South Uptown from its former name CARAG. Other potential names for the neighborhood included "Bryant Park" and "Bryant Square". The Minneapolis City Council approved the name change in November 2018.
Lake Street is a major east-west thoroughfare between 29th and 31st streets in Minneapolis, Minnesota United States. From its western most end at the city's limits, Lake Street reaches the Chain of Lakes, passing over a small channel linking Bde Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles, and at its eastern most end it reaches the Mississippi River. In May 2020, the Lake Street corridor suffered extensive damage during local unrest following the murder of George Floyd. In August of the same year, city officials designated East Lake Street as one of seven cultural districts to promote racial equity, preserve cultural identity, and promote economic growth.
The Midtown Greenway is a 5.7-mile (9.2 km) rail trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota that follows the path of an abandoned route of the Milwaukee Road railway. It is considered under segregated cycle facilities.
Hennepin Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs from Lakewood Cemetery, north through the Uptown District of Southwest Minneapolis, through the Virginia Triangle, the former "Bottleneck" area west of Loring Park. It then goes through the North Loop in the city center, to Northeast Minneapolis and the city's eastern boundary, where it becomes Larpenteur Avenue as it enters Lauderdale in Ramsey County at Highway 280. Hennepin Avenue is a Minneapolis city street south/west of Washington Avenue, and is designated as Hennepin County Road 52 from Washington Avenue to the county line.
Longfellow is a defined community in Minneapolis, Minnesota which includes five smaller neighborhoods inside of it: Seward, Cooper, Hiawatha, Howe and Longfellow. The community is a mix of agri-industrial properties along the old Northern Pacific Railway, expansive parkland surrounding the famous Minnehaha Falls, and smaller residential areas.
Downtown West is an official neighborhood in Minneapolis, part of the larger Central community. It is the heart of downtown Minneapolis, containing the bulk of high-rise office buildings in the city, and is what comes to mind when most Minneapolitans think of "downtown".
Tangletown is a neighborhood in the Southwest community of Minneapolis. The neighborhood was officially known as Fuller until 1996 when it was changed to the present name, which reflects the winding streets in the neighborhood that do not conform to the regular street grid of South Minneapolis. The neighborhood boundaries are 46th Street to the north, Interstate 35W to the east, Diamond Lake Road to the south, and Lyndale Avenue South to the west. Tangletown is a part of Ward 11, currently represented by Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski.
Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota in the United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County.
King Field is a neighborhood in the Southwest community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its boundaries are 36th Street to the north, Interstate 35W to the east, 46th Street to the south, and Lyndale Avenue to the west. King Field, within the King Field neighborhood is a park named after Martin Luther King Jr.
Saint Paul, Minnesota, consists of 17 officially defined city districts or neighborhoods.
Minneapolis is often considered one of the top biking and walking cities in the United States due to its vast network of trails and dedicated pedestrian areas. In 2020, Walk Score rated Minneapolis as 13th highest among cities over 200,000 people. Some bicycling ratings list Minneapolis at the top of all United States cities, while others list Minneapolis in the top ten. There are over 80 miles (130 km) of paved, protected pathways in Minneapolis for use as transportation and recreation. The city's Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway parkway system accounts for the vast majority of the city's shared-use paths at approximately 50 miles (80 km) of dedicated biking and walking areas. By 2008, other city, county, and park board areas accounted for approximately 30 miles (48 km) of additional trails, for a city-wide total of approximately 80 miles (130 km) of protected pathways. The network of shared biking and walking paths continued to grow into the late 2010s with the additions of the Hiawatha LRT Trail gap remediation, Min Hi Line pilot projects, and Samatar Crossing. The city also features several natural-surface hiking trails, mountain-biking paths, groomed cross-country ski trails in winter, and other pedestrian walkways.
38th Street is a major east-west roadway in the U.S. city of Minneapolis and an officially designated cultural district in the Powderhorn community. The area developed into a residential zone when the Chicago Avenue street car line was extended to East 38th Street in 1880. Since the 1930s, the area has featured many Black-owned businesses, and the surrounding neighborhoods have had distinct histories from other neighborhoods in Minneapolis due to racial settlement patterns that concentrated Black residents there.