Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis

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Coordinates: 44°58′00″N 93°14′36″W / 44.96667°N 93.24333°W / 44.96667; -93.24333
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Cedar-Riverside
West Bank
CDT)
ZIP code
55454
Area code612
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
19806,728—
19906,368−5.4%
20007,54518.5%
20108,0947.3%
20209,00011.2%

Cedar-Riverside, also referred to as the West Bank, or simply Riverside, is a

Hiawatha Avenue and Interstate 35W
to the west. It has a longstanding tradition of cultural diversity and settlement, with a robust arts tradition.

History

Riverside Plaza, Associated Banc-Corp, and other local businesses as seen from Riverside Avenue

The neighborhood has been a port of entry for immigrants since

Swedes, Germans, and Bohemians began arriving in large numbers during the late 19th century. Cedar Avenue became a hub of the Minneapolis Scandinavian community in the late 1800s. Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish were spoken in many of the businesses, and in the early days, stars of Swedish American vaudeville entertained at Dania Hall, Mozart Hall and The Southern Theater
.

Samuelson's Confectionery 1890

There was Samuelsen’s confectionery and soda shop, Hagen's appliance store, Moberg’s Norwegian deli, and a host of other Scandinavian-owned businesses. On Cedar Avenue was Dania Hall, where the Danish community would meet. An eclectic mix of Gothic and classical styles, the building included a dining hall and kitchen in the basement, commercial space on the first floor, offices for the Society of Dania plus billiard and reading rooms on the second floor. A theater/assembly hall on the third and fourth floors featured Scandinavian vaudeville acts and weekend dances. On the corner of Cedar and Washington, just before the Washington Ave Bridge, was the Breezy Point Tavern owned by Oscar Carlsen, a Norwegian immigrant from the turn of the 20th century. Oscar had come to Minnesota to work in the lumber camps and saved a stake to buy this tavern.

Original buildings on the east side of Cedar Avenue; the vacant site of Dania Hall (right)

Where men in the community once worked in small businesses, or as skilled tradesmen, and workers for the railroad, flour mills, and breweries, Cedar-Riverside declined as a core community in the 1920s due to the impact of Prohibition on the entertainment district. Into the 1940s, Cedar-Riverside remained heavily Scandinavian. Postwar immigrants from all over Eastern Europe then settled in the area. The junction of Washington Avenue, Cedar Avenue, and 19th Avenue was known as Seven Corners. The Cedar-Riverside area had been known as "Snoose Boulevard" (Snusgatan) because so many Scandinavians lived there.[4]

The West Bank, with the locally infamous Seven Corners district, mouldered into a

hippies, protesters, and other anti-establishment groups between the 1960s and early 1970s. During those days, the neighborhood was known as the "Haight-Ashbury of the Midwest."[5]

Riverside Plaza and the Mixed Blood Theatre at sunset

The West Bank was home to McCosh's secondhand book store, a center for

John Koerner, who had associated to some degree with Bob Dylan
during his brief Minneapolis sojourn.

In 1973, the Riverside Plaza apartment complex was opened. Designed by architect and Cedar-Riverside resident Ralph Rapson, the tall buildings with their signature colored panels are a Minneapolis landmark and were featured as the residence of Mary Richards in later seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Dayton-Hudson corporation (later Target Corporation) was a consultant, then withdrew, for a proposed commercial development in the area in 1974.[6] Many of the businesses that were established during that time — Martha's Antiques, the Whale Leather Shop, the Five Corners Saloon, Richter's Drug Store and Smith's Leather Shop — eventually went out of business, gradually giving way to newer stores and shops. The Depth of Field also closed in the last half of 2019.

University of Minnesota Medical Center

The neighborhood's past still has an influence in the present. Some of the businesses in the area harken back to an earlier time, like the worker-controlled punk hangout,

Hard Times Café
and the now-closed North Country Food Co-Op. In fact, some of the businesses, specifically in the Seven Corners district, use the history to promote their own business, such as the "Legend of the Seven Switchmen."

Fairview Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital figured prominently in the neighborhood, being only a few blocks away. Fairview and St. Mary's, which merged in 1986, later merged with the University of Minnesota Hospitals, forming a major medical complex straddling the Mississippi River. The organization is now known as

University of Minnesota Medical Center
.

Geography

Cedar-Riverside is located in Minneapolis City Council Wards 2 and 6, represented by Robin Wonsley and Jamal Osman, respectively.

The neighborhood is part of the

Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and West Bank Arts Quarter. The East and West Bank of the U of M are connected by the Washington Avenue Bridge
. The acquisition of a number of residential blocks by the University for expansion of the West Bank campus was controversial in the 1960s.

The neighborhood is also home to Augsburg University, a private liberal arts college.

It is served by the

light rail lines. Two popular mixed-use bike/pedestrian paths, Hiawatha LRT Trail and Samatar Crossing
, also connect the neighborhood to the downtown area and to neighborhoods further south.

Demographics

In the late 19th century, Cedar-Riverside had a sizable

Somalis are now the predominant minority group in the area, resulting in the neighborhood being nicknamed "Little Mogadishu."[8]

Racial composition 2010[9] 2020[9]
White (non-Hispanic) 37.1% 28.1%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 45.0% 53.7%
Hispanic or Latino 3.4% 4.6%
Asian
(non-Hispanic)		 10.9% 9.6%
Other race (non-Hispanic) 0.2% 0.4%
Two or more races
(non-Hispanic)		 2.8% 3.0%

According to U.S. Census data from the 2017 to 2021 periods, about 51.7% of residents were female and 48.3% were male.[10] Around 39% of residents were foreign-born, the vast majority being of East African extraction. Around 54% of the Cedar-Riverside population spoke a language other than English. According to the American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2016-2020), the top non-English languages spoken in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood are Somali (spoken by 47.3% of the population), Oromo (5.5%), Arabic (4.3%), Amharic (2.1%) and Spanish (1.4%). 25% cannot speak English fluently.[11] 32.4% of residents have less than a high school degree.[12] 41.4% of households do not own a car.[13]

The neighborhood's overall population has risen at a moderate but steady rate, from 6,368 in 1990 to 9,000 in 2020.[9]

Culture

Cedar-Riverside is one of the most diverse areas in Minneapolis and the

Twin Cities metropolitan area.[7] It is home to a number of the 100 or so different languages that are spoken in the Twin Cities.[14] A vibrant neighborhood, it boasts many restaurants, cafés, bars, and venues for performance art and music.[7]

The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is historically known for its immigrant population, beginning in the late 1940s post-World War II with immigrants from eastern Europe.

Amazon have worked with the community to provide jobs and reduce the unemployment rate from 20 percent (in year 2017). Amazon hired 1,500 workers from the Cedar-Riverside job center[17] and initially provided busing for workers to commute to its Shakopee distribution center but cut this service in late 2017.[18][19]

Arts culture

Acadia Cafe 2012

Cedar-Riverside is home to a thriving arts culture. There are many playhouses and theatre groups in the area, including the

Theatre in the Round, and The Southern Theater. There is also a percolating music scene, with musicians frequenting venues like The Cedar Cultural Center, The Cabooze, The Red Sea, Part Wolf MPLS, Acadia Cafe, and Palmer's Bar
.

Additionally, the West Bank music scene is known as a catalyst for major musicians, such as

Prairie Home Companion), Dave "Snaker" Ray (Koerner, Ray & Glover), Erik Anderson (The Wallets), Dakota Dave Hull, Sean Blackburn (Prairie Home Companion), Bill Hinkley (Minnesota Music Hall of Fame), Karen Mueller (Autoharp Hall of Fame), and, to a lesser extent, Bob Dylan
.

Many of these musicians also taught, performed and/or jammed at the West Bank School of Music. The

New Riverside Cafe, Viking Bar, 400 Bar, 7 Corners, Whisky Junction, Cabooze and Cedarfest have likewise all been popular music venues in their time. Established in 1978, KFAI
community radio has broadcast a mix of community talk radio and folk and avant-garde music from around the world from the Bailey building since 1991.

The arts flavor of the area is enhanced by the presence of Augsburg University and the University of Minnesota's West Bank Arts Quarter, which is home to the University’s arts programs.

Cedar Riverside also plays host to the annual

Zombie Pub Crawl.[20] In the 2005 the Minneapolis Zombie Pub Crawl began with about 100 participants.[20] In 2011 Cedar Riverside hosted approximately 18,000 individuals for the seventh annual zombie pub crawl.[20]

Notable establishments

Alleyway entrance to KFAI

Crime

Crime statistics released by the Minneapolis Police Department for all of its neighborhoods indicate that between January and May 2012, Cedar Riverside had 134 instances of crime, mainly consisting of various forms of theft. Only one homicide was reported over this period. The neighborhood's statistics were comparable to the citywide average, and were a fraction of those of the neighborhood with the highest reported number of incidents, Downtown West.[23]

Overall, according to police, crime peaked in the period between 2002 and 2006, and has steadily declined in the following 5 years. By 2011, instances of serious crime had dropped a reported 40%.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Inside Minneapolis' 'Little Mogadishu,' the Somali capital of America". Star Tribune.
  2. ^ "Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota (MN), 55454, 55455 detailed profile". City-Data. 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Cedar Riverside". Minnesota Compass. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  4. ^ Seward Profile April 2005.
  5. ^
    ISBN 1-56639-128-8
    .
  6. ^ "The Minneapolis Star 04 Oct 1974, page Page 16". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "Cedar-Riverside - Location and General Characteristics". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  8. ^ Shah, Allie (2 March 2017). "Go inside 'Little Mogadishu,' the Somali capital of America". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 15 February 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino By Race". data.census.gov. US Census Bureau. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Cedar Riverside neighborhood, population by sex". Minnesota Compass. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Cedar Riverside neighborhood, population by language". Minnesota Compass. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Cedar Riverside neighborhood, educational attainment among adults". Minnesota Compass. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Cedar Riverside neighborhood, transportation data". Minnesota Compass. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  14. ^ "State of the City: Investing to Grow". Mayor R.T. Rybak. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  15. ^ "Cedar Riverside - About the West Bank". Archived from the original on 10 September 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  16. ^ "Translating Health Care - Video Library - The New York Times". Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  17. ^ Moini, Nina (7 June 2017). "Amazon Partners With Somali Community To Shuttle Cedar-Riverside Workers". Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  18. ^ Dzieza, Josh (16 July 2019). "Amazon warehouse workers strike to protest inhumane conditions". The Verge. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  19. ^ Bruder, Jessica (12 November 2019). "Meet the Immigrants Who Took On Amazon". Wired. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  20. ^ a b c Riemenschneider, Chris. "Zombie Pub Crawl VII: A Terror of Two Cities". Vita.MN. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  21. ^ The Electric Fetus on Cedar Avenue. placeography.org. Retrieved: September 9, 2012.
  22. ^ "People's Center Clinics & Services". People's Center Clinics & Services. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  23. ^ "Neighborhood Crime Statistics". www.minneapolismn.gov.
  24. ^ Stocks, Anissa (26 October 2011). "Crime rates drop in Cedar-Riverside". Minnesota Daily. Retrieved 9 July 2012.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis.

Photos

The New Riverside Cafe

Articles

Book and CD

Online book

45. The Cedar-Riverside Area
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