The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained

When I moved to Minneapolis from upstate New York last year, I found myself puzzled by the layout of the streets and avenues across the city. Why, for example, did every street and avenue in my neighborhood have Southeast (SE) as a suffix? And why did that change to South (S) when I went to neighborhoods like Seward and Whittier? These questions lingered in my mind while wandering the city by bike, bus and light rail. I tried to find the origin of the north–south divide and the east/not-east divide, as well as the underlying structure of the streets and avenues.

A year later, I feel as though I’ve gathered enough information to present my attempt to make some sense of the street and avenue arrangement in Minneapolis. Along the way, I discovered some nuances and idiosyncrasies — and a lot of unanswered questions that maybe you can help me answer!

Let’s start with the basics. The Mississippi River divides the roads with the suffix East (E), from those without it. East of the Mississippi, you’ll find the suffixes Northeast and Southeast, while west of the Mississippi, you’ll find North and South, rather than Northwest and Southwest. I guess “West” is the default, inherent direction, reflecting the city’s origins on that side of the river. Neighborhood boundaries mostly adhere to these directional quadrants, too.

Now, the next logical question: What separates Northeast from Southeast, and North from South?

Hennepin Avenue divides Northeast from Southeast Minneapolis on the east side of the Mississippi and North from South to the west of the river — that is, at least until it intersects with I-94.

Things get more complicated west of I-94. The dividing line between North and South Minneapolis appears to be a combination of Van White Memorial Boulevard, Bassett Creek and Chestnut Avenue. 

Now that we’ve covered the basic organization and separation of North, South, Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis, let’s take a deeper look at the streets and avenues. The map below shows all the streets with directional suffixes in Minneapolis in red, revealing some clear patterns. In general, many (but not all) streets are numbered. For the numbered streets, the origin for numbering is the Mississippi river around Downtown Minneapolis.

• In Downtown Minneapolis (considered part of South Minneapolis based on the “S” suffixes of street and avenues), streets run Northwest-Southeast, with the origin for numbering being the Mississippi River. Streets in Downtown run parallel to the river. Moving farther south, streets shift to an East-West orientation. The origin of numbering remains the Mississippi beginning in Downtown Minneapolis, so the street numbers get into the 50s and 60s in the very southern part of the city. 
• In North Minneapolis, streets run North–South, with First Street North being the numbered street closest to the Mississippi River. There are only streets up to Sixth street; beyond that, they become avenues. We’ll come back to this.
• In Northeast Minneapolis, streets also run North-South, with First Street Northeast being the numbered street closest to the Mississippi River. After Seventh Street Northeast, streets are named after U.S. Presidents in chronological order beginning with Washington Street Northeast and ending with Delano Street Northeast (after FDR). South of Broadway Street, named streets run East-West, creating a grid of only streets in the Beltrami and St. Anthony East neighborhoods.
• In Marcy-Holmes and the “east bank” portion of the Nicollet Island-East Bank neighborhood (considered part of Southeast Minneapolis based on the “SE” suffixes of street and avenues), streets are oriented Northwest-Southeast. 
• The Como neighborhood, near the University of Minnesota, consists largely of avenues, with only a couple of streets that are oriented East-West. 
• Prospect Park is largely devoid of roadways with the name “street,” besides a few North-South oriented named streets in the Southeastern portion of the neighborhood (e.g., Warwick Street Southeast, Cecil Street Southeast).
• As you might expect, the avenues are the other half of the story. The map below shows all avenues with directional suffixes. Many (but not all) of these avenues are numbered. In general, the origin for avenue numbering is Hennepin Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis and the “east bank” portion of Nicollet Island-East Bank, for areas West and East of the Mississippi, respectively.

Here are the highlights:

•  In Downtown Minneapolis, avenues run Northeast-Southwest, with the origin for numbering being Hennepin Avenue as it runs through Downtown Minneapolis. 
• South of Downtown, avenues run North-South, following the same numbering system. West of First Avenue South, avenues are named. Some do not have directionality (such as Garfield Avenue, Pillsbury Avenue and so on), while some do, such as the alphabetically ordered avenues west of Lyndale Avenue South beginning with Aldrich Avenue South (much more on that in this article). A couple neighborhoods (Lowry Hill and Bryn Mawr) have a grid of only avenues. The East-West avenues and the North-South avenues are named.
• In North Minneapolis, numbered avenues run East-West, with the origin of numbering also being Hennepin Avenue. Most of the roads in North Minneapolis are avenues, with North-South roads west of Sixth Street North being named avenues. These avenues are an extension of the South Minneapolis avenues beginning with Lyndale Avenue North and continuing alphabetically as Aldrich Avenue North, Bryant Avenue North, etc.
• In Northeast Minneapolis, Avenues run East-West. The origin for the numbering is Hennepin Avenue East. 
• In the “east bank” portion of the Nicollet Island-East Bank and Marcy Holmes neighborhoods, avenues are oriented Northeast-Southwest, numbered First Avenue Southeast and increasing moving away from Hennepin Avenue East.
• In Como, numbered avenues run North-South. Avenues oriented East-West are named. 
• In Prospect Park, the avenues take winding, “curvilinear”  paths that relate to the topography of the area. These avenues are named (e.g., Sharon Avenue Southeast, Malcolm Avenue Southeast, Orlin Avenue Southeast) See this report for more information. There are also avenues extending Northeast and Southwest from University Avenue Southeast, which are numbered, following the same orientation as the avenues in Marcy Holmes.
• At the University of Minnesota campus, most roads are not avenues.

In North, Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis, all streets and avenues have the same directional suffixes. That’s why you’ll find confusing intersections, like Fourth Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast in Marcy-Holmes.

This is also the case in Downtown Minneapolis and Cedar-Riverside, where both streets and avenues have an “S” suffix. However, in South Minneapolis, south of Downtown and Cedar-Riverside, this is not the case. Here, avenues retain the “S” suffix, while streets have either an “E” or “W” suffix. Nicollet Avenue serves as the dividing line between East and West streets.

In addition to all that, some avenues have no direction. These include some avenues in Uptown (e.g., Grand Avenue, Pillsbury Avenue, Garfield Avenue), some avenues Downtown (e.g., La Salle Avenue, Portland Avenue) and parkways (e.g., Lake Harriet Parkway). See this article for more details on other naming schemes. 

And there you have it — my attempt to make some sense of the complex patterns underlying the roads in Minneapolis. The map at the bottom of this article summarizes everything discussed above. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and I still have a few unanswered questions:

• Why does Franklin Avenue run through South Minneapolis in the same direction as streets? It seems to be the only avenue with an east-west orientation in South Minneapolis.
• What’s up with the cluster of avenues in Uptown that lack directional suffixes (Pillsbury, Pleasant, Harriet, Garfield, etc.)?

Did I miss anything? Please email me ([email protected]) with any questions you have about the streets and avenues in Minneapolis, or leave your thoughts on the Streets.mn Facebook page!

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