Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cedar-Riverside, also referred to as the West Bank, is a neighborhood within Minneapolis, Minnesota. The boundaries of the neighborhood are the Mississippi River to the north and east, Interstate 94 to the south, and Hiawatha Avenue and Interstate 35W to the west. Cedar-Riverside is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the Twin Cities—in close proximity, there are urban poor of diverse ethnic backgrounds, college students, and middle-class urbanites.
The neighborhood is part of the larger University community, and is dominated by the West Bank campus of the large University of Minnesota's (U of M) Minneapolis Campus, which includes the Law School, Carlson School of Management and West Bank Arts Quarter. The two halves of the U of M are connected by the landmark Washington Avenue Bridge. The neighborhood also features Augsburg College, a private liberal arts college and the College of St. Catherine’s Minneapolis Campus. The presence of these campuses brings a progressive flavor to the neighborhood.
Cedar-Riverside is ethnically diverse, due in large part to the presence of the Riverside Plaza and its 1,300 units. The Riverside Plaza is home to between 2,500 and 3,500 people, many of which are immigrants and refugees. Currently, most immigrants in the neighborhood come from East Africa. The high number of Somali refugees in particular has earned the neighborhood the nickname “Little Somalia” or “Little Mogadishu.” East Africans are the latest wave of foreign-born residents, following the Europeans of a century and more ago and the Vietnamese and other Asians of just twenty years back.
According to census data for 2000 from the City of Minneapolis, over 50% of the families in the neighborhood are considered very low income, and over 60% are low income. Residents of Cedar-Riverside are transitional; out of the 2,838 occupied housing units in the neighborhood, 2,547 are occupied by renters.
Many maps identify the area as the West Bank Theater District because of the many theaters in the area. The neighborhood is well known for its contingent of activists - from the housing co-op organizing in the 60's, anti-Vietnam war organizing, and the worker-owned co-op organizing from the 70's until today.
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[edit] History
The neighborhood has been a port of entry for immigrants since Swedes, Germans, and Bohemians began arriving in large numbers during the late 1800s. The neighborhood has long struggled with poverty and crime and was home base to local hippies, protesters, and other counterculture phenomena of the sixties and early seventies. During those days, the neighborhood was known as the “Haight-Ashbury of the Midwest.”
The buildings in the Riverside Plaza were built in the early 70s to be mixed income housing. The towers of the Riverside Plaza -—with their signature colored panels—are a familiar landmark in Minneapolis.
The neighborhood’s past still has an influence in the present. Some of the businesses in the area hark back to an earlier time, like the worker-controlled North Country Food Co-op and the punk hangout, Hard Times Café.
[edit] Art Culture
Cedar-Riverside is home to a rich arts culture. There are several playhouses and theatre groups in the area (like the Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Theatre in the Round, and the Southern Theatre). There is also a hot music scene, with bands frequenting current local bars like the 400 Bar, the Red Sea, the Triple Rock Social Club, and the Cedar Cultural Center.
The West Bank music scene is also known as a catalyst for major musicians such as Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Leo Kottke, Butch Thompson (Jazz Originals), Peter Ostroushko (Prairie Home Companion), Dave "Snaker" Ray (Koerner, Ray & Glover), Erik Anderson (The Wallets), Sean Blackburn (Prairie Home Companion), Bill Hinkley (Minnesota Music Hall of Fame), and Karen Mueller (Autoharp Hall of Fame).
Many of these musicians also taught, performed and/or jammed at West Bank School of Music, a West Bank legacy since 1970. The Cedar Cultural Center, Cafe Extempore, Riverside Cafe, Viking Bar, 400 Bar, 7 Corners, Whisky Junction, Cabooze and also Cedarfest have all been popular music venues in their time. KFAI community radio (started in 1978) has also been a mainstay at Cedar-Riverside in the Bailey building since 1991.
The arts flavor of the area is enhanced by the presence of the University of Minnesota’s West Bank Arts Quarter, which is home to the University’s arts programs. In fact, the University is the only in the nation with all of its arts disciplines located together in a single district.
[edit] Notable establishments
- Riverside Plaza
- KFAI Radio
- Radio K
- Fairview University Medical Center
- Cedar Cultural Center
- The Mixed Blood Theatre
- Southern Theatre
- Theatre in the Round
- West Bank School of Music
[edit] External links
- Minneapolis Neighborhood Profile - Cedar-Riverside
- Cedar-Riverside Neighborhood Association
- West Bank Community Coalition
[edit] See also
- Cedar-Riverside (Hiawatha Line station), light rail station on the Hiawatha Line.
