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 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.

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!