Seward
One of the oldest neighborhoods in Minneapolis, the Seward neighborhood first grew from Franklin Avenue, which once marked the southern border of the city of Minneapolis. To this day, East Franklin remains an artery of the neighborhood, home to local businesses, corner shops, community clinics, and nonprofits.
Organizations along the corridor of East Franklin are passionate about cooperative and collaborative outreach, and many businesses partner with each other through community events, sidewalk sales, and festivals, including an annual gathering hosted by Seward Tower East and Seward Tower West, where tenants and neighbors gather to build relationships that extend throughout the year. Further along Franklin Avenue, the Seward Co-op remains an institution of the neighborhood. The first unionized supermarket in the Twin Cities to guarantee a $15-an-hour wage to its employees, more than 22,000 households now cooperatively own the business, a cyclical model of resource sharing and access that ripples across Seward. It is a model echoed in Seward’s many community gardens, including the Hubs of Heaven Garden, where neighbors share seeds, tools, gardening tips, and harvested produce. It is testament to the way that Seward has continued to grow from its earliest days along Franklin Avenue: with care, through collaboration, and with a commitment to creative enterprise and knowledge-sharing. This commitment is alive in organizations and businesses across the neighborhood, from the Playwrights' Center to the Northern Clay Center, Articulture to the Seward Community Cafe, and many more. It is these businesses that animate the neighborhood: and through community organizations like the Seward Civic & Commerce Association, residents are working to build traffic and engagement to Seward businesses, ensuring that Franklin Avenue can remain a neighborhood and cultural cornerstone for generations to come.
Seward is your go-to for:
Services: Several services to help you take care of the basics from dry cleaning to re-upholstery.
Food & Drink: Small family-owned bars and restaurants dominate the Longfellow food scene.
Unique Gifts: Longfellow has many makers, ranging from clothing and to small distilleries and craft stores.
Popular Destinations
