Howe

Howe is a residential neighborhood in south Minneapolis, part of the greater Longfellow community area. It's bounded roughly by East 36th Street to the north, Hiawatha Avenue (Highway 55) to the east, East 42nd Street to the south, and Minnehaha Avenue to the west. It covers about 0.6 square miles and is home to approximately 5,200 residents. Minnehaha Creek flows through the neighborhood near its southern boundary, providing a natural greenway that connects Howe to the broader creek trail system.

Howe is one of four neighborhoods in the Longfellow community, along with Longfellow proper, Cooper, and Hiawatha. The Longfellow identity is strong here — many residents identify with the broader community as much as with Howe specifically. The neighborhood is named for Howe Elementary School, which has anchored the community since the early 20th century.

What defines Howe is its combination of accessibility and affordability. Lake Street — one of Minneapolis's most important commercial corridors — runs along or near the neighborhood's northern edge, providing restaurants, shops, transit, and the particular energy that Lake Street brings. The Midtown Greenway, a bike and pedestrian trail built on a former rail corridor, is accessible from the northern portion of the neighborhood. And the housing stock — modest early-20th-century bungalows and Foursquares — remains priced below the citywide median, making Howe one of the neighborhoods where homeownership is still within reach for people with ordinary incomes.

Before European settlement, this land was Dakota homeland — part of the territory centered around the confluence at Bdote and the network of waterways, including Minnehaha Creek, that defined the region's geography. The Dakota people used the creek corridors for travel, fishing, and gathering for centuries before treaties and forced removal in the 1850s and 1860s reshaped the landscape.

The neighborhood developed as Minneapolis expanded south and east from downtown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The streetcar lines along Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue brought residential development to this area, and the blocks that would become Howe were built out primarily between the 1900s and the 1940s. The housing stock reflects this era: Craftsman bungalows, Foursquares, and modest workers' homes built for the tradespeople, factory workers, and young families of early-20th-century Minneapolis.

Howe Elementary School was established in the early 20th century and gave the neighborhood its name and its social center. The greater Longfellow community — named for the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose "Song of Hiawatha" made Minnehaha Falls famous — developed as a working-class residential area with strong neighborhood identity and community institutions.

The Midtown Greenway, which opened in 2000 on a former Milwaukee Road rail corridor, brought new infrastructure to the area — a grade-separated bike and pedestrian trail that connects the Chain of Lakes to the Mississippi River. The Greenway has gradually reshaped the neighborhoods along its route, bringing new investment and new residents to the Longfellow area.

Living in Howe means living in the Longfellow community — a part of Minneapolis that has a strong identity distinct from the lake neighborhoods to the west and the downtown core to the north. The character here is working-class in origin and increasingly mixed in practice: longtime homeowners, young first-time buyers, renters in duplexes and small apartment buildings, and a growing population of immigrants and families of color. The demographic mix is less homogeneous than Southwest Minneapolis and more representative of the city as a whole.

The blocks are quiet and residential. Houses sit on modest lots with alley garages and front porches. The tree canopy is good but not as thick as in the older, wealthier neighborhoods to the west. The feel is solidly middle-class — not affluent, not struggling, just steady. People mow their lawns, shovel their sidewalks, and know the names of the kids on their block.

Lake Street, on or near the neighborhood's northern boundary, provides the commercial energy. The stretch of Lake Street through the Longfellow area has changed significantly in recent years — new restaurants, businesses, and cultural institutions have arrived alongside longtime establishments. The corridor is diverse and evolving, reflecting the changing demographics of the neighborhoods it serves.

Minnehaha Creek, running through the southern portion of the neighborhood, provides the natural counterpoint — a green, quiet corridor that offers a break from the urban rhythm. The creek trail is well-used by Howe residents for walking, biking, and the kind of aimless outdoor wandering that makes a neighborhood feel livable in ways that commercial amenities alone can't replicate.

Howe's dining scene is concentrated along Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue — the commercial corridors at the neighborhood's edges. The interior is residential, but the edges have genuine character.

Howe's outdoor assets center on the creek and the trail system that connects to it.

Howe Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade and is the neighborhood's primary community institution. The school is walkable from most addresses in the neighborhood and functions as a social anchor — the place where families connect and where the neighborhood's identity takes shape.

Middle and high school options feed into the broader Minneapolis Public Schools system. South Senior High School is a common high school destination. Minneapolis's magnet school system provides additional options for families seeking alternatives.

The school community in Howe reflects the neighborhood's demographic diversity — more varied than the Southwest Minneapolis school communities and more representative of the city as a whole.

Howe is one of the more affordable neighborhoods in Minneapolis for homebuyers, with median sale prices ranging from roughly $300,000 to $450,000 — near or slightly below the citywide median. This affordability, combined with the creek access, the Greenway, and the Lake Street commercial corridor, makes Howe a strong value proposition for first-time buyers and young families.

The housing stock is predominantly early-20th-century single-family homes — bungalows, Foursquares, and workers' cottages. Duplexes and small multi-family buildings add density, particularly near the commercial corridors. Lots are modest by Southwest Minneapolis standards but adequate for the housing style. Most homes have the alley garages, front porches, and hardwood floors that characterize south Minneapolis residential architecture.

Homes sell quickly — about 13 days on average — reflecting strong demand at the price point. The market is competitive for well-maintained homes, and multiple offers are common in the sub-$400,000 range.

Howe earns a Walk Score of 65 — reasonably walkable, with Lake Street providing commercial options within walking distance from the northern portion of the neighborhood. The Bike Score of 80 reflects the Midtown Greenway, the Minnehaha Creek Trail, and the broader south Minneapolis cycling network.

Bus service along Lake Street is among the most frequent in Minneapolis, connecting to Uptown, the Midtown Exchange, and points east and west. The Blue Line light rail is accessible from the Hiawatha corridor, a short distance east. By car, downtown is 12–15 minutes, and MSP airport is similarly accessible. The combination of bus, light rail, bike, and car options makes Howe more multi-modal than many south Minneapolis neighborhoods.

Howe is part of the broader Longfellow area, which has experienced significant change since 2020 — and the changes are worth naming honestly.