Cedar-Riverside - Minneapolis, MN

Once a neighborhood full of blond Scandinavians working in the mill and lumber industries, Cedar-Riverside attracted a slew of anti-war intellectuals, pacifists, actors and musicians in the 1960s. That period of time earned this neighborhood the title of the Haight-Ashbury of the Midwest.

A couple of decades later, the open-minded culture of the neighborhood made it a welcoming place for waves of immigrants, and now, the area is a mixture of students and people from all over the world. The neighborhood celebrates its hippie and international heritage annually at the Bohemian Flats Music Festival.

Cedar-Riverside offers all-night vegan coffee shops, dive bars filled with punk music and the city's longest-running midnight cabaret, as well as a healthy balance of restaurants with comforting pub food or giant plates of ethnic cuisine. Regardless of their interests, residents have their pick of cool night spots.

Most of the action in this neighborhood happens at the intersection of Cedar and Riverside, and along both of these roads, small restaurants are nestled in among the theaters and bars. Residents can enjoy vegan fare or hearty breakfasts until the early hours of the morning at Hard Times Cafe, a graffiti- and brick-wall-filled cafe that attracts students as well as people of all ages.

Residents who like to enjoy a craft beer before dinner head to Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery. When weather permits, this local hotspot's patio is one of the best places in town to people-watch and catch up with friends. Menu favorites at the Town Hall Brewery include blue cheese burgers, sweet potato fries and chicken wings.

Those interested in exploring new things, or having a bite from their home country, dine on lamb gyros from the Afro Deli or tasty Chinese pastries from the Keefer Court Bakery & Cafe, an authentic Chinese bakery.

Meet up with friends at Republic for one of the best happy hours around. Sip on a $3 craft beer and grab a brown butter bison burger while watching the game or catching up with friends and family.

Music lovers head to the Cedar Cultural Center to enjoy Serbian folk music or other unique musical treats from around the world. Theater fans head to the cozy Southern Theater to enjoy one of the facility's always changing shows or for the iconic Balls Cabaret. Hosted by originator Leslie Ball, this cabaret hosts magicians, contact dancers, poets, comedians focused on etymology and other crazy acts. Still others spend their nights drinking whiskey and listening to local bands or touring punk acts at The Triple Rock Social Club, a destination dive-bar.

Featuring restaurants, shops, markets and apartments in a relatively dense area, this neighborhood lends itself to walking, and residents bicycle around the area as well, enjoying the bike lanes which fill much of the Twin City area. Raising a hand to hail a cab isn't easy in this neighborhood, but cabs can easily be called to the area.

Many large parking garages serve the area, offering parking to visitors and residents, but many businesses have small parking lots as well. Three bus lines bring residents into downtown Minneapolis in about fifteen minutes, and drivers enjoy that both I-35 and I-94 run through Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, making it easy to commute to either city center.

Although the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood offers a range of indoor activities and great nightlife, the area does not have many parks or spaces for playing outside. In fact, Currie Park on the west side of the neighborhood is one of the few parks in the area. This park has playground equipment, a small soccer field for playing with friends and a super-convenient Metro bike station, where you can safely store your bicycle before jumping on a bus for the rest of your commute. Residents with dogs need to travel to downtown or Loring Park to find a dog park, but some apartment buildings offer areas for dogs on their grounds.

Cedar-Riverside offers its residents a lower than average cost of living compared to the rest of Minneapolis. While the city has an average rent of $962 for a one-bedroom apartment, one of the West Bank neighborhood's most prominent apartment blocks, Seven Corners, prices one-bedrooms between $725 and $800, significantly lower than the city average.

Gas costs 91 percent of the national average, and jumping on the bus is even more affordable with fares between $1.50 and $3 or discount rates of only 75 cents for students, seniors and people with disabilities. A free bus originates on the edge of this neighborhood, and it takes University of Minnesota students from the west bank to the east bank of their campus.

Beer, particularly if you enjoy domestic brews, has great value with some pubs offering pitchers for as low as $7.50 and pints for only $3.

Two of the flagship stores in the neighborhood reflect the natural interests of Seven Corners residents. Midwest Mountaineering has shelves full of high-quality outdoor and camping equipment, while the Hub Bike Co-operative offers bicycling products and repairs. The only employee-owned bike cooperative in the Twin Cities, the economic objectives of this bicycle shop are in line with the neighborhood's early activist roots.

When residents of the West Bank neighborhood feel hungry, they buy groceries at the organic and local Seward Food Co-op, which is located just south of the neighborhood. Last minute essentials and specialty items can be picked up at Afrik Grocery and Halal Meat or the small but efficient West Bank Grocery. Reaching a major grocery store by car is relatively easy as well, and on the weekends, residents often head to the Mill City, Midtown or Minneapolis farmers' markets where they can buy produce from local farmers and products from local artisans as well as imported peaches from Colorado.