How Covid Permanently Changed Dinkytown

Dinkytown is one of Minneapolis’ most storied neighborhoods. It has been built on university culture, independence and local business. But in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the neighborhood has lost storied businesses, buildings and some of its local identity. 

The main stretch of 14th Avenue looks different than it did in 2019. Building remodels, new apartments and more bike lanes have transformed the visual and business landscape. 

This map shows the locations of each business between 12th and 16th avenues, from University Avenue to 5th Street. The red locations are empty storefronts, the green are local businesses and the blues are chains, quantified by having more than three locations nationally. 

This map follows the same parameters but shows the same spaces in 2019. 

These pie charts illustrate the decline in local business ownership. The number of chains remained relatively the same, but they had a higher survival rate than the local businesses. 

Between 2019 and 2026, the number of local businesses shrunk from 35 to 20. The number of empty storefronts has risen from seven to 20, with two more chains popping up in the area. This decline in local business has shown itself in the look of the spaces of Dinkytown as well. 

Loring Pasta Bar was located in the Gray’s Drugstore building until COVID-19, when Gray’s Coffee moved in. The coffee shop ended up shutting its doors in 2022. In a Minnesota Daily article about the closure, store manager Samantha Campbell said, “Because of COVID-19, we closed for a month and we took a hit during that. It was harder to sort of pull ourselves back up after that period.” The historic building that once housed Bob Dylan has remained closed ever since. 

Even businesses that stayed open shifted their look when old plots of land were developed to open up more student housing. The unique Dinkytown McDonald’s was replaced by one that fit better with the city’s housing planning despite alumni uproar. The new McDonald’s opened in 2024 with a slightly different look. 

Hideaway, a local headshop, was a business that survived upscaled apartment development after COVID-19. The Doyle apartments moved in late 2023, changing the appearance of the local staple. 

With empty storefronts and local ownership at an all-time low, the visual and business landscape of Dinkytown is being redefined. The neighborhood's challenge will be filling empty storefronts with businesses that reflect the university culture that built Dinkytown, rather than just the national chains that can afford the rent. 

Credits

2019 Images via Google Maps

Loring Pasta Bar Image via Flickr

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