Train moves through the Cedar Riverside train station in South Minneapolis on February 19, 2023.

A family walks down a trail near Riverside Plaza in Minneapolis.

Riverside Plaza, a defining feature of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis, reflects the city’s 1970s experiment with large-scale urban housing. Designed by architect Ralph Rapson and completed in 1973, the complex was built as part of the federal urban renewal program and stands out for its Brutalist concrete design and colorful panels. Often referred to locally as “Little Mogadishu” due to its large Somali community, the towers remain a prominent symbol of both the city’s architectural ambition and its layered immigrant history.

Riverside Plaza apartment buildings in Cedar-Riverside, near downtown Minneapolis.

35W near downtown Minneapolis with Riverside Plaza towers.

Riverside Plaza stands tall beyond the METRO Blue Line overpass in the Cedar–Riverside district of Minneapolis. The colorful panels of the 1970s residential towers contrast with the new mid-rise apartments and light rail infrastructure built decades later. This view captures the merging of eras—modern rail transit, Brutalist architecture, and the continuing evolution of one of Minneapolis’s most historically diverse neighborhoods.

Riverside Plaza and Cedar High Apartments stand illuminated against the twilight sky in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Completed in the 1970s and designed by architect Ralph Rapson, the complex is one of the city’s most distinctive examples of modernist architecture. Its colorful paneling and Brutalist concrete forms house one of the most diverse communities in the region, symbolizing both urban renewal and the evolution of affordable housing in the Twin Cities.