Como is a neighborhood within the
University community of
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
. It is sometimes referred to as Southeast Como, due to many of its streets ending in SE, and possibly to differentiate it from the Como neighborhood in neighboring
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
. Its boundaries are East
Hennepin Avenue
Hennepin Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs from Lakewood Cemetery (at West 36th Street), north through the Uptown District of Southwest Minneapolis, through the Virginia Triangle, the former "Bottleneck" a ...
to the north, 33rd Avenue Southeast (the eastern city limit) to the east, the Southeast Industrial Area to the south, and
Interstate 35W to the west.
Como features many amenities for its residents: Van Cleve Park Community Center, the Como Student Community Co-op, the University Childcare Center, Dar Al-Farooq mosque, SE Christian Church, and the Como Congregational Church building (designed in 1886 by
Charles Sedgwick). The #3 busline is convenient to all who live in Como and provides easy transportation to Downtown Minneapolis, all of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campuses, and Downtown St. Paul. The high-traffic business roads, industrial zones, and active railroads that surround Como contrast sharply with the residential character of the core Como neighborhood. The housing stock consists of modest early 20th-century bungalows and Victorian and twenties-era homes mixed with a scattering of newer duplexes and single family homes. Some areas (e.g. along Como, 15th and Hennepin Avenues) have post-60's two-story walk-up apartment buildings.
Commercial activity is focused on Como and East Hennepin Avenues. The neighborhood is served by a services business hub along Como Avenue with grocery stores, dentist, barber shop, coffee houses, restaurants, and auto service station.
Demographics
As of 2020, the population of Como was 6,455, split 58.1% male and 41.9% female.
Over 95% of residents were at least a high school graduate (or equivalent), and 69.6% had earned a bachelor's degree or higher.
17.4% of the population were foreign-born residents, and 20.1% spoke a language other than English at home. 7.7% of residents spoke English less than "very well".
8.4% of households had no access to a vehicle. Among workers 16 years and older, 54.2% commuted to work via
car, 22.1% used
public transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...
, and 23.7 walked,
biked,
worked at home, or used some other method. The average household income in Como was $64,333. 38.7% of residents lived below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, and 5.3% were unemployed. 79.4% of housing in the neighborhood was
renter-occupied.
Governance
The Southeast Como neighborhood is split between City of Minneapolis Wards 1 and 2. It also falls into the 2nd Police Precinct.
Trivia
*Como Avenue, which forms the spine of the residential neighborhood was originally a Territorial Road laid out in 1851, called the Willow River Road (Willow River is today's Hudson, WI).
*Later, when St. Paul named Lake Como and it became a popular recreational spot, the section of the WillowRiver/Hudson Road that led to the lake from Minneapolis became known as the Como Road.
*The first residential blocks were platted in 1882 by
James Tallmadge Elwell.
*
Maria Sanford
Maria Louise Sanford (December 19, 1836 – April 21, 1920) was an American educator. She was a professor of history at Swarthmore College from 1871 to 1880 and a professor of rhetoric and elocution at the University of Minnesota from 1880 to 190 ...
, the first female professor at the U of M, lived in the neighborhood and was active in the community church.
*General Mills built their research laboratory here in 1930 and created Cheerioats, which is known as Cheerios today. In the early 1950s, GM's mechanical division invented the Ryan Flight Recorder, more famously known as the "black box".
References
External links
Minneapolis Neighborhood Profile - ComoSoutheast Como Improvement AssociationWard 2 Blog
{{Geographic Location
, Center = Como
, North = Mid-City Industrial Area
, Northeast =
, East =
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...
, Southeast =
, South =
Prospect Park
, Southwest =
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, West =
Marcy-Holmes
, Northwest =
Beltrami
Neighborhoods in Minneapolis