Housing in Cody, Duluth, Minnesota
Part of the Cody neighborhood guide. Back to the full guide.
Cody's stock is West Duluth's ordinary housing, built between about 1900 and 1970 and priced accordingly.
The core types are gable-front cottages and small four-squares on the older blocks, postwar ramblers and split-entries filling in from the 1950s, and scattered later infill. Lots are platted and modest, a little more generous than the flats below. Single-family units make up 77.0% of the shared tract's stock. New construction is effectively absent.
This is straightforward housing to buy and to own, which is the main argument for it. The inspection list is the standard pre-1970 Duluth one: knob-and-tube remnants and undersized service on the older houses, lead paint under later coats, asbestos in pre-1980 insulation and flooring, older sewer laterals worth scoping on the oldest blocks, ice dams, and radon, which is routine testing anywhere in this city given the bedrock.
The Cody-specific item is the creek. Parcels above and beside the Keene Creek ravine carry drainage questions the rest of the neighborhood does not: how water moves across the lot during spring melt, whether the basement takes water in April rather than in a summer rain, and, for lots close to the edge, bank stability. Ask about spring specifically, look for a tide line and efflorescence on the foundation, and get an opinion on the bank if the lot backs onto the ravine. None of this is disqualifying and creek lots are among the nicest in the neighborhood; they simply need a different question set.
Carrying costs are low. St. Louis County taxes apply and owner-occupants should file for the Minnesota homestead credit, proportionally a large saving at this price point. Heating a modest postwar house here is cheaper than heating the large old stock on the east side, though request two or three seasons of actual utility history rather than an average. Ecolibrium3's west-side energy programming is aimed squarely at this housing.
Pricing is the genuine difficulty. With no published median and few annual sales, valuation depends on close comparables and a local agent who has actually sold on these streets. Expect appraisal to lean on Denfeld and the wider West Duluth data.
Dominant styles: gable-front cottage, small American four-square, postwar rambler, split-entry, modest 1950s infill. Watch for: knob-and-tube wiring remnants, lead paint on pre-1978 stock, asbestos in pre-1980 insulation and flooring, older sewer laterals, ice dams, radon (test given bedrock), slope drainage and basement moisture on parcels above and beside the Keene Creek ravine, bank stability on creek-adjacent lots.
What the housing stock is
Share of housing units by structure type, summing to 100.1%. ACS 5-year 2023 estimates, Census Tract 33; St. Louis County; Minnesota (FIPS 27-137-003300), accessed 2026-08-13. Neighborhood boundaries do not align to Census geographies; this is the best-fit tract for the neighborhood centroid.
Housing next door
Immediately downhill, the main street where almost every errand from Cody actually happens.
DenfeldEast, more housing stock, the high school, and the nearest published median.
FairmountSouth, with the Lake Superior Zoo and the Kingsbury Creek corridor.
Bayview HeightsUp the hill west, larger wooded lots, Proctor schools and a harder winter.
IrvingSoutheast toward the bay, a similar era of housing with a park and playfield.