Downtown Superior
Superior's main street, mid-restoration: 1890s blocks, cheap space, and a brewery scene.
Downtown Superior is a full-size 1890s main street attached to a city that never grew into it. Tower Avenue was rebuilt in 2014 with a landscaped median and period lighting, the Empire Block came back as apartments over storefronts, and the north end has become a genuine brewery and music destination. It is the most walkable and cheapest downtown in the Twin Ports, and it is still visibly half-finished.
Everything about Downtown Superior
Each part of the Downtown Superior guide has its own page. Start anywhere.
Downtown Superior runs along Tower Avenue between roughly Belknap Street and the Superior Bay waterfront, a flat, regular grid of commercial blocks laid out when this city expected to become the great port at the head of the lakes. The buildings that went up in the 1890s were built for that expectation. The population that ...
HistoryDowntown Superior is the physical record of a bet that did not pay off. Superior was founded in 1854 by investors who looked at the harbor, the flat land, and the obvious geography and concluded that the city at the head of Lake Superior would be built on this side of the bay. They platted ...
CharacterDowntown Superior feels like a place with more room than people, which is either melancholy or full of possibility depending on the day and your temperament. The streetwall is continuous and handsome, the sidewalks are wide, and on a Tuesday afternoon in March there is not much happening on them.
Who lives hereDowntown Superior's residential population is small and skews heavily toward renters and small households. The dominant housing types are upper-floor apartments over commercial space, converted buildings, and small older houses on the fringe blocks, so the ownership rate here is the lowest in the city and single-family households are a minority.
HousingThe downtown residential market is not a house market, and buyers should reset expectations before they start. The stock breaks into three categories: upper-floor apartments in commercial blocks, whole mixed-use buildings, and small older houses on the fringe blocks toward Central Park and the North End.
SchoolsDowntown is served by the School District of Superior, which enrolled 3,732 students as of its September 2025 count across five elementaries, a preschool, one middle school, and one high school (School District of Superior, accessed 2026-08-13). Elementary assignment depends on address across Northern Lights, Cooper, Great Lakes, Bryant, and Four Corners. Every student in ...
Parks & recreationDowntown's own green space is thin, and the district compensates with proximity rather than acreage.
Restaurants & diningFor a district this size, downtown Superior eats and drinks well above its weight, and almost all of the energy is at the north end of Tower Avenue.
Churches & worshipDowntown Superior is the easiest place in the Twin Ports to live without driving everywhere, with real caveats. The district is flat, the grid is regular and sidewalked, and the 2014 Tower Avenue reconstruction widened the walking space and added street trees and period lighting. Civic errands, bars, restaurants, and the library are all walkable.
Safety & feelDowntown Superior reads as a quiet weekday civic district with a livelier bar-and-music scene at the north end of Tower on weekend evenings. Sidewalks are continuous, the 2014 streetscape improved lighting through the core, and the flat grid gives good sightlines. Activity thins considerably on weeknights and in deep winter, and vacant storefronts in some ...
Daily lifeDowntown is Superior's civic center, and for a certain kind of errand it is the most convenient address in the Twin Ports. The Douglas County courthouse, city hall, the post office, banks, and the Superior Public Library are all in or beside the core. For anyone who has just moved across the state line, that ...
Local loreThe street is named Tower Avenue for Charlemagne Tower, the financier behind the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad, whose money built the ore economy on both sides of the bay. The Empire Block has been on Tower Avenue since 1892 and sat in decline for decades before a roughly $6 million restoration put 15 apartments ...
Is it right for you?You will love downtown Superior if you want to live in a real main street at a price that makes experimentation possible, and if the idea of buying a building rather than a house sounds like an opportunity instead of a burden. It suits owner-operators, investors with a renovation appetite, remote workers who want walkability ...
How Downtown Superior scores
Is Downtown Superior right for you?
You'll love it if
- The most walkable district in the Twin Ports outside Canal Park, and flat, so it stays walkable in winter.
- Cheapest entry into a real downtown anywhere in the region. Upper-floor and mixed-use space here costs a fraction of comparable space in Duluth.
- The brewery and music scene at the north end of Tower has turned downtown into a destination people cross the bridge for.
- Restoration momentum is real and visible: the Empire Block, the 2014 Tower Avenue rebuild, and the Earth Rider warehouse conversion are all completed projects, not proposals.
- Civic convenience is unmatched locally. County courthouse, city hall, library, and post office are all here, which matters after a cross-state move.
- Twelve minutes to downtown Duluth over the Blatnik Bridge.
Look elsewhere if
- This is not a family-housing district. There are very few single-family homes, the school-age population is thin, and the nearest full grocery is about a mile away.
- Restoration is genuinely partial. For every Empire Block there are vacant storefronts and buildings with deferred maintenance, and progress has been slow and uneven for decades.
- The noise profile is the worst in Superior: traffic, rail, bar crowds, harbor, and bridge.
- Buying here usually means buying an old commercial or mixed-use building, which brings tuckpointing, flat roofs, fire separation, accessibility, and change-of-use code exposure that a house does not.
- Nothing is new. If you want move-in-ready, this is the wrong district.
- Street-level activity drops off sharply on weeknights and in deep winter.
If you like Downtown Superior, also look at
Immediately north, sharing the brewery district and the same 1890s building stock at a residential scale.
Central Park (Superior)East of downtown, the city's historic residential district with the substantial 1890s houses.
Billings Park (Superior)West along the river, a quieter residential neighborhood with the city's best riverfront park.
South End (South Superior)South along Tower Avenue, where the commercial strip loosens into residential blocks.
Allouez-Itasca (Superior)East past Barker's Island toward the ore docks and Wisconsin Point.
Canal ParkTwelve minutes across the Blatnik Bridge, the Duluth waterfront district downtown Superior is most often compared against.
Recent coverage of Downtown Superior
City councilors laid out spending priorities for next year, including streets, recreation and transit.
Related: North End (Superior) South End (South Superior) Central Park (Superior) Billings Park (Superior) East End Allouez-Itasca (Superior)
The utility began building a bill-assistance program for qualifying households as lead service line work continues.
Related: North End (Superior) South End (South Superior) Central Park (Superior) Billings Park (Superior) East End Allouez-Itasca (Superior)
Free outdoor concerts ran across several Superior neighborhoods through the summer.
A downtown formalwear shop under new ownership began converting to a yarn and fiber store.
A new restaurant prepared to open on the Tower Avenue corridor.
A backyard snow structure on the main downtown street drew local attention over the holidays.
The city presented a roughly $2 million plan to replace failing concrete and add planted medians.
Related: South End (South Superior)
The council hired a contractor to rebuild deteriorated pavement south of North 28th Street.
Related: South End (South Superior)
Headlines link to the original publisher. We summarise and attribute, we do not republish. Last checked 14 Aug 2026.
Common questions about Downtown Superior
Can you actually live in downtown Superior?
Yes, though the housing is unusual. The residential stock is mostly upper-floor apartments over commercial space, converted buildings, and small older houses on the fringe blocks rather than single-family homes. The restored Empire Block at 1202-1208 Tower Avenue added 15 market-rate apartments over three commercial spaces, which is the clearest recent example of the pattern. Expect a rental-heavy district with a low ownership rate.
Is downtown Superior walkable?
It is the most walkable district in the Twin Ports outside Duluth's Canal Park, and unlike anywhere in Duluth it is completely flat, so it stays walkable in February. Tower Avenue was rebuilt in 2014 with a landscaped median, period lighting, wide sidewalks, and street trees. The honest limit is what you can walk to: bars, restaurants, civic buildings, and the library are here, but the nearest full grocery is about a mile south on Belknap.
What happened to Tower Avenue?
It got rebuilt. The reconstruction had its grand reopening in July 2014 and brought a landscaped median, period lighting, generous sidewalks, and tree-lined walks beside the storefronts. It won the State of Wisconsin Urban Design award and a Mid America Quality of Life award. The street-level restoration has followed unevenly since, with the Empire Block as the flagship project and plenty of vacancy still in between.
Is downtown Superior a good investment?
It is the most interesting part of Superior for an investor and the least conventional for an owner-occupant. Building prices are a fraction of comparable Duluth space, there is genuine restoration momentum, and the north-end brewery district has proven that a destination can be built here. The counterweights are real: slow absorption, decades of uneven progress, and old-masonry costs including tuckpointing, flat roofs, fire separation, and change-of-use code triggers. Underwrite the building, not the story.
What is there to do downtown?
The north end of Tower Avenue is the draw: Earth Rider Brewery in the former Leamon Mercantile warehouse, the Cedar Lounge in a 1912 building billed as the longest continually operating tavern in the Twin Ports, and Thirsty Pagan Brewing a block east in the 1908 Soo Line Freight Depot. The Anchor Bar at 413 Tower is the institution. Barker's Island, the SS Meteor, and the Osaugie Trail are a mile and a half east.
How do downtown Superior taxes compare to Duluth?
Differently enough that you must model it rather than assume. Wisconsin applies the School Levy, First Dollar, and Lottery and Gaming credits directly to the tax bill; Minnesota instead reduces taxable value through the Homestead Market Value Exclusion and adds a separate Property Tax Refund. Downtown adds a wrinkle: mixed-use and commercial parcels are assessed differently from houses, so an upper-floor apartment in a commercial block is not taxed like a single-family home. Get the actual prior-year bill.
Where these facts come from
- Redfin, Superior WI housing market accessed 2026-08-13
- Superior Telegram, Empire Block restoration accessed 2026-08-13
- Lake Superior Magazine, Dawn of a New Superior (Tower Avenue reconstruction and awards) accessed 2026-08-13
- Wikipedia, Empire Block (Superior, Wisconsin) accessed 2026-08-13
- InWisconsin, state grant for downtown Superior redevelopment (Earth Rider, former Leamon Mercantile warehouse) accessed 2026-08-13
- City of Superior, Historic Preservation accessed 2026-08-13
- City of Superior, History of Superior accessed 2026-08-13
- School District of Superior, District Profile accessed 2026-08-13
- NCES Common Core of Data, school list for Superior School District accessed 2026-08-13
- Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Lottery and Gaming Credit program accessed 2026-08-13
- Duluth Transit Authority, routes and schedules accessed 2026-08-13
Last reviewed 2026-08-13 by Guide editorial.