The handsome brick blocks of downtown Fargo were built for a different economy — the grain trade, the implement dealers, the department stores of a railroad city. Today many of them house something their builders never imagined: software companies, coworking lofts, design studios and the cafés that feed them. The city's downtown has reawakened as the technology quarter of the northern plains.

New Trades in Old Brick

Fictional firms such as Red River Digital and Prairie Stack Software have taken floors in renovated warehouses, drawn by low rents, a steady stream of graduates from the region's universities, and a quality of life that keeps talent from fleeing to the coasts. The result is a small but genuine cluster, where a founder can hire, raise money and find a mentor without leaving town.

From the almanac's reckoning:

• Renovated downtown warehouses now house software and design firms.
• Low rents and university graduates anchor the emerging tech cluster.
• The revival keeps young talent on the plains rather than the coasts.

The reinvention is far from finished, and the winters still test anyone's resolve, but the direction is clear. The almanac counts Fargo's downtown revival among the most hopeful developments in the plains economy — proof that the old brick has plenty of new trades left in it.