The Kreuzviertel (Cross Quarter) is Dortmund's most liveable inner neighbourhood — a grid of late nineteenth-century apartment blocks southwest of the centre that largely escaped wartime bombing and postwar demolition. The streets retain their Gründerzeit architecture: ornate stucco facades, corner turrets, wrought-iron balconies. It functions as Dortmund's equivalent of what in other cities would be called a Kiez or quartier — a neighbourhood of cafes, independent restaurants, bookshops, and bars.
The Kreuzviertel is where much of Dortmund's creative and professional middle class lives, and the day-to-day street life here is noticeably different from the postwar anonymity of the city centre. The Kreuzstrasse and Münsterstrasse are the main commercial spines. Several of the best independent restaurants and cocktail bars in the city are here. The district also has good cycling connections to the city centre via the Körne canal path.