Streets in the North Loop are oriented to be parallel to the river, which means that they run at a 45-degree angle relative to the grid of the rest of the city.

Although the neighborhood technically extends further to the south, the main residential and commercial area of the North Loop is roughly a rectangle bounded by the railroad tracks as Cedar Lake Trail (in the southeast), Plymouth Avenue (in the northwest), the elevated 4th street freeway entrance/exit in the southwest, and the Mississippi River in the northeast.

While some industrial tenants remain (particularly in the area southwest of 4th Street), many of the old factories and warehouses have been converted to commercial space or loft condominiums and apartments.

Coffee shops, restaurants, bars, art galleries, and small retail stores have also moved into the neighborhood in recent years.

The Tony Award-winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Closed and building sold) and the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art, a prominent artist cooperative and gallery space, are located in the eastern part of the neighborhood.

In 2005, the North Loop Neighborhood Association launched a re-branding project led by committee members Lisa Goldson Armstrong and Marybeth George.

A temporary dog park has been built on N 3rd St and N 7th Ave. Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, opened in 2010, is on the southwest edge of the neighborhood.