A hub of Lyn-Lake since it moved from downtown in 1988 to its current location in what founder Sonia Peterson christened the "Orbit Mall," Hairpolice is tightly woven into Minneapolis history. Peterson singlehandedly launched a hair revolution that spit alternative culture out into burgeoning Uptown's streets one shockingly colorful head at a time. She was the first in the city to do synthetic dreads, and she created her own "pinch braid" method of faux and human hair installation that's still used all over the world (and by early adopters George Clinton and Information Society's Kurt Harland). Peterson died rather suddenly of lung cancer in 2004, but Hairpolice still carries out her vision, albeit tweaked for modern Minneapolis. From precision cuts to creative color to extensions and dread perms, Hairpolice has made the city a more interesting place for decades, and not many salons can boast such a thing.