Urbanization presents some serious challenges to stream ecosystems, frequently leading to degradation of water quality and loss of biodiversity. To mitigate these impacts, restoration efforts have been implemented worldwide. However, the effectiveness of such restoration projects in high latitude urban streams remains poorly understood. I investigated the influence of restoration on high latitude urban streams by comparing the ecological conditions, using macroinvertebrates as indicators within urban unrestored streams, urban restored streams, and forested streams within and around Umeå, Sweden. My results indicate no significant difference between urban and urban restored streams in terms of key parameters, including water chemistry as well as macroinvertebrate community abundance, richness, and biomass. By comparison, both categories of urban streams were generally distinct from forested counterparts. In particular, the abundance and biomass of insects within the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) were notably elevated in forested streams, were driving forces of the dissimilarity between these and urban streams and were negatively correlated with measures of nutrient enrichment and acidity across sites. By comparison, community biomass in urban streams tended to be dominated by isopods. Overall, my results indicate that efforts to modify or restore urban stream had little influence on benthic communities. However, stream restoration in this case was done largely to 1) provide flood prevention and 2) be aesthetically pleasing, which are also relevant goals. Nevertheless, my findings underscore the complexity of restoring urban streams and highlight the need for further research to improve restoration strategies tailored to these environments.