ChiGrl4

The Washington Park neighborhood is low-income and does have some crime issues. I wouldn’t consider it the most dangerous neighborhood in the whole city, but it does have its problems.

The main reason to visit Washington Park is…the park, of course! Washington Park is connected to Jackson Park via the Midway. It’s not quite as big as Jackson Park, but it’s still really nice. There are two really cool features in the park. The first is the DuSable Museum of African American History. Next is the sculpture towards the southern end called Fountain of Time. It’s huge and kind of eerie, but if you’re in the park don’t miss it.

The park is also home to the African Festival of the Arts. This weekend-long fest features music, art and a marketplace for the neighborhood. It’s a pretty big event.

South Shore is just south of the Hyde Park neighborhood. Jackson Park is just to the north – one of the nicest in the city! Like a lot of the lakefront on the south side, South Shore has some beautiful buildings. A walk around the neighborhood will pass by mansions, bungalows and the South Shore Cultural Center, which used to be a country club for rich Chicagoans trying to ‘get away.’ The streets are tree-lined and quiet. South Shore is a middle-class, mostly African American area, and is a great place to live or visit.

There are neighborhood corner bars with lives blues and jazz. There’s a lot of good food in the area too. A lot of the places are soul food and Caribbean fare. Army & Lou’s is a really well-known soul food spot. Soul Vegetarian East is also really delicious. I think both might technically be in Grand Crossing, which is the neighborhood right to the west of South Shore.

There is a nice lakefront park with a beach that’s popular but not overly crowded like those on the north side or downtown.

South Chicago is part of the very large Southeast Side neighborhood at the far south end of Chicago, right next to Indiana. The area has always been very industrial, and it was home to steel factories and refineries. Most of the people living in the neighborhood were workers at these places. When these industries collapsed, so did South Chicago. The area started to get a crime problem, but in recent years there has been some serious efforts to clean it up and attract new businesses.

The population is working-class and pretty racially and ethnically diverse. Everybody is friendly, and there are neighborhood restaurants and bars to hang out in – but nothing fancy. There are a lot of churches in the area and some of the scenes from the Blues Brothers were filmed in the neighborhood.

South Chicago is also right on the lake and close to some very large parks. There’s also a state wildlife & recreation area with a smaller lake for fishing.

It’s a family, community-oriented kind of neighborhood that hopefully has good things in store.

West Rogers Park is like one big international market. This is a great neighborhood to visit, and is really nice and safe to live in too. There are ALL different kinds of people living in the area, but it’s known for the large Jewish, Indian and Pakistani population.

A walk down Devon Avenue will show you a glimpse of the culture in the neighborhood. Beautiful and colorful saris are hanging in windows, bookstores sell reading material in all kinds of languages and if you’re a home cook you can find it all at grocery stores selling curry to kosher. There are a lot of really cool Indian jewelry stores too.

The food in the neighborhood is reason enough to get all the way up north. The smells coming from the restaurants will lure you in every time! This is THE place to find really authentic Southeast Asian food. Hema’s Kitchen – just go! There are also plenty of Jewish delis and restaurants, and a large amount of Chinese and Korean to be found too.

West Rogers Park may be far north, but all of the cultures that mesh together there make it totally worth the trip. Everyone is friendly and they all come together as a community.

Rogers Park is a cool neighborhood by the lake, but it’s FAR. Far from downtown and very far to travel if you don’t live on the north side. But it’s definitely worth a visit and would be a great place to live. The area is really diverse – one of the most diverse places in the city, with a ton of different immigrant populations. It didn’t used to have a great reputation, but it’s getting much safer there. The atmosphere is friendly and great for families and singles alike. Loyola University attracts students to the area too.

There’s so much going on in the area it’s hard to pick a few things!

The lakefront in Rogers Park is really nice. The beaches are cleaner and less crowded than anywhere else (maybe I shouldn’t have given that away!).

The food in Rogers Park is a smorgasbord from across the world. There’s Indian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Caribbean, sushi, coffee shops…the list goes on and on. The Heartland Café is an awesome place to eat that has a lot of vegetarian options, a hippie vibe and a little shop attached.

There’s plenty of interesting shops, and a little arts district with galleries and theaters.

Wicker Park is SO artsy and edgy – blah, blah, blah. This neighborhood became too trendy for its own good, and now it’s borderline intolerable.

I used to hang out in this neighborhood all the time. It was really diverse, affordable and had a lot of cool things that you couldn’t find elsewhere in the city. There was always good music going on and the atmosphere was cool but not in a trendy, everybody HAS to be here, way.

Somewhere in the last 5, probably more, years it turned into the trendiest neighborhood around. Where there used to be artists, musicians and people of all kinds, there are now people who would normally hang out in Lakeview or Lincoln Park. Yuppies started moving in, rents started going up, and local businesses are slowly being replaced with chain stores. Since when were Urban Outfitters, Aldo and Levi’s “edgy?” The bars have mostly turned into clubby or snooty places that attract a pretty obnoxious crowd on the weekends.

Don’t get me wrong, there are still a lot of good things going on. Myopic Books, Quimby’s and Reckless Records are still around, among other local shops. Subterranean and Double Door still have good music going on. And there really are a TON of good restaurants in the neighborhood. There’s still a lot of hangers-on in Wicker Park too, but I doubt they will be for long.

Ukrainian Village is where I live, and is part of West Town. It’s a great neighborhood. It’s friendly and really feels like a community. There are still a lot of Eastern Europeans living in the area, plus a lot of young people moving in as they have to leave Wicker Park and other areas because of the prices.

Most of Ukrainian Village is a designated historical landmark. There are old apartment buildings, churches and cottages that are all preserved.

There are a ton of great locally owned businesses in the neighborhood. There’s also a really diverse range of restaurants to choose from. The bars are all little corner neighborhood places that add to the community here.

Unfortunately there’s been some change recently with the gentrification of the rest of West Town and Wicker Park (see my reviews of them too). Every other building that’s not in the historic district has been torn down and replaced with condos, where, you guessed it, yuppies keep moving in. Some of the newer businesses opening up seem to belong in some other more trendy neighborhood. I have a lot of friends and family living here too, and we’re all a little bit worried that we’re about to be priced and chased out of our neighborhood.

For now, Ukrainian Village is a wonderful place to live or visit, and will hopefully stay a nice, friendly, middle-class area.

Marquette Park used to be a mostly Eastern European neighborhood – one side of my family is from the area, and I have some relatives that still live there. A lot of African Americans moved in a few decades ago, and Hispanics have been coming there a lot lately. This makes the area pretty diverse as far as people go, which is always nice in a neighborhood. A lot of people have lived in Marquette Park for a long time, and there are plenty of bungalows and other homes. The area is friendly and neighborly. It has had issues with crime, and there are gangs in the area, but it has been improving.

There are plenty of neighborhood restaurants to choose from. There’s Mexican, Middle Eastern and Lithuanian. There are also pizza and hot dog joints, plus a diner or two.

The actual park is really huge and pretty, and has a lot of outdoorsy activities going on – soccer, baseball, golf.

Marquette Park was the site of some serious racial tension in the ‘60s when African Americans started moving in. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a march through the neighborhood. Luckily, today the area is filled with families of all kinds who all get along.

Gage Park is a pretty residential community with a lot of Chicago’s famous bungalow houses. The park itself is nice and big. The population was Lithuanian and other Eastern Europeans, but now is mostly Hispanic. There are a lot of Mexican restaurants in the neighborhood now serving tacos, sandwiches and ice cream. Elias Tacos is probably the best in the area. Nicky’s is a good BBQ place that’s been around forever.

Gage Park isn’t an overly exciting neighborhood, but it’s a nice area for families and affordable homes. It’s fairly quiet. It’s close to Midway Airport, and the Orange Line runs through the neighborhood on the way there. However, it’s not known as being a particularly safe neighborhood either. They’ve had some issues with gangs, etc. but I don’t think it’s the worst area.

I wouldn’t really consider Goose Island to be its own neighborhood, but it is an island in the middle of the city! The actual island has nothing of interest on it – it’s industrial and smells bad. Waste Management has a facility on the island, so that should give you and idea as to what the smell is like. The river over there is extra dirty too.

The area surrounding Goose Island to the North is filled with newly built condos, a lot of chain stores and strip malls, and yes, the Goose Island pub and brewery. This is where you can taste all of the beers that aren’t usually sold in the liquor store – they have so many varieties to choose from, all seasonal and always changing. If you drink 45 beers you get your name on a plaque in the restaurant. I only have THREE more to go!

To the west of the island is Cabrini Green, or I should say what WAS Cabrini Green. This was one of Chicago’s most notorious public housing projects. They kicked out all the residents a while ago, and actually just demolished the very last building a few months ago. It was a pretty emotional moment for those who lived in Cabrini or who have any connection to it at all. The projects have been replaced by high-priced condos and yuppies, which is VERY weird. Of course, they don’t call it by the same name anymore – I’m sure some real estate “genius” came up with something more flashy.

Pullman is on the far southwest side of Chicago, and is like its own little city. Of course, that makes sense because that’s what it started out as. It was built in the late 1800s by the railroad baron George Pullman for the workers of his Palace Railroad Car Company to live in. It was meant to be a model community, and the houses were much nicer than anything else workers would have lived in at the time.

Today, there’s not a whole lot going on in Pullman besides the history. It’s a nice, quiet neighborhood and is really cool to walk around. Almost ALL of the homes and buildings that were built as part of the original Pullman are still there. Which is pretty impressive, considering how much of the rest of the city has been torn down at some point or another. There are a few factory buildings and a church that are also still there. I believe they do guided tours of the ‘town’ too.

One strange thing about Pullman is there is NOTHING to eat there! If you’re visiting or living there you have to go to other neighborhoods to go to a restaurant. There’s plenty nearby, but Pullman itself doesn’t have much.

First off, the area shown on this map here isn’t West Town. West Town includes East Village and Ukrainian Village, and extends from Division to Grand, Western to the Kennedy.

Second, this review will be very biased, as my neighborhood is Ukrainian Village.

I have to first say that this neighborhood has long been very nice and neighborly. It’s good for families, singles, older people and younger ones too. The businesses, bars and restaurants are locally owned, and everywhere you go there’s a wonderful community atmosphere.

Unfortunately, this is changing rapidly. West Town is an area that’s been experiencing gentrification like crazy. Apartment buildings are being torn down left and right and replaced with very expensive condos. One down the street from me was going for $500,000. REALLY? This of course does not apply to all people buying these condos, but many of them have a really bad attitude towards the neighborhood and its residents. For example, the neighborhood association posted on their website that they wanted all businesses to get rid of the bars over their windows and that they wanted to start attracting only ‘high-end’ businesses and families to the neighborhood. The area used to be very diverse, and is growing increasingly NOT so. This is the reason gentrification is a problem. It pushes out long-time residents by overpricing the real estate and making them feel unwelcome in their own neighborhood.

That being said, I’ve always loved living in the area. It’s convenient and a real community, although I can’t say how long that will last.

Uptown is THE most diverse neighborhood in all of Chicago. It’s actually a fact – a study was done a few years ago. Every race and ethnicity can be found there. It’s one of my favorite neighborhoods for that reason. It’s safe, although there is a large problem with crime in parts of the neighborhood – there’s a lot of gang and drug activity going on, but it’s easily avoided. It’s not ritzy or touristy..?

There’s definitely been some new development going on in Uptown, some good, some bad. Businesses have been opening up again, but newer residents have been clashing with older ones (this happens with gentrification – see my post on West Town).

First, there’s Argyle Street. This small strip is filled with Vietnamese restaurants and shops. Stop by for delicious pho and other treats.

There’s plenty in the way of music in Uptown. The mayor wants to make the neighborhood Chicago’s new “entertainment district,” whatever that means. In the meantime, there’s the Aragon Ballroom and the Riviera Theater. There’s also the Green Mill, a jazz staple and former hangout of Al Capone. There are escape tunnels and everything. This is a GREAT spot to spend a night. The Uptown Theater is a gorgeous old building that’s been closed forever, but pictures of the inside are amazing. They’re supposed to be fixing it up and reopening soon.

There’s not a ton of shopping, but there are local businesses that have been around a while. My favorite is Shake, Rattle and Read, an awesome book & record store.

The bars are friendly and laid-back. Carol’s Pub and the Holiday Club are two good ones.

University Village used to be Little Italy. First, half the neighborhood was bulldozed to build the University of Illinois Chicago. Hey, I guess they did have to put it somewhere. Then, decades later, the rest of the neighborhood was bulldozed to create ‘University Village.’

For anyone who grew up in Chicago or spent any time in the neighborhood at all before this latest development will find University Village bizarre at best. Maxwell Street Market? Not quite. There are all brand new townhomes and condos, and what looks like a ready-made, pre-fabricated college downtown transplanted into the city. It’s weird.

The neighborhood is definitely safer than it was, but if students don’t venture far from this area they won’t experience a city or Chicago whatsoever.

There’s a bunch of chain restaurants, stores and bars that cater to the college crowd. Which is fine, considering there’s a college there. But I see absolutely no reason to visit or live in this neighborhood unless you go to UIC.

HOWEVER, there are still some Italian restaurants in the area, and Greektown is right there too. The new developments haven’t taken over the entire neighborhood, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they did at some point. You can definitely still find good food, but will have to get out of bizarro-world first.

I made the mistake of living in Roscoe Village for a couple of years. I had to move after being run off the sidewalk by yuppie moms with GIANT strollers one too many times.

Yes, Roscoe Village is FILLED with them. If that’s who you are, you’ll thoroughly enjoy the neighborhood. I got sick of being glared at for sitting on my OWN porch during the day (apparently that’s weird?) and for not having a condo, a tiny dog and 2 kids. Oh and for not jumping into the grass to make way for strollers. Since when did they come in industrial sizes? The neighborhood is getting really expensive too.

The bad stuff set aside, the neighborhood is nice, clean and safe. I’m not into most of the shops there, which cater to these types of families, but there are a few that are OK. I’ve been going to Hard Boiled, a record store, for about 10 years. There are a lot of really nice antique shops on Belmont too.

The Four Treys bar on Damen is OLD and very laid back. You can bring your dog there! Yes, I DO like dogs. They also serve Malort, a very disgusting prohibition-era liquor. The Hungry Brain is a cool spot that has live music every once in a while. Beat Kitchen has good food and live music almost every day. The bars there are all pretty quiet.

There’s good food in the area – Kitschen is good for brunch, Costello’s and Robey’s have good sandwiches, and there’s a great vegetarian breakfast spot called Victory’s Banner that’s run by a VERY interesting religious group.

My parents grew up in the Portage Park area. There’s not a ton going on there, but it’s a nice, family-friendly, typical Chicago neighborhood. It’s known for the huge amount of Chicago cops that live in the area, both active and retired. There’s a nice mix of people, and it’s pretty safe.

Portage Park is best known for Six Corners, which has been a shopping district in the neighborhood for 150 years or so. Its heyday was probably in the ‘50s through the ‘70s, but there’s still plenty there. The main attraction was the Sears department store, which is still around. There are also a ton of local businesses still around, although it’s not a major shopping district anymore. My parents LOVE to remind me about how great the shops used to be over there.

Every single Halloween I start my costume search at Fantasy Costumes (it’s at Six Corners). It’s been around forever and has the largest selection I’ve ever seen. This isn’t one of those cheap places that pop up for only a month before Halloween. It’s around all year and carries costumes, wigs, professional makeup, and those giant furry animal suits! They also RENT costumes, which is awesome.

The Portage Theater is another great spot in the neighborhood. It’s really old and they always show really random old movies.

Ravenswood is a family friendly neighborhood with nice homes, condos and apartment buildings. It’s also home to former governor Rod Blagojevich and new mayor Rahm Emanuel, so if you enjoy being around politicians and are scared of the south side, this neighborhood’s for you!

I can’t say the population of Ravenswood is all that diverse, mostly because it’s not. It’s a fairly affluent area, although not totally unaffordable. There are a lot of couples and families in the area.

There are a ton of cutesy shops in the neighborhood – clothing boutiques, stuff for kids, etc. The restaurants are pretty decent – there’s plenty to choose from. Glenn’s Diner right by the Montrose Brown Line stop is an institution in the area and is really good. My family has been buying pastries from Lutz Café since the ‘40s or ‘50s – they’re an Austrian bakery and also have a little café. Coffee and something sweet is highly recommended!

I go to Lillstreet Art Center, which moved from Lincoln Park to Ravenswood, a lot. They have all kinds of classes for both adults and kids. First Slice Café on the bottom floor has DELICIOUS sandwiches, pies and coffee. They also have a great shop that sells work from students and staff.

Pilsen is a great neighborhood, and will hopefully stay that way. It’s been a Hispanic neighborhood for a long time, and in recent years a ton of hipster/artist kids have been moving in.

Pilsen really feels like a community. Neighbors are friendly and families and kids are everywhere. Probably the best time I ever had in Pilsen was at a neighborhood block part on a friend’s street. Everybody from old ladies to little kids, moms and dads, young hipsters, was having a great time. There was food, music and games. AND live Mexican wrestling.

There are a ton of delicious Mexican restaurants in the neighborhood. The bars are mostly corner neighborhood joints. The Skylark is a spot that has become really busy and filled with a younger crowd on the weekends, and has really good food and beer.

Art is a major attraction in Pilsen. First, there’s the National Museum of Mexican Art. Next, there are a ton of art galleries that have opened up near Halsted and 18th Street. No Coast is a really cool shared art studio and gallery that sells posters, clothes, all kinds of stuff. Last, there are murals EVERYWHERE. A walk through the neighborhood is filled with colorful images both amateur and professional.

Farther west there’s local shops, groceries, a couple of decent vintage stores, and the Textile Discount Outlet – a gigantic warehouse filled with every fabric you could possibly imagine.

O’Hare is so busy, I usually avoid it and fly out of Midway whenever I can.

The surrounding neighborhood definitely has a more suburban feel to it, being on the outskirts of the city. There are residential areas here, and I can tell you from experience that it is REALLY noisy. Sitting in a backyard with planes flying LOW overhead all day isn’t really relaxing. BUT, people who live over there are used to it and it’s not a big deal to them. If you drive (I do not) the traffic near O’Hare can get absolutely terrible because of the airport, especially on the highway.

There are a lot of businesses in the area, so you’ll see a lot of mid-height corporate looking buildings all over the place. There’s also a lot of generic hotels surrounding the airport.

The restaurants around the area are mostly chain restaurants that you find out in the suburbs and a lot of fast food. I know there’s also a few outposts of popular steakhouses that cater to the business crowd.

To the east are the small towns of Norridge and Harwood Heights, and then more of Chicago. The land that O’Hare sits on was incorporated into the city when the airport was built, but these two communities were in the way and remain their own towns. They are much more family-friendly and residential.

North Center is a really nice neighborhood for couples and families. I have a friend with 2 young kids who lives there and loves it. It’s fairly quiet, safe, and still has a lot to do.

A lot of the restaurants in the area are bar & grill/pub type places. Orange Garden has been in the neighborhood FOREVER and is a really good Chinese place. Mrs. Murphy and Sons is an awesome Irish restaurant that will totally change the way you feel about Irish food. They also have a great whiskey list.

I’ve mostly been to the bars in the area. Martyr’s is a nice place to see live music – they have all kinds of different bands play, including a lot of international/world music. The Globe Pub has been a favorite of mine since it opened. They have tons of different beers, good food and open REALLY early for soccer games (which is what they’re known for). The Black Rock also has decent bar food and is a good spot to hang out with friends.

If you have a day to kill, stop by Architectural Artifacts. It’s a salvage shop that has old furniture, doors, tiles, pillars, fireplaces – random stuff from demolished buildings around the world. They have a museum too. Poking around here can be really fun if you like antiques or home décor. It’s really expensive, but fun to just look around.