Moving to Damen & Irving Park (Chicago, Lincoln: apartment, lease, neighborhoods)

[wyssaway]

Hello! My fiance & I recently signed a leaseon an apartment on the corner of Belle Plaine & W Wolcott near Irving Park & Damen. We are caucadian, 22 & 23 yrs old. Both students. I was wondering if I could get information on the safety of the area, interesting things to do there, etc since we are not from the Chicago area. Thanks so much!

[Vlajos]

Totally safe, no worries on that front. Tons of bars, restaurants, entertainment options all around. Welcome to Chicago!

[tomcho]

Great area, very safe and two blocks from the Brown Line. Brownstone, Lincoln Pub and O'Donovans are all nice and right by that intersection.

[wyssaway]

Thanks! Sorry for all the typos in my original thread. I'm on my phone and there's a lot of glare from the sun . I have a dog that I walk frequntly. Can anyone suggest some good parks, etc for walking?

[tomcho]

Here is a list of dog friendly parks...

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/docs/275ae673-d6e8-4717-a4ea-066cea5c4834_document.pdf (broken link)

If you head due east down Irving Park to Lake Shore there is a nice little dog beach in Belmont Harbor. The park at Montrose Beach is huge and is the nicest one I've been to.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by tomcho

Here is a list of dog friendly parks...

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/docs/275ae673-d6e8-4717-a4ea-066cea5c4834_document.pdf (broken link)

If you head due east down Irving Park to Lake Shore there is a nice little dog beach in Belmont Harbor. The park at Montrose Beach is huge and is the nicest one I've been to.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/3988792-post19.html
Mounting evidence affirms ongoing prostitution in lakefront Magic Hedge

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by chet everett

http://www.city-data.com/forum/3988792-post19.html
Mounting evidence affirms ongoing prostitution in lakefront Magic Hedge

You're providing a link to a story over 6 years old? Please tell the forum what the point on this post is? Since apparently you've never been to this dog beach yet feel the need to post meaningless links I'll break it down for the original poster and provide actual value.

The dog beach is located on the very NW corner of Montrose beach, this is North of Wilson. The so-called prostitution hot spot is located right next to the harbor on the eastern most point of the harbor. Since Chet clearly is a fear monger, he probably also doesn't know that the Magic Edge is a half a mile away from the dog beach.

Again, what was the point of your most and most importantly, why are you even posting in the Chicago forums when you clearly hate everything about the city.

[chet everett]

Just trying to keep things safe.




Oh yeah it's HEDGE, with an H

Hedge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by tomcho

You're providing a link to a story over 6 years old? Please tell the forum what the point on this post is? Since apparently you've never been to this dog beach yet feel the need to post meaningless links I'll break it down for the original poster and provide actual value.

The dog beach is located on the very NW corner of Montrose beach, this is North of Wilson. The so-called prostitution hot spot is located right next to the harbor on the eastern most point of the harbor. Since Chet clearly is a fear monger, he probably also doesn't know that the Magic Edge is a half a mile away from the dog beach.

Again, what was the point of your most and most importantly, why are you even posting in the Chicago forums when you clearly hate everything about the city.

[wyssaway]

Also Im wondering exactly what neighborhood I'll be living in... it seems there's some debate over that in this forum. Is it North Center? If so, is it the St. Bens area? Or is it Ravenswood? I've seen a couple different maps and they don't match. I know it doesn't matter, but Id like to know what to tell ppl when they ask me where i'll be living lol.

[Drover]

Damen and Irving Park is actually a six-way intersection of three major thoroughfares -- Lincoln Avenue also intersects there too. And Lincoln Avenue is probably where you'll find a good portion of the neighborhood's things to do. And things to do there are plenty of. There's a couple of solid small live-music venues within a couple blocks (Martyr's, Sylvie's), a small bowling alley, lots of restaurants of every stripe from barbecue to Cuban to Colombian to Mexican to Korean to Thai, even a shrimp shack. But most of all, the neighborhood's German heritage will be pretty evident. Considering you picked a neighborhood apparently sight unseen, you got very very lucky.

As for what the neighborhood is called, you'll find that neighborhood boundaries are often murky and sometimes fluid. You'll also find that Chicago has 77 "official community areas" and that there are often many neighborhoods within a given community area. North Center is the "official community area" but as a neighborhood name only applies to a small part of the official community area. If you're on the south side of Irving Park, you're in St. Ben's. If you're on the north side, you're in North Center. (Google Maps may tell you otherwise; don't pay much attention to Google's idea of what neighborhood is where -- it's often wrong.) Ravenswood is a little north, starting at around Montrose Avenue. Then of course there's Lincoln Square, which is both the name of the official community area north of North Center, and the name of a sub-neighborhood in the center of Ravenswood. It's all pretty confusing, and I promise it will only become slightly less so even as you get familiar with the area and with who calls what area by what name. If anyone asks where you live, frankly your best answer is "By Damen, Lincoln and Irving Park."