What is considered downtown Chicago? (Lincoln, Ashland: house, neighborhoods, living)

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by irvparkrez11

So this is fine?

That's a pretty north-centric definition. I would bring the northern boundary down a tad, and would extend the south and west boundaries to include the South Loop and West Loop.

You'll never get everyone in Chicago to agree on what is or isn't "downtown", though.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

Good explanation - the Loop does of course refer to the actual tracks, but nobody will ever be convinced that Michigan Avenue isn't in the Loop.
...

Sure, the portion that runs adjacent to the Loop is generally considered the Loop, but just so no one gets confused no-one I know considers the portion north of the River to be part of the Loop.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by irvparkrez11

Is it defined anywhere (if so, what community areas), or are you the judge of what downtown is?

It's not defined. To some it's just The Loop. To some it includes the areas adjacent to The Loop (Streeterville, River North, West Loop, South Loop). To some it goes out a little further to Near North/Gold Coast, Near West Side, UIC/Pilsen, and Chinatown. To some (mainly suburbanites), they're referring to the entire city of Chicago when they say "downtown".

I tend to use the second of those four definitions, but that's neither here nor there. The important thing is to know that different definitions exist, no matter how right or wrong you or I think any of them are, otherwise major miscommunication can occur.

[marothisu]

Cab companies also loosely define it. Last cab I was in, they defined downtown as far north as Armitage I think.

[chicagobear]

I would say North to Roosevelt and west to Halsted.

[Alacran]

South to McCormick place

[Jandur]

I consider river North/Streeterville downtown. Along with the the Loop/South/West Loop.

Basically anywhere where the central business/entertainment districts and highrises generally blend together.

[ChiNaan]

Another more liberal definition would be the area that falls in the 312 area code. It's been awhile since I've seen a map of that, and couldn't find one doing a quick search, but I believe 312 roughly coincides with the 3rd of the 4 definitions I gave earlier.

[irvparkrez11]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Another more liberal definition would be the area that falls in the 312 area code. It's been awhile since I've seen a map of that, and couldn't find one doing a quick search, but I believe 312 roughly coincides with the 3rd of the 4 definitions I gave earlier.

Really? Why is my cell phone's area code 312 and I don't live in downtown? Is it because my provider's offices are downtown?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by chicagobear

I would say North to Roosevelt and west to Halsted.

Did you mean something else instead of Roosevelt? That's south of the loop.