Logan Square on the verge of booming? (Chicago, Springfield: apartments, condos)

[Magpie1127]

Originally Posted by Aleking

It's been booming for a long time...hottest neighborhood in the city

I agree with this. I'm 24 and almost all of my friends live in Logan. I personally wish I did. I live in Lincoln Park, and while I enjoy my access to the lake, the area just doesn't do much for me. Logan has more affordable prices, a "cool" factor and plenty to do. It's also on the blue line, which is great for getting to Wicker Park. There are certain parts of Logan I'd still avoid, but its definitely considered trendy already.

[MannheimMadman]

I wouldn't call it a done deal until the less than savory parts of Logan Square are yuppified (the parts bordering hermosa, west humboldt, humboldt.)

[Aleking]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

I wouldn't call it a done deal until the less than savory parts of Logan Square are yuppified (the parts bordering hermosa, west humboldt, humboldt.)

Yep, it's clearly not a done deal, public schools still suck, violent crime is still at Uptown levels, etc…and I'm not sure that far south/west sides of the 'hood ever fully come around given blue line distances. That said the core of the neighborhood has managed to thrive through the economic slump, which is pretty impressive.

Playing devil's advocate, I'm not sure how long the whole hipster schtick driving so much of the gentrification will keep up...you can only open so many of the same restaurant with an ampersand in the middle and 24 year olds from the suburbs will only hang around neighborhoods like that for so long...they're going to have kids, finish art school, move to NYC, etc. If the public schools ever become acceptable...it's game over for Logan's working class.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by gomexico

Logan Square's been "on the verge" for a generation. Don't hold your breath.

It is significantly more gentrified now than it was 10 years ago. 10 years ago when I visited my gf there, it was all Latinos and Poles, with just a smattering of other whites and blacks.

Now you can't walk anywhere without seeing dozens of hipsters. That wasn't the case 10 years ago. Hipsters who are anti-gentrification are borderline insane, because they *are* gentrification. It's serious self-loathing of the 1950s closeted homosexual variety when hipsters rail against gentrification.

[Vlajos]

Logan Square is booming. Well past the verge.

[Attrill]

Yeah, it's boomed and is continuing to do fine. It is important to understand that it isn't ALL of Logan Square that is booming, and Logan Square is a massive area. The areas that have seen a lot of changes are the main drags of Milwaukee Ave. and Logan Blvd., along with any areas that are close to the Blue Line and the expressway. Those areas are very different than say...Springfield and Fullerton, or Central Park and Cortland. The Western edge of Logan isn't changing a lot, and may never gentrify (although there are some nice pockets even on the Western edge).

I moved to Logan Square about 10 years ago, after 10 years in Ukrainian Village, and the changes have been unbelievable, but even 10 years ago Logan Square wasn't that bad. It was certainly worlds away from what it was like 15 or 20 years ago when gang wars and open air drug markets weren't that uncommon. Once the crime level became manageable Logan Square became very attractive based on good transportation options and low housing prices, and people who were priced out of WP/Ukrainian Village started buying in LS. The last 5 or 6 years have seen a lot businesses opening up to meet the needs of people who were already living in the neighborhood.

I think the "hipster" element is frequently overstated. If you go to places like Longman & Eagle most of the customers are far too old to be "hipsters", and the prices for a meal are too high for any starving artist types. A place like Revolution Brewing is full of people of all ages and styles, plenty of them wearing Cubs hats or with young kids in tow. The "hipster" element is certainly there (i.e. the Owl, Bonnie's and Cole's), and probably in larger numbers than in other parts of the city, but it by no means dominates the area.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Aleking

Yep, it's clearly not a done deal, public schools still suck, violent crime is still at Uptown levels, etc…

Improvement in schools generally follows gentrification instead of causing it, and the process takes awhile. The elementary schools in Ravenswood and North Center are a prime example, it took nearly a decade (and a lot of work) for parents in those neighborhoods to improve the schools. The process is well underway at a few Logan Square schools, most notably at Goethe. The parts of Logan that are gentrifying are also close enough to more established magnet schools that those are options for parents. There are also a fair number of good parochial schools in Logan Square itself.

If you break crime out by beat, the eastern sections of Logan Square are significantly safer than Uptown. The areas bordering Humboldt and Hermosa are worse than Uptown.

[Aleking]

Originally Posted by Attrill

Improvement in schools generally follows gentrification instead of causing it, and the process takes awhile. The elementary schools in Ravenswood and North Center are a prime example, it took nearly a decade (and a lot of work) for parents in those neighborhoods to improve the schools. The process is well underway at a few Logan Square schools, most notably at Goethe. The parts of Logan that are gentrifying are also close enough to more established magnet schools that those are options for parents. There are also a fair number of good parochial schools in Logan Square itself.

If you break crime out by beat, the eastern sections of Logan Square are significantly safer than Uptown. The areas bordering Humboldt and Hermosa are worse than Uptown.

Of course and you can do the same crime wise for every mixed neigbhorhood, including Uptown

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Attrill

Improvement in schools generally follows gentrification instead of causing it, and the process takes awhile. The elementary schools in Ravenswood and North Center are a prime example, it took nearly a decade (and a lot of work) for parents in those neighborhoods to improve the schools. The process is well underway at a few Logan Square schools, most notably at Goethe. The parts of Logan that are gentrifying are also close enough to more established magnet schools that those are options for parents. There are also a fair number of good parochial schools in Logan Square itself.

Very true. Look at Nettlehorst, Waters, Coonley and Audubon. It literally took a group of local parents to decide to send their kids to the local school. The schools were significantly underenrolled and bad in general. Today, they are bursting at the seems and improving each year. Coonley had the help of then Congressman Emmanuel getting some federal funds.

Now, schools like Peirce, Chappell, Ravenswood, Allcott etc, have similar things happening with enrollment increasing and schools improving. Just takes time.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Aleking

Of course and you can do the same crime wise for every mixed neigbhorhood, including Uptown

Very true - and that's why it's important to look at detailed crime stats to get an idea of how safe an area is. Numbers for a neighborhood, community area, or district are too broad to be meaningful when choosing an area to visit or live in. Logan Square is a very large area as well, and I'd guess most people living in Eastern Logan Square don't find themselves wandering around the Western edge of it very often.

I should also note that I don't think Uptown is bad, I like the area quite a bit.