Ethnic areas in Chicago (Arlington Heights, Skokie: estate, entertainment, suburbs)

[ajhenderson]

Visiting Chicago in a few weeks and looking to visit some of the ethnic pockets for dining, shopping, etc. I also speak a little bit of a few of Korean and Mandarin and would be interested in possibly being able to use some of my Asian language knowledge. Whereabouts in Chicago are some of the foreign-language areas?

[allydriver]

Originally Posted by ajhenderson

Visiting Chicago in a few weeks and looking to visit some of the ethnic pockets for dining, shopping, etc. I also speak a little bit of a few of Korean and Mandarin and would be interested in possibly being able to use some of my Asian language knowledge. Whereabouts in Chicago are some of the foreign-language areas?

Hope this helps a little

Asian AKA Chinatown:
http://www.chicagochinatown.org

Greek AKA Greektown:
http://www.chicagogreektown.com/PAGE2.HTM (broken link)

General resource for dining, shopping, entertainment, etc. in the Chicago metro area:

http://metromix.chicagotribune.com

[prairiestate]

The entire city is a foreign language area. Polish and Hispanic southwest (Archer Ave. to Pulaski south) and northwest (Anywhere along Milwaukee Ave.). Rogers Park (Devon Ave.), Arab, Russian and many others. Chinatown (Wentworth Ave., S. of Cermak) and Albany Park (Kedzie and Lawrence) Asian. There really are no Greeks in Greektown these days, at least not anymore than would be found anywhere else. Whatever languages you speak, you'll be able to use them pretty readily in Chicago.

[reppin_the_847]

Yeah he pretty much got it down. Lawrence & Kedzie that you mentioned is basically Koreatown by the way. One thing also you have to keep in mind about Chicago is that many of the upwardly mobile families eventually moved out of these areas or even made their initial settlements in suburban areas altogether (bypassing these ethnic neighborhoods). For example, you'll probably see a ton of Korean establishments in places like Milwaukee Avenue in western Glenview just like you'd see down in Koreatown in the city. Likewise you'll probably find a lot of Filipino stores in suburbs like Niles & Des Plaines. Good luck!

Originally Posted by prairiestate

The entire city is a foreign language area. Polish and Hispanic southwest (Archer Ave. to Pulaski south) and northwest (Anywhere along Milwaukee Ave.). Rogers Park (Devon Ave.), Arab, Russian and many others. Chinatown (Wentworth Ave., S. of Cermak) and Albany Park (Kedzie and Lawrence) Asian. There really are no Greeks in Greektown these days, at least not anymore than would be found anywhere else. Whatever languages you speak, you'll be able to use them pretty readily in Chicago.

[outsider1]

Vietnamese, Cambodian, Filipino along Argyle.
Polish around Milwakee & Irving park, Belmont. along entire Milwakee north of there.
Indian, Pakistani, and some remaining Russians in West Rogers park along Devon.
Many Korean establishments can be found in Skokie and in Niles/Des Plaines near the Golf Mill area.
Japanese seem to prefer Arlington Heights and have some stores there.

[outsider1]

Ukrainians(most are from the western part of the country) are in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood on Western Ave.

Edgewater and surrounding neighborhoods along the lake have just about every nationality - from Jamaicans and Haitians to Ethyopians and Mongolians.