Where are the artists living? (Chicago, Cicero: apartment, house, employment)

[NearWestSider]

Originally Posted by j33

I have to admit my opinions are anecdotal, I've never rented from Podmajersky personally, I am just simply relating what I've heard from a couple of friends who have rented from Podmajersky and had a less than positive experience stating that their buildings are overpriced and run down.

I am simply posting my experiences from knowing some artists, including an artist who was born and raised in the neighborhood (and who is incidentally raising his family there).

...oh, and the article was written from a travel standpoint, as such it has a different feel than an article written from other standpoints (and let's face it, it is a Wiki, so not without its faults). However, it did give (in my opinon) a decent run down of galleries in the area, and perhaps for one thinking of having a live/work artists space attractive to visitors, such an article on neighborhood perception might not be a bad thing.


If that makes me a 'hillbilly' as you define it, so be it.

As a tour guide, written for "tourists", the article is fine.

I've been meaning to stop by the Skylark. I remember that joint as a factory worker bar in one of its previous incarnations. They had their own currency exchange, so you could literally cash your paycheck and drink it right up. Perfect for guys working second shift.

I'm curious to see what the hipsters have done with it. I suspect the currency exchange is not part of the equation.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by NearWestSider

As a tour guide, written for "tourists", the article is fine.

I've been meaning to stop by the Skylark. I remember that joint as a factory worker bar in one of its previous incarnations. They had their own currency exchange, so you could literally cash your paycheck and drink it right up. Perfect for guys working second shift.

I'm curious to see what the hipsters have done with it. I suspect the currency exchange is not part of the equation.

It's the new Rainbo Club. Or it was a couple of years ago, anyway. Too hipster for me, but I would have loved it ten years ago.

[drummercycle]

check out this site: The Principality of Podmajersky it's basically a hardcore anti-pod website. i haven't really experienced any of this myself, but it's interesting reading.

[photoman]

So back to the question at hand - versus a Pod-whatever thread. Actually its interesting to read. :-) Do people here think Humboldt is the place where artist are relocating? Or maybe, what I mean are artists who would want to own their homes and have a studio, versus starting out artists who might be just renters? I do not know how an artist could live in Bucktown or Wicker anymore. And, how does Humboldt vary - on the North Ave side versus the Division side? And East of Kedzie vs West of Kedzie. I am thinking about North of North and just a bit W of Kedzie. Thoughts?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

It's the new Rainbo Club. Or it was a couple of years ago, anyway. Too hipster for me, but I would have loved it ten years ago.

Rainbo club was awesome in the mid-late 90's. I wish it was the way it used to be still.

[NearWestSider]

Originally Posted by photoman

So back to the question at hand - versus a Pod-whatever thread. Actually its interesting to read. :-) Do people here think Humboldt is the place where artist are relocating? Or maybe, what I mean are artists who would want to own their homes and have a studio, versus starting out artists who might be just renters? I do not know how an artist could live in Bucktown or Wicker anymore. And, how does Humboldt vary - on the North Ave side versus the Division side? And East of Kedzie vs West of Kedzie. I am thinking about North of North and just a bit W of Kedzie. Thoughts?

Seriously, if it was me, I'd probably be looking in Bridgeport, McKinley Park, or even Cicero. I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I don't know what you think you are going to find at North/Kedzie that you won't find for a hell of a lot less money at Roosevelt/Laramie.

But you understand your motives better than I do. In any business, location IS important. And North/Kedzie is not a neighborhood that I know anything about, so disregard anything I say.

[aragx6]

Humboldt1 knows this area better than probably anyone else on here (big shocker given his name I know!) so I'll be interested to hear all his thoughts on this. But my understanding is that north of North is better than south and east of Kedzie is better than west.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by NearWestSider

Seriously, if it was me, I'd probably be looking in Bridgeport, McKinley Park, or even Cicero. I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I don't know what you think you are going to find at North/Kedzie that you won't find for a hell of a lot less money at Roosevelt/Laramie.

But you understand your motives better than I do. In any business, location IS important. And North/Kedzie is not a neighborhood that I know anything about, so disregard anything I say.

Yup, I've said it before. Mark our words, Cicero will, during our lifetime, become a hip, artist enclave. You heard it here first, so when you see NearWestSider and I in a former Cicero dive bar (probably 30 years from now as muttering old men shoulder to shoulder with hipsters) telling you how we foresaw it, buy us a drink, or at least be nice to us

[NearWestSider]

Originally Posted by BRU67

Yup, I've said it before. Mark our words, Cicero will, during our lifetime, become a hip, artist enclave. You heard it here first, so when you see NearWestSider and I in a former Cicero dive bar (probably 30 years from now as muttering old men shoulder to shoulder with hipsters) telling you how we foresaw it, buy us a drink, or at least be nice to us

And we're not talking just ANY old dive bar, either, BRU. We're talking a full-amenity, 24-hour dive bar, with 50 buck hookers and a poker game in the back!

Bet dem Chicago boys ain't NEVAH seen dat.

[chet everett]

There might be some artists in Cicero NOW for all I know -- after all with the welding shops and all over there who knows whether somebody is fixing a truck axle or creating a modern sculpture.

That said, there have been studies of how artists, galleries and patrons effect real estate. It ain't anywhere near as linear and predictable as some developer types would like their investors to believe. The success / failure of one or two SHOWS can drastically alter the fate of space and force some one to shutdown/sell. This is especially true with the crunch in credit.

Cicero is not as bad as some people would like to think, but neither it is a place that has a particularly great employment base anymore. I would guess that probably 60% of the employers their would move anywhere they could get appropriate space and THAT would really bomb out the real estate... Somehow I don't think a giant artists colony would be the response. I suspect that the state would just work overtime to cut deals with landlord to backfill spaces to other relocating quasi-industrial companies. A heck of a lot of the work done in Cicero is now consumed by other businesses in the area -- various secondary chemical processing and hauling that is easier to sneak under the radar because the neighbors won't complain...

Artists can live anywhere. They have a tendency to try and live cheap, but they pop up in all kinds of places. Remember Tony Fitzpatrick and his long association with Villa Park? Or Muddy Waters association with Westmont? Neither did much to turn either town into a "hipster hot spot"...