Odd layouts in Chicago’s grid (Manhattan, Bridgeport: warehouse, residential, parks)

[andrew61]

Parts of Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Uptown deviate somewhat from the grid. Certain streets such as Clark, Broadway, and inner Lake Shore Drive are on somewhat of a diagonal, although not a full 45-degree one. They appear to more or less follow the shoreline. And some of the east-west streets bend a bit to an east-northeast direction at or near Broadway heading eastward.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by fusillirob1983

The link doesn't seem to work unless I copy and paste it from the reply box. https://goo.gl/maps/bEnWkCgpPVB2

Thanks for this! Yes, it cut off the https:// portion, so that link is the one that actually works. If there's any mod that can fix it, please do!

It'd be a great addition if posts of places came with a map link even though the first one I put out didn't work. Sorry about that!

Also, does anyone know if there's a canonical or even deuterocanonical term for the plot of land nestling within the main thoroughfare of the Chicago grid?

[Master Jay]

As of now, I did not reach my mission. I'm using The Chicago 77, by Mary Zangs. The only thing of history I found, under the Jefferson Park section is that: Milwaukee Avenue was formally known as Old Trail Road, and then Northwestern Plank Road. Cheers- Master Jay in Milwaukee

[paytonc]

I always called these "grid anomalies," though "grid discontinuities" would probably be better understood by engineers. They got much more frequent once curving street patterns were pioneered in Riverside, hence Norwood Park, Beverly Hills, etc. In many cities, a skewed grid might have resulted from a town that had been settled and then later swallowed up by the larger city, and therefore might have appreciably different urban fabric. Most of these in Chicago have pretty conventional buildings, though.

Some that always stood out to me:

Canalport's grid was laid out for a townsite oriented to the canal, hence its name
https://chicagoganghistory.com/neighborhood/bridgeport/

Some few-block subdivisions laid out around median parks, like Groveland Park, Madison Park, Winneconna Parkway, and the Villa District.

The pockets of subdivisions perpendicular to Milwaukee Ave, from Wicker Park up to Avondale.

(BTW, some of the diagonals parallel to the lakeshore are along ridges left by old shorelines, e.g. Clark and Ridge.)

[Thefuturehereanow]

One of the only hills I ever noticed is on lincoln ave going north before foster the road slightly goes up a hill unlike the flatness of the rest of chicago

[OyCrumbler]

What’s up with the odd cul-de-sac’ing here in the grid parcel / city square / whatdoyoucallthis bounded by California, Armitage, Western and Fullerton?

[Master Jay]

Thefuturehereandnow, I like hearing about the Lincoln Square area! Thanks for sharing... You got me thinking about other areas that were more hilly than flat. But now I can't remember: Isn't the section on Harlem and North, looking east, hilly? if I'm way off then I KNOW it's time to make a trip down! Have a great day- Master Jay in Milwaukee

[ChicagoMeO]

Lake Shore Drive used to have an S curve, till they reconfigured it.. but now, condos were built around those streets, so you see some new street names for that old road, and that they were part of the old S curve.

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by andrew61

Parts of Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Uptown deviate somewhat from the grid. Certain streets such as Clark, Broadway, and inner Lake Shore Drive are on somewhat of a diagonal, although not a full 45-degree one. They appear to more or less follow the shoreline. And some of the east-west streets bend a bit to an east-northeast direction at or near Broadway heading eastward.

Do you know why North Avenue - when it cuts between the border of the village of Oak Park, and Chicago, the streets going north & south - dont just cut straight across, you have to cross North Avenue by going to the side and then turn, and then you are going straight again. These are streets like Oak Park AVe, Ridgeland, (from my memory). Why does North Ave have the intersection like that?

[Master Jay]

ChicagoMeO, and what is it about North Avenue, where it meets with Cicero Avenue and Homan Avenue, where it breaks across on a slight angle???? I always wondered that myself! Anyone know why this is, because i can only recall North Avenue being like that! Sincerely- Master Jay in Milwaukee