What made Lincoln Park go from a "bad" area to a "yuppie" area? (Chicago: section 8, renting)

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

I grew up going to Dennis' on Belmont (originally Galaxy Game Center #3) and Fun Zone, and believe me, both were shells of their former selves by 1995. Broken games galore, not rotating in new ones, etc.

The peak for video games came with Donkey Kong, Pac Man, etc- it was a brand new and exciting phenomenon. there were Saturday morning cartoons based on these games, t-shirts, etc.

have you guys seen King of Kong? A must watch!

Hell yeah.


This song even made it into the top 10.

I completely agree that arcades were over and done by the late 80's. There may have been a few left struggling to hold on in the 90's, but they were nowhere near as popular as in the early 80's.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by xavier xerxes

Quite possibly...
What was Lassers?

Lasser's was a soda pop company operating out of a little factory building on maybe the 2200 or 2300 block of north Sheffield. They had a ton of flavors, and gave free samples - a very handy place to periodically swing by on my walk home from school, I used to walk in right behind adults to give the allusion I was there with my parents.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Attrill

Sam's doesn't even exist anymore, Binny's bought them all out a year or two ago.

Oh now that's sad! I was a big fan of that place.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

I grew up going to Dennis' on Belmont (originally Galaxy Game Center #3) and Fun Zone, and believe me, both were shells of their former selves by 1995. Broken games galore, not rotating in new ones, etc...

That may be true as I recall, but my point was they were still operating.

I preferred Chicago Game Company myself over Fun Zone. I bet you can guess what kinds of music I liked.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

Was Wicker Park blighted with vacant lots and board ups...

No. But it was very scummy and dirty with trash everywhere and had a huge gang problem.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

That may be true as I recall, but my point was they were still operating.

I preferred Chicago Game Company myself over Fun Zone. I bet you can guess what kinds of music I liked.

Understood they were operating - but the initial question had to do with their "heyday."

But refresh me on Chicago Game Company, I remember the name but not the location. Times Square on Broadway, whoo, now that was a hopping place. Not always with upstanding citizens, of course. There was another large and super-scummy place on State St, I recall.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

...But refresh me on Chicago Game Company, I remember the name but not the location...

It was on Western across the street from Lane Tech where the Fed Ex Office (Kinko's) is now. The building it was in was torn down.

It closed down (1995-6?) a few years before the Fun Zone did. I can't remember what year.

[latikeriii]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

No. But it was very scummy and dirty with trash everywhere and had a huge gang problem.

+1, Wicker Park and Bucktown had HUGE gang and drug problems but didn't have the blight as parts of the South and West sides. It had a strong working class population. Wicker Park, Pulaski Park, and Eckhart Park(I know, that's Uk Village or whatever its called these days) were big time gang infested, mostly Latin Kings as I remember. Milwaukee Ave was dirty with low-end stores everywhere.

[OuterDrive]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

It was on Western across the street from Lane Tech where the Fed Ex Office (Kinko's) is now. The building it was in was torn down.

It closed down (1995-6?) a few years before the Fun Zone did. I can't remember what year.

I'm sorry this thread got sidejacked into a discussion on the old Chicago arcade scene. There is a building on Western and Berteau, actross from Sierra Auto(The old Oldsmobile Dealer), Western Automatic Music Inc. This old storefront has had arcade machines sitting in it for as long as I can remember. I vaguely remember being inside with my dad years upon years ago but who knows.

EDIT: Upon doing five min of research it looks like they rent machines out and probably use the building for storage. Kinda weird though I don't think many of the machines in the front have moved much.


But I digress, I do enjoy reading about Lincoln Park's past.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by OuterDrive

I'm sorry this thread got sidejacked into a discussion on the old Chicago arcade scene...

There actually is an arcade thread somewhere here started by an obvious culprit ...

//www.city-data.com/forum/chica...s-chicago.html