First two weeks living in Chicago: My thoughts (Lincoln, Roscoe: neighborhood, movies)
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River North is pretty sterile as far as being a true-blue neighborhood. It was mostly bombed out during the urban renewal periods, so it's a strange hodge podge of new construction and is in the process of finding a true imagine. I have to say though, River North has come a LONG way in the past 10 years as far as getting rid of parking lots and getting more people in during the day.
The area that is now River North hasn't really been much of a residential area for close to 100 years. It was mostly a warehouse district, and it wasn't so much urban renewal that "bombed it out" as it was the sea-change in economics and industry that resulted in the factories and warehouses in the River North area becoming economically unviable. The majority of the residences that were in the River North area for the majority of the 1900s were SRO-type housing. In some old maps you can see the Near West and Near North areas labeled as "boarding districts" due to all the SRO housing. "Serving" those residents were hard-scrabble bars, adult bookstores and peep shows, liquor stores and what Chicagoans call "currency exchanges."
It was very much a skid row type area for many decades, pretty much from after WWII. Even as recently as the early 1980s, the best idea local business leaders could come up with for River North was to make it a strip club district. Thankfully that never happened, and a more organic transformation came about from artists moving in, and a few local developers creating a vision for reclamation of what was a prime location due to the proximity to the Loop once people started returning to urban life in the mid-1980s, and the idea of loft living became popular.
Despite it turning the corner and slowly starting to transform in the 1980s and 1990s, the inflection point (the point where change really accelerated) was probably 1999. 1999 is when One Superior Place (the big apartment building with Whole Foods in it on the block bounded by Superior, State, Dearborn and Huron) was completed. The helped bolster a critical mass of people with purchasing power and within a few years after that, a bunch of empty lots along Dearborn got apartment and condo towers, then a couple empty lots near Lasalle and Kinzie, and the first Kingsbury Park highrises started going in. In late 1999 or 2000, the CTA resumed full service of the Brown Line south of Belmont at all times. Prior to then, it didn't run south of Belmont on Sundays or after 8pm on Saturdays.
Further pushing the change in the River North area was the destruction of the Cabrini-Green high-rises. That reduced crime in the neighboring areas, and further changed the feel of the area. Between 1990 and 2000 and 2010, the population of the Near North area (which is bigger than, but includes, River North) grew only a little over 10% each decade, but the demographics of the population changed dramatically as the SROs and public housing were shut down, and high-income professionals moved in, first to loft and converted vintage housing, and then to new highrises.
^ I'm with him. If you want 'good' mexican nuevo leon is probably my favorite. Los comales at 18th and Ashland is ok for quick mexican, but nothing great imo. Honkytonk has been my go to bbq place for the past couple years.
The area that is now River North hasn't really been much of a residential area for close to 100 years. It was mostly a warehouse district, and it wasn't so much urban renewal that "bombed it out" as it was the sea-change in economics and industry that resulted in the factories and warehouses in the River North area becoming economically unviable. The majority of the residences that were in the River North area for the majority of the 1900s were SRO-type housing. In some old maps you can see the Near West and Near North areas labeled as "boarding districts" due to all the SRO housing. "Serving" those residents were hard-scrabble bars, adult bookstores and peep shows, liquor stores and what Chicagoans call "currency exchanges."
It was very much a skid row type area for many decades, pretty much from after WWII. Even as recently as the early 1980s, the best idea local business leaders could come up with for River North was to make it a strip club district. Thankfully that never happened, and a more organic transformation came about from artists moving in, and a few local developers creating a vision for reclamation of what was a prime location due to the proximity to the Loop once people started returning to urban life in the mid-1980s, and the idea of loft living became popular.
Despite it turning the corner and slowly starting to transform in the 1980s and 1990s, the inflection point (the point where change really accelerated) was probably 1999. 1999 is when One Superior Place (the big apartment building with Whole Foods in it on the block bounded by Superior, State, Dearborn and Huron) was completed. The helped bolster a critical mass of people with purchasing power and within a few years after that, a bunch of empty lots along Dearborn got apartment and condo towers, then a couple empty lots near Lasalle and Kedzie, and the first Kingsbury Park highrises started going in. In late 1999 or 2000, the CTA resumed full service of the Brown Line south of Belmont at all times. Prior to then, it didn't run south of Belmont on Sundays or after 8pm on Saturdays.
Further pushing the change in the River North area was the destruction of the Cabrini-Green high-rises. That reduced crime in the neighboring areas, and further changed the feel of the area. Between 1990 and 2000 and 2010, the population of the Near North area (which is bigger than, but includes, River North) grew only a little over 10% each decade, but the demographics of the population changed dramatically as the SROs and public housing were shut down, and high-income professionals moved in, first to loft and converted vintage housing, and then to new highrises.
Great info and a shot looking south from a balcony at One Superior Place
Agreed that there is a ton of food - it just depends on where you live. I have an overwhelming amount of choices that someone in Garfield Ridge might not.
Well there are def places to eat, but considering the foods Chicago is known for (Pizza, Hot Dogs, Beef Sandwich, etc) I dont really see too many of those places around, at least not yet (though i have been mainly hanging around Gold Coast, LP, LV, WP). I still have a lot of the city left to explore. I am a big "street food" guy.
I'm getting a bit confused about Pilsen to be honest. I posted a thread about it a few weeks ago and was advised against living there as a young professional. The reasons cited were that it was gritty and not completely safe. Some posters mentioned that the far east portion was possibly good for a newcomer, but most seemed to advise avoiding it. I'm attracted to the idea of cheap rent and an artistic community. I don't really like a place to be too yuppie. A little yuppie is okay but I like a place that has some diversity and working class tones to it, that rare mix of both worlds that seems tricky to find. It seems the area is starting to gentrify a bit from what I am hearing on these threads. I'm starting to think Chicago is going to see another wave of gentification. The economy, the high cost of gas, etc. combined with the fact Chicago is affordable compared to the coasts make it very attractive. The cost of owning a car and price of gas are things one looks at very closely in a bad economy. Combine that with the fact it's going to take longer to switch to electric cars/alternative fuels and it becomes easier to see Chicago's real potential. NYC has become entirely unaffordable over the past decade due to inflated Wall Street wages and the weakening dollar attracting foreign investors, further pushing a large number of individuals to relocate. The good thing I think is that the urban grid of Chicago is laid out incredibly well and should be able to sustain growth better than most places. Just an amazing amount of potential there when one really thinks about it.
Last edited by EastBoundandDownChick; 06-23-2011 at 12:05 AM..
If I were to be asked what the greatest cities in America are, I'd list the following (in geographical order, east to west):
Boston, New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco
If you look at that list (and there is no reason you have to agree with me on those cities; they're my choice, not yours), you might notice that five of them come across to most people as being unique.
and one of them, Chicago, does not.
and that's a shame.
Chicago IS unique. Chicago is The Great American city, the city that is a product of the United States, not an off shoot of Europe through colonization. It took a Chicago to break new ground (literally) and to forgo the traditional and the expected when the fire burned down the place and a new form of architecture found fertile soil to emerge. That never could have happened in New York, Boston, or Philadelphia.
If you were to lop off the US all places within a 200 mile radius from the coasts, Chicago would stand as the only city in the nation.
We are the interior and that counts. Here is where the nation really developed and took shape. If Boston was the city of the 18th century as we developed from colonies to nation, Chicago was the amazing city of the 19th century, the true American era, the time this nation built itself and came of age. And that story was built in strong part on the very Chicago that connected east to west and created greatness on an inland prairie. And, yes, I will fully admit that New York was the city of the 20th century. If I were going to take a bet on the 21st, it would be on LA.
If I were to be asked what the greatest cities in America are, I'd list the following (in geographical order, east to west):
Boston, New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco
If you look at that list (and there is no reason you have to agree with me on those cities; they're my choice, not yours), you might notice that five of them come across to most people as being unique.
and one of them, Chicago, does not.
and that's a shame.
Chicago IS unique. Chicago is The Great American city, the city that is a product of the United States, not an off shoot of Europe through colonization. It took a Chicago to break new ground (literally) and to forgo the traditional and the expected when the fire burned down the place and a new form of architecture found fertile soil to emerge. That never could have happened in New York, Boston, or Philadelphia.
If you were to lop off the US all places within a 200 mile radius from the coasts, Chicago would stand as the only city in the nation.
We are the interior and that counts. Here is where the nation really developed and took shape. If Boston was the city of the 18th century as we developed from colonies to nation, Chicago was the amazing city of the 19th century, the true American era, the time this nation built itself and came of age. And that story was built in strong part on the very Chicago that connected east to west and created greatness on an inland prairie.
Nice- I espicially found your comment about the true american era literally when this country became of age.
This is so true and at that time Chicago was positioned to grow and to prosper the railroads all were leading westward and Chicago took advantage/ Seems like the industrial age was centered in Chicago
Well there are def places to eat, but considering the foods Chicago is known for (Pizza, Hot Dogs, Beef Sandwich, etc) I dont really see too many of those places around, at least not yet (though i have been mainly hanging around Gold Coast, LP, LV, WP). I still have a lot of the city left to explore. I am a big "street food" guy.
I mis-read your post before, I think. If you're after typical Chicago stuff, then you'll find lots of stuff as you keep on venturing out. Though, I don't think those neighborhoods have as much stuff. Word of warning - if you try Wieners Circle in Lincoln Park, don't be surprised if it sucks. If you are not yet wise to what a good Chicago hot dog is, you may like it, but in actuality, it is garbage.
Eventually you'll traverse up to Devon and Milwaukee and see the shining palace that is known as Superdawg. It will change your life in one way or another.
Also - head over to Tri-Taylor for Al's beef. Shouldn't be terribly far from you.
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