Logan Square on the verge of booming?

[Chi-town Native]

and speak of the devil:

The Shining at midnight: am I Blu? | The Bleader

personally, I'm just happy to not have new seats. the old ones should have come with a coupon for a free visit to a chiropractor.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Chicagoist123

I wouldn't define it as crappyish anymore since it's been renovated. It's actually very nice.

However, has anyone noticed that there are a lot of young Latino professionals as well living in Logan Square. That's what I mean that I hope it doesn't lose it's Latino character. What I mean is there are a lot of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Mexican, and you even have Periuvian and Argentine places to eat. IMO it's the most Latin of all the trendy neighborhoods (with the exception of Pilsen but Pilsen isn't as trendy....yet). I know a lot of the working class Latinos will be pushed out, I just hope that the professional Latinos stay so that at least retains SOME of it's Latino character.

Dang straight - tell your peeps to not sell their homes, they'll be sorry in 5 years!

[Lorielicious]

Originally Posted by Chicagoist123

I wouldn't define it as crappyish anymore since it's been renovated. It's actually very nice.

I was just there maybe a month ago, and it's just okay. It's not a hole, no, but "very nice" is a stretch, plus the screen in my living room is bigger than the ones they have. Seriously now, I'm not knocking the place and mean it when I say I'm happy about it. Comfy seats + bar = I'm good.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

But I think it had gotten worse by the late 80s. There were places on Logan Blvd where needles were all over the place, there were loads of different gangs all going at each other, etc. I vividly recall a NYE party in 92 or 93 in one of the large yellow brick apartment buildings right off of the Monument, there was seriously an hour of gunfire at midnight, much of it automatic weapon fire. This was a pretty mixed group in terms of ethnicity, and the sad part is such a thing was so common we all just laughed about how long it went on & what a waste of ammo. Really, that's just not right, but you just get used to it.

Oh yeah. I didn't visit Logan Square until 92 or so. It was pretty sketchy by that point, but yeah, you just sort of rolled with it. In terms of crime it seems like the city has become much more divided since then, or maybe my perspective has changed. Back then I didn't really think much about hearing gunfire in a neighborhood (and that goes for places I lived in DC, Boston and NYC too).

NYE always used to be crazy, we had a party at our place in Ukrainian Village in 93 and there was gunfire everywhere - our Russian neighbor shot out our cable and telephone connections while firing his shotgun into the air. He got arrested a year or so later for killing a truck driver and stealing a load of cigarettes. He had always seemed like a like a good guy to me, oh well.

[North Side Brandon]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

I wouldn't call it a done deal until the less than savory parts of Logan Square are yuppified (the parts bordering hermosa, west humboldt, humboldt.)

I agree my Grandparents lived near Fullerton and Pulaski for decades. My Grandmother grewup next door in Hermosa near Armitage and Kostner. I drove past the home my Father and 11 siblings were raised in a while back and it had a Big Black Iron Gate in front of it as did most of the houses on the block. I spent my first years there. We moved out after my Grandfather's home was broken into while he was in hospital. He sold his home after 40 plus years. Given the distance from the Blue Line it's hard to see Fullerton and Pulaski being anything but the Underclass neighborhood it has been for the past 25 plus years.

[North Side Brandon]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

All spot-on. People who think Logan Square is stuck clearly don't remember the area in the 80s and 90s. I spent a lot of time in LS growing up as my best friend lived there in grade school (Fullerton & Spaulding), it was a pretty fun neighborhood, everyone knew each other, etc. This is due in no small part to not actually running with a gang, but just being on good terms with the local kids.

But I think it had gotten worse by the late 80s. There were places on Logan Blvd where needles were all over the place, there were loads of different gangs all going at each other, etc. I vividly recall a NYE party in 92 or 93 in one of the large yellow brick apartment buildings right off of the Monument, there was seriously an hour of gunfire at midnight, much of it automatic weapon fire. This was a pretty mixed group in terms of ethnicity, and the sad part is such a thing was so common we all just laughed about how long it went on & what a waste of ammo. Really, that's just not right, but you just get used to it.

So yeah, to say little has changed is beyond a stretch.

I remember walking from Diversey & Milwaukee to Revolution Brewing after it opened at maybe 11 pm on a Saturday, and texting a friend going "where in the hell did all these white people come from?" Seems like at least in terms of nightlife, Milwaukee Ave "flipped" at least 4 years ago.

It was so bad it drove people out who had lived there for generations and decades. It broke their hearts to leave but it just wasn't safe to live there anymore. Our favorite Piazza Vito Angelo's shutdown their Dinning Room because the Gang Activity on Fullerton was so bad. I watched elderly people in the neighborhood who owned two flats leave their upstairs apartments empty unless it was family because they were so fearfull of what they would get in there.