Visiting Chicago at end of month (Lincoln, Worth: violent crime, house, neighborhoods)

[Urban Peasant]

Hello all!

I am visiting Windy City with my family (all grownups, no little children) for the first time ever at the end of October. We'll be there for 4-5 days total. I was wondering if anyone is willing to help out with a few questions I have:

• Right now, our list of things to see include the Art Institute, Millenium Park, Chinatown, Magnificent Mile, and at least one botanical garden or nature center. Is there anything else recommended?
• We might also want to do the Architectural Tour on boat but had a little trouble booking tickets and seats seem to be going fast. As it is quite pricey, is it really worth doing? Would a simple ride on a water taxi along the Chicago River be a good alternate?
• How choppy are the waters of the Chicago River? (I'm not too used to water travel and have gotten nauseatic even on a ferry that was docked!). Is there an alternate way of viewing the splendid architecture?
• Is it easy to walk around Downtown Chicago or can it be tiresome like New York due to large blocks?
• Though all grownups, none of us are drinkers at all and don't care for bars or pubs. Still, we'd like to hit a few restaurants and sample some ethnic, particularly Polish cuisine. Any suggestions?
• How is the weather like around that time?
• I don't expect Downtown Chicago to be dangerous but a friend who lived in Chicago told me to be careful around Chinatown/Cermak Avenue. How bad can it be over there? Also, are there any parts of Chicago to avoid?
• We will be primarily traveling by transit while we are there. Is the El relatively fast and efficient? I mean I don't expect any bullet trains but just standard public transit service akin the T, the Metro, etc.
• What else important should I know?

Any tips and suggestions would be great. Thanks!

[steeps]

There is Wendella boat tours. A 90 minute Lake and river or a shorter river only one. You get on the boat at the Chicago River at the Wrigley Building. Chicago's Original Architecture Tour, Chicago River, expert docents | Wendella Boats This time of year it is weather permitting. Oct 30 is the last day. I'd take one into the Lake if you could and for sure a jacket.
The 360 Skydeck on top of the John Hancock Building is great on North Michigan Ave. You see up the Gold Coast shoreline with beaches and rest of downtown. A couple blocks north of this building where Michigan Ave begins at Lakeshore Drive is Oak Street Beach. Nice to just walk to if a nice day. It is late Oct though? Just east of the Old Water Tower Landmark that survived the Great Chicago Fire is Rush street Restaurants ,very nice area. The Originally, Marshall Field store, now a Macy's is the over 100 yr. Old Grand Dame of retail left. Like Macy's in NYC they are mall in itself. Is on State Street in the Loop. The Chicago Theatre is on the street and typical mall stores. Michigan Ave has the High end stores Along the Lakefront Museum Campus. Are Shed Aquarium, Museum of Natural History and Alder Planetarium Museum. From there you can view the Iconic shot of CHICAGO'S skyline. Especially if you can't go into Lake Michigan by boat. A CTA city bus from Michigan Ave goes there by public mass transit. There is also a double Decker bus tour company that goes around to see sights around downtown including museums and Chinatown.
Have a great trip in a great very clean city. Millennium Park is great too.

[marothisu]

• Right now, our list of things to see include the Art Institute, Millenium Park, Chinatown, Magnificent Mile, and at least one botanical garden or nature center. Is there anything else recommended?

What types of things do you like to do?

If we're talking about museums, then a few more downtown would be the Museum of Contemporary Art. Right now there is a big David Bowie exhibit going until January. My friend who goes to a lot of museums all over the country (and some in other countries) said it's one of the best installations he's ever seen at a museum.

Outside of downtown, there is the Museum of Science and Industry which is the largest science museum in the Western hemisphere. That is near the University of Chicago which has a beautiful campus in its own right. Also near there is the Oriental Institute, which is a museum dedicated to the ancient near east (Sumeria, Babylon, etc), Persia, and Ancient Egypt. It is part of the University of Chicago and supposed to be the first institute dedicate to Ancient Egypt in the US. Supposedly Indiana Jones is based on a former employee. Best of all, it is free. It's not huge, but there's a lot of stuff in there so if you're interested in that sort of thing, set aside 60-120 minutes for it. They used to have the Dead Sea Scrolls in there, but not sure if they do anymore.

Near there is also the SMART Museum of Art, also part of the University of Chicago and free. Next to the Oriental Institute is the Robie House, which is a Frank Lloyd Wright house and open for touring. Not far away from all of this is also the DuSable Museum of African American History which is pretty cheap too.

If you are into architecture, then I'd also recommend walking around the Gold Coast which has many nice, old huge rowhomes and mansions. The original Playboy Mansion is there for example. What you'd want to do is find the intersection of State & Division, and walk north along State Street until it becomes more residential. The original Playboy Mansion is on State, but if you walk a little East and around there, you'll see a lot of nice, old homes. For example, this is the old Archbishop's house right downtown essentially.

Also, there is the National Museum of Mexican Art which is also free. It is in the area of Pilsen which is a predominantly Mexican neighborhood, but also with some hipsters/artists. The area has a lot of mural art on buildings. The 18th Street Pink Line stop nearby is covered in art too, literally. Worth seeing if you're into that type of thing.

West of downtown there are also a few Ukrainian Museums and there's also the National Hellenic Museum in Greektown.

• We might also want to do the Architectural Tour on boat but had a little trouble booking tickets and seats seem to be going fast. As it is quite pricey, is it really worth doing? Would a simple ride on a water taxi along the Chicago River be a good alternate?

While it's not cheap, the boat tours are absolutely worth doing. You could see half of this from a water taxi, but there is a large portion of buildings not covered by a water taxi. The history presented in the tours is usually great too. I've been on the boat tour probably 5 times, even though I live downtown, and it hasn't gotten old yet.

• How choppy are the waters of the Chicago River? (I'm not too used to water travel and have gotten nauseatic even on a ferry that was docked!). Is there an alternate way of viewing the splendid architecture?

The waters aren't choppy at all. My body can't really handle choppy waters either, and I've never even thought about it on the Chicago River. Complete afterthought. There are other ways, such as walking and the bus tours like you see in Manhattan.

• Is it easy to walk around Downtown Chicago or can it be tiresome like New York due to large blocks?

The walkability downtown is about the same as NYC in most places. I know that the streets in Manhattan when you're walking east to west (or visa versa) can be a little long, but in Chicago they're usually shorter. The streets that run N-S in Manhattan may be a little shorter than you'd find in Chicago too but not by a ton. Only thing is that Chicago is extremely flat, whereas you have some hills in NYC. Downtown Chicago is one of the most walkable areas in the entire country and thanks to the flatness, it's easier on the body than San Francisco or even NYC by a little bit.

• Though all grownups, none of us are drinkers at all and don't care for bars or pubs. Still, we'd like to hit a few restaurants and sample some ethnic, particularly Polish cuisine. Any suggestions?

First, I'd like to say that you should go to the Lounge on the 96th floor of the John Hancock Tower. It's probably the best views from a place you could drink/snack at you'll find in the country. You don't have to drink there and they have coffee, tea, some snacks, etc. The views are fantastic though. I've brought friends from Manhattan up there before who were amazed and said they couldn't think of a single place in Manhattan with that type of view. I'd have to agree with them. If you go up there, hang a right after you get off the elevators even if they tell you not to. That direction has the best views of Chicago and IMO get there a little before sunset. There might be a wait to get up there since this place has such fantastic views, so beware.

Anyway, Chicago has a lot of ethnic food which comes as a surprise to many people for some reason. There are many ethnic areas of town - Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Indian/Pakistani, Korean, Arabic, Italian, Greek, Polish,etc, etc.

As far as Polish food goes, you aren't going to find much downtown for that (although there is a semi fast food-ish place called Pierogi Heaven in the Loop (aka the central business district)). The closest good Polish place is probably Staropolska in the Avondale neighborhood (semi close to the Blue line, but still a little walk or bus ride from it). If you want some central European food downtown, then there is a semi new Czech place called Bohemian House which is supposed to be very good. You name the cuisine though, you could probably find it in Chicago (with a few exceptions). The downtown area has a lot in the way of ethnic stuff, though 90% of the time downtown, it's not going to be a hole in the wall type of place (go to other neighborhoods for that).

Anything else in particular you want?

• How is the weather like around that time?

The weather at the end of October is usually nice fall weather, but not overly COLD yet. According to the extended forecast, it may be in the 60s. However, the weather starts getting more volatile this time of year, so don't be surprised if it could get in the mid to upper 40s. Today for example, it was 50 and rainy for awhile. Historically though, the averages are usually mid to upper 50s.

• I don't expect Downtown Chicago to be dangerous but a friend who lived in Chicago told me to be careful around Chinatown/Cermak Avenue. How bad can it be over there? Also, are there any parts of Chicago to avoid?

No, Chinatown is not dangerous at all. I've been there more times than I can count at every hour of the day and have never had anything odd happen to me. It used to be close to some interesting stuff, and sometimes there are characters hanging out, but the crime is low in Chinatown. I wouldn't be worried in the least bit. Also, you can take the water taxi to Chinatown.

As far as places to avoid, as a tourist you probably don't have to worry about it. However, if you do go to some of the museums I listed (i.e. Museum of Science and Industry), don't stray away from that area too far. Hyde Park, where all of that is located, is a safe, nice neighborhood but some of the neighborhoods surrounding it aren't as nice. The worst areas of town may be ones like Englewood, West Englewood, West Garfield Park, parts of North Lawndale and Austin, etc. Crime is so hit and miss in town even in dangerous areas. I was walking a little around East Garfield Park by myself today, which is not a great neighborhood and nothing happened to me or anyone around me. That's another discussion, but the chances of you being involved in a violent crime in Chicago goes way down if you aren't in a gang or in drugs (but of course, can happen to anyone).

• We will be primarily traveling by transit while we are there. Is the El relatively fast and efficient? I mean I don't expect any bullet trains but just standard public transit service akin the T, the Metro, etc.

It's a pretty efficient way to go as long as where you're going is on there. The system is probably the 2nd or 3rd largest system in the US. It is set up as a spoke, so 7 of the 8 lines actually converge in the CBD (the Loop). Trains come on time and it's a good way to travel. It's not necessarily like the MTA where it covers a ton, but the coverage is still good and as a tourist, you would be fine. The bus system is big too - there are some express buses that run along Lake Shore Drive as well.

• What else important should I know?

Chicago is a big city and as a result, a lot of tourists miss a lot of stuff from the city. If you're just interested in the typical tourist stuff, then you could cover Chicago in a week. The food is another story as the city has some awesome food and could take you many, many visits to do food tourism. If you're interested in getting out of the tourist areas, then I'd recommend that. There's some great neighborhoods with a lot that tourists miss. You don't have much time and this is your first visit, but just keep that in mind. If you're interested, then the videos here are pretty cool:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...WBeE8yC_jCtDln

Chicago also has some good live music. If you want to see some live Blues for example, then I recommend going up to the Lincoln Park neighborhood and going to BLUES. Right near there is also something called Kingston Mines. These are pretty accessible via the Red Line train. There are some Jazz places downtown-ish too like the Jazz Showcase. There is also Green Mill, which is like a jazz joint out of the 1930s and pretty famous. Right near a red line stop too. Many others worth mentioning, but I realize this post got really long!

[Urban Peasant]

Wow thanks so much for the info guys! Judging by the lengthy responses, it looks like there is so much to do that we won't be able to see everything in a few days but will just have to cherry pick. I'll definitely take in your suggestions and try out some of them. I'm excited. Thanks again!

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

we'd like to hit a few restaurants and sample some ethnic, particularly Polish cuisine.

Podhalanka - Chicago, IL | Yelp