Chicago-Where do the artists, creatives live? Neighborhood for artistic family. (Evanston: neighborhoods, theater)

[skylife]

Hello All,

Our family moved back to Chicagoland from Seattle about a year ago having lived there several years and currently live in the Old Irving Park neighborhood. It's a great neighborhood for raising kids with relative safety, but we are missing the artistic, creative crowd we hung out with in Seattle. Is there a neighborhood with artistic, individualistic presence that would be kid, family friendly? Would love to live in Pilsen and be closer to the loop, but we aren't sure if the area is appropriate for raising a family. Would love to get some feedback from you all. It's much appreciated.

[motob]

There are a couple of eccentrics, or artists I dunno, who run a barbecue joint on 18th and raise their family in the building above. I hear they have a theater up there or something. They also bring a small family circus to Pilsen the summer.

His name is Willy, and his place is called HonkyTonk Barbecue it's on 18th just west of Racine.

I think he or his wife would be good people to talk to about raising a family in artistically in Pilsen, since they're doing it. Stop in and see if you could talk to one of them. He seems personable if sort of goofy, I've spoken to him once or twice.

[chet everett]

I think the "money bomb" that exploded in places like Lincoln Square turned what could have been exactly what you would have been drawn to into places with poor affordability. You can try and find others with an artistic orientation, but much more common is one parent with a job that is more mainstream and lucrative and the other parent more tied into the art side.

I don't see this changing too much -- developers (small and large) don't really have a way to target to folks with KIDS and a need for art space. They can't control the fate of the public schools / parks directly. I'm sure there other people trying to raise kids in Old Irving and other neighborhoods that also have an artistic lifestyle, but I am also pretty sure they are vastly outnumbered by the white collar mainstream types.

The various parents groups try to be inclusive in Lakeview / Lincoln Park, your best bet would probably to get involved in something there as far as schools and such and try to have a "sub group" of parents that want to network over the art issues...

Good Luck!

[Lookout Kid]

Expensive "artsy" neighborhoods (largely yuppified): Bucktown, Wicker Park

Mid tier "artsy" neighborhoods: Ukranian Village, Logan Square

Largely ungentrified "artsy" enclaves: Pilsen, Eastern Humboldt Park, sketchier parts of Logan Square.

My wife manages graphic designers, so I feel like we are on the pulse of Chicago's "artsy" young hipsters. And I'm an architect, but we tend to live wherever we can afford an architecturally acceptable house. However, artsy families that don't live in the city tend to move to places like Oak Park or Evanston, assuming at least one spouse has a solid income. Or they are scattered (like you) in places like Irving Park. Jeff Tweedy lives in Irving Park with his family. You should try to be his friend

[brainiac138]

Yeah, like Lookout Kid said, Oak Park and Evanston both have really nice art districts where the artists and gallery owners live and work in the community.