Little Italy? (Chicago, Bridgeport, Fillmore: cul-de-sac, apartments, condo)

[Mel2882]

I've been seeing a lot of apartments available in Little Italy. What is it like? (I know that is broad...)

[Drover]

Depends. There are sort of two "Little Italy" areas in Chicago. The neighborhood generally most often thought of as "THE" Little Italy is part of the Tri-Taylor area around UIC. It has become what I call a "facade" neighborhood, meaning it retains the characteristics of an ethnic neighborhood even though relatively few people of that particular ethnicity still live there any more. (See also: Greektown with lots of Greek institutions but few actual Greeks, and Andersonville with lots of Swedish institutions but few actual Swedes.) Little Italy is a combination of UIC students with urban-sophisticate aspirations/tastes and 20- to 30-something professionals. There are some trouble spots near there, including one of the nation's oldest public housing projects. You'll generally want to stay north of Roosevelt Road and east of Damen or perhaps Western Avenue.

There is another neighborhood that some also call Little Italy but is more commonly known as Heart of Italy. It's truly one of the city's hidden gems. The social center of Heart of Italy is the corner of 24th and Oakley Avenues. Some of the best Italian restaurants in the city are found on the Oakley Avenue strip. There's an excellent tapas restaurant there too and a couple of places dishing up Italian shaved ice during the appropriate seasons. This neighborhood is less of a facade neighborhood -- there are quite a few Italians living in the area. It's also much smaller than Little Italy, and it is small, isolated island surrounded by a sea of urban uncertainty.

[Peachie]

Drover-so I guess California at Roosevelt is not one of the better places in this area? (Sorry to butt in!)

[Drover]

Probably not. I know there's a lot of new condo buildings going up in that area, but unless you want to be one of the "urban pioneers" I'd wait a bit on settling on that corner.

[nikkic33]

Sorry for butting in as well- but I was looking at an apartment in Little Italy at the intersection of Loomis and Fillmore... how is this area (I'm a 20 year old female, just to throw that out there) as far as safety is concerned?

[Peachie]

I may just have to be a pioneer-the place has a yard and is across from the park (important with my two dogs), has parking, is not the size of a shoebox, and is not $3000/month. HMMMM.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by nikkic33

Sorry for butting in as well- but I was looking at an apartment in Little Italy at the intersection of Loomis and Fillmore... how is this area (I'm a 20 year old female, just to throw that out there) as far as safety is concerned?

Come to think of it, tough to tell. That's right in a patchwork of "mixed income" housing, meaning part of it is market rate, part of it is reduced-rate, and a good chunk of it is good ol' public housing. It's a brand new development (well, they knocked down most of the old one and put this one in its place) and kind of an experimental replacement for the old "let's segregate poor minorities away from the general public and keep them in vertical warehouses" approach that obviously didn't work very well. You're one block off of a nice stretch of Taylor Street though; not sure how bad it can be.

[Mel2882]

Drover, is there anything you don't know about Chicago?

[j33]

Haha. No kidding, Drover is good. I'm seeking him or her out next time I move, and I've lived in the city proper for over 11 years and am usually the person in my circle of friends who people come to when asking about neighborhoods.

[Drover]

Thanks. I do make it a point to try to know as much about the city as possible, including getting a first-hand look. I just drove around in Bridgeport and Canaryville today to reassess the area. Still like Bridgeport, though I'm getting spoiled in my neighborhood full of single homes on double lots. Now all of a sudden Bridgeport feels crowded to me. Canaryville.... I got a little bit of a weird vibe from Canaryville, like it's white-knuckling it but could turn to the dark side if nudged hard enough. I noticed a few erstwhile thru streets have been cul-de-sac'd; that's usually a sign that they've had trouble and they're trying to keep more of it from coming into the area.