Which Chicago neighborhoods are the most bike and pedestrian friendly?
Logan Square is the obvious answer, from calm side streets like Wrightwood, Palmer, Hamlin, & Avers with signals at major street crossings, to the ease of biking on the boulevards, it is easy to get to any neighborhood destination on 2 wheels or 2 feet. Take one of these low stress routes to the 606 & you can safely get to destinations in Humboldt Park, Bucktown, & Wicker Park. Continue on Elston at the end of the trail & you can get to almost any corner of the Loop with more than 75% of your commute on protected lanes.
Hyde Park is second in my mind only because the ease of cycling doesn’t extend as far into surrounding neighborhoods like Woodlawn, Washington Park, & Kenwood, but the Lakefront Trail is so much less congested on the southside than it is on the northside or on the 606.
Edgewater is a close third, with so many calm streets to get you to Andersonville, Uptown, & Rogers Park destinations, but the closest part of Edgewater is a more than a mile further from the Loop by a safe bike route than the furthest NW corner of Logan Square & the furthest SE corner of Hyde Park.
Lincoln Square, Roscoe Village/North Center, Little Village, Albany Park, Mayfair, Portage Park, & Beverly are all pleasant places to bike around, but the lack of a less stressful route to our largest regional employment zone keeps them from jumping into my top 3.
Preservationists make another push for action on decaying Uptown Theatre
I agree. The grand lobby and façade would be great first steps. I would also love to see something replicating the original, 1925 marquee and the vertical "UPTOWN" installed. As I said, this will require a deep pocketed corporate benefactor.
Preservationists make another push for action on decaying Uptown Theatre
I don’t understand why a corporate sponsor or sponsors (plural) are not being sought to at least bankroll the full restoration of at least the Broadway façade. This has worked well downtown, with the Ford Oriental, the Cadillac Palace, and others. Restoring the façade and marquee to their 1925 glory would at least make the Uptown again presentable, and possibly lead to more corporate and private donations for restoration of the remainder to the theater.
I don’t think alinea is bland, I think it fits the aesthetic they were looking for. On the flip side I wouldn’t imagine Alinea being in one of these assembly line store fronts like the ones lining Uptown.
A better example would have been 42 Grams. But I agree with NYC, these are typically aberrations, the only things these storefronts bring are Orange Threorys and dentist offices.
Development proposals in Uptown typically don’t cave to NIMBYism. Sad to see the reduction in unit count.
Also, empty storefronts in even the most popular retail strips will continue to be a problem in Illinois until legislation is passed that prevents landlords from simply writing off the loss in rent revenue year after year. They’ll sit back and wait for a Chase Bank or some other such nonsense to sign while reaping the tax benefits of the empty storefront.
Open thread: How much was the rent at your first Chicago apartment?
Dec 2004 – Apr 2007. Malden & Sunnyside in Uptown, $525 for a 1.5 room studio (separate kitchen/eating area) on the 2nd floor of a 3 story courtyard. The unit faced a tree lined pedestrian mall. Included utilities: steam heat, gas for cooking & hot water; coin laundry in the basement.
Quiz: Which Chicago neighborhood should you live in?
"best food" by what measure? the best concentrations of food ethnic restaurants are nowhere near the gold coast. chinese, ethiopian, mexican, thai, veitnamese, peruvian, eastern european…all in outlying neighborhoods. the very fact that rent is cheaper away from downtown is why areas close to the core wont have that level of independent mom+pop diversity. even the top Michelin star restaurants are largely elsewhere. and some of the most cutting edge restaurants are in Douglas Park (El Ideas), Uptown (42 Grams), to say nothing of the West Loop dining scene.
best beach? again, by what measure? the beaches up in edgewater/rogers park are super expansive, far more tranquil than those closer to downtown, and not jammed with tourists.
id even disagree with you on views. first of all, not everyone cares about that. but secondly, the best views of a skyline are often when youre removed from it. a rooftop from Pilsen or Wicker Park has a far better vantage point of the city than a downtown condo tower surrounded on all 4 sides by other highrise condo towers.
i find the gold coast bland and homogeneous, both in the types of people in attracts (by necessity, you have to be well off to afford it), and the types of retail it offers. i far much prefer the blue collar side of the city. gold coast and the endless sea of 45 year old rich dudes having mid life crises gives me the creeps.