Sunday, September 7, 2014

West Ridge

West Ridge, also known as West Rogers Park, has a slightly quieter, less dense atmosphere than Rogers Park, and is a tiny bit less diverse. The neighborhood is still very urban, however, and is named West Ridge due to it being west of Ridge Avenue, where as Rogers Park is east of Ridge Avenue. The housing stock in the neighborhood is mostly small, densely packed single family homes, with a few low density mixed use apartments, 2 and three flats, and garden apartments mixed in. On main roads, single story commercial and low density mixed use dominate. Many small and large parks and play lots are present, and the neighborhood is covered with lush, tall trees. Devon Avenue, home to Chicago's Little India, is mostly within West Ridge, with the area around the intersection of Devon and Western Avenues being the heart of Chicagoland's Desi community. The area ranges from low-income to upper middle class, and is very safe. The main ethnic groups in West Ridge are Eastern Europeans, Desis, and Koreans. The neighborhood, though lacking an "L" line, still has pretty good transit, with several good, frequent bus lines in the area. A great neighborhood!

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Saturday, September 6, 2014

Rogers Park

Although I have already written a review of Rogers Park before, I liked it so much, I decided to write a second review the next time I visited:
The area of Rogers Park near Sheridan Road and the lakefront is quite nice. Though pieces of it are a little sketchy still, overall the neighborhood looks amazing now! Great transit including the CTA Red Line and CTA local and express buses lies throughout the area. The neighborhood is really culturally and socioeconomically diverse, and lies very close to Lake Michigan, on which there are pleasant beaches and parks. Mixed use and purely residential apartments form the majority of housing stock in the area, many of which are garden apartments with well kept, lush gardens inside. Businesses in the area range form small-scale industrial to hipster coffeehouses to drug stores. The apartments themselves are between three and six floors for the most part. On side streets, Chicago bungalows, other houses, and small two and three flat apartments make up the majority. An amazing place!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Lincoln Square

This post will be rather short, as I did not spend very much time in the area so I did not observe as much as I would've liked. Lincoln Square is a formerly German-American neighborhood on the North Side. However, the area is now a hip neighborhood crawling with hipsters, but also just regular people and families. Extremely good transit is present throughout the neighborhood, including frequent bus lines, all night frequent bus lines, and the L. The neighborhood is very urban, much of it being mid density and mixed use. However, there is not much mixed income housing stock in the area. Buildings consist of older, mid rise, mixed use buildings, and the typical Chicago two flat. A good neighborhood.