Chicago, Illinois - Districts

Districts

Many visitors never make it past the attractions downtown, but you haven't truly seen Chicago until you have ventured out into the neighborhoods. Chicagoans understand their city by splitting it into large "sides" to the north, west, and south of the central business district (the Loop). Chicagoans also tend to identify strongly with their neighborhood, reflecting real differences in culture and place throughout the city. Rivalries between the North and South Sides run particularly deep, while people from the West Side are free agents in critical issues like baseball loyalty.

Downtown

Chicago/Loop|The Loop — the historic and business center of Chicago, the financial center of the Midwest, and the home of magnificent architecture, parks, and public art

Chicago/Near North|Near North — a ritzy shopping district, home to the Magnificent Mile, Navy Pier, and the Gold Coast, and many hotels

Chicago/Near South|Near South — a few big draws, including Printer's Row, the Museum Campus, McCormick Place, and Soldier Field

North Side

Chicago/Lincoln Park-Old Town|Lincoln Park-Old Town — a wealthy neighborhood with museums, mansions, upscale boutiques, the Lincoln Park Zoo, and some of the city's top dining and theaters

Chicago/Lakeview-North Center|Lakeview-North Center — entertainment aplenty with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, storefront theaters, and Boystown, the center of Chicago's Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender culture

Chicago/Uptown|Uptown — a neighborhood with more than its fair share of Chicago history, Southeast Asian dining, Swedish and lesbian-friendly Andersonville, and a thriving entertainment district of edgy comedy and historic rock and jazz clubs

Chicago/North Lincoln|North Lincoln — fun shopping at Lincoln Square, great Middle Eastern food on Kedzie and Korean food along Seoul Drive

Chicago/Rogers Park|Rogers Park — thriving multi-ethnic communities, miles of laid-back beaches, Loyola University, and the totally Indian Devon Avenue

Chicago/Far Northwest Side|Far Northwest Side — Polish Village, historic homes and theaters, and some undiscovered gems in the neighborhoods near O'Hare International Airport

South Side

Chicago/South Chicago Shore|South Chicago Shore — the University of Chicago's Gothic campus, brainy Hyde Park, old mansions aplenty, and great museums

Chicago/Bronzeville|Bronzeville — the historic "Black Metropolis" is a mecca of African-American History, historic site of the Chicago Black Renaissance, and home to the nation's first museum of African-American History in the enormous Washington Park

Chicago/Bridgeport-Chinatown|Bridgeport-Chinatown — home to Chicago's thriving Chinatown, the White Sox, and the city's South Side Irish power brokers

Chicago/Southwest Side|Southwest Side — former home to the massive meatpacking district of the Union Stockyards, current home to the real Chicago blues

Chicago/Midway Area|Midway Area — an ethnically diverse section of the city around Midway Airport, home to large Polish and Mexican communities

Chicago/Far Southeast Side|Far Southeast Side — a vast, quiet section of the city home to most of the city's heavy industry and the historic planned Pullman community of labor history fame

Chicago/Far Southwest Side|Far Southwest Side — home to a large Irish community, a huge St Patrick's Day Parade, loads of Irish pubs, and even an Irish castle for good measure

West Side

Chicago/Near West Side|Near West Side — lots of attractions in one area: dining at Little Italy and Greektown, clubs and galleries in the West Loop, the Chicago Bulls, and what remains of Maxwell Street

Chicago/Wicker Park|Wicker Park — Chicago's hippest bar and restaurant scene plus eccentric shopping right next to Ukrainian Village, a neighborhood of hipsters and the Orthodox

Chicago/Logan-Bucktown|Logan-Bucktown — a neighborhood riding on a wave of gentrification spillover from Wicker Park with some great dive bars and wide-ranging Latin-American dining

Chicago/Pilsen|Pilsen — incredible Mexican food everywhere you look, Czech architecture, two thriving arts districts, the National Museum of Mexican Art, and a Little Italy not overrun by visitors

Chicago/Far West Side|Far West Side — so far off the beaten tourist track you might not find your way back, but that's OK given all the great food, a couple of top blues clubs, enormous parks, and the botanical gardens of the Garfield Park Conservatory

Ethnic neighborhoods

Chicago is among the most diverse cities in America, and many neighborhoods reflect the character and culture of the immigrants who established them. Some, however, do more than just reflect: they absorb you in a place that, for several blocks at a time, may as well be a chunk of another country, picked up and dropped near the shores of Lake Michigan. The best of Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods are completely uncompromised, and that makes them a real highlight for visitors.

Chicago's Chicago/Bridgeport-Chinatown|Chinatown is among the most active Chinatowns in the world. It even has its own stop on the CTA Red Line. It's on the South Side near Chicago/Bridgeport-Chinatown|Bridgeport, birthplace of the Irish political power-brokers who have run Chicago government for most of the last century. More Irish communities exist on the Chicago/Far Southwest Side|Far Southwest Side, where they even have an Irish castle to seal the deal. On the Chicago/Southwest Side|Southwest Side, the Chicago/Midway Area|Midway area is home to Archer Heights, a Lithuanian neighborhood.

No serious Chicago gourmand would eat Indian food that didn't come from a restaurant on Devon Avenue in Chicago/Rogers Park|Rogers Park. It's paradise for spices, saris, and the latest Bollywood flicks. Lawrence Avenue in Chicago/North Lincoln|Albany Park is sometimes called Seoul Drive for the Korean community there, and the Persian food on Kedzie Avenue nearby is simply astonishing. At the Argyle Red Line stop, by the intersection of Argyle and Broadway in Chicago/Uptown|Uptown, you'd be forgiven for wondering if you were still in America; Vietnamese, Thais, and Laotians share space on a few blocks of restaurants, grocery stores, and even dentists. Neither the Swedish settlers who built Chicago/Uptown|Andersonville or the Germans from Chicago/North Lincoln|Lincoln Square are the dominant presence in those neighborhoods any more, but their identity is still present in restaurants, cultural centers, and other small discoveries to be made. Likewise, Little Italy and Greektown on the Chicago/Near West Side|Near West Side survive only as restaurant strips.

A more contemporary experience awaits in Chicago/Pilsen|Pilsen and Chicago/Far West Side|Little Village, two neighborhoods on the Lower West Side where the Spanish signage outnumbers the English; in fact, Chicago has the second largest Mexican and Puerto Rican populations outside of their respective home countries. Pilsen and its arts scene is an especially an exciting place to visit.

It's hard to imagine displacement being a concern for the Polish community on the Chicago/Far Northwest Side|Far Northwest Side. The area around Belmont and Central is what you might consider the epicenter of Polish activity. Bars, restaurants, and dozens of other types of Polish businesses thrive on this strip, and on a smaller section of Milwaukee Aveune (between Addison and Diversey).