Chicago neighborhoods similar to Park Slope?

My SECOND home! Am there at least 10 times a year for the last 15 years - love that town.

I would recommend Bucktown, Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Wicker Park - all pretty similar (to some degree) to Park Slope. Not sure of your ages, careers or if you have kids - you may want to check out: chicago.com/neighborhoods for details on restaurants, transportation, schools and real estate pricing.

I grew up in Chicago so I can tell you Wicker Park is not like Park Slope.

Wicker Park is more like the trendy Williamsburg-y, Lower East Side bar area of Chicago. But, I heard it's become really yuppie and is now more like Lincoln Park.

If you do want to be nearby the trendy part of the city, but not in it, try looking at the Ukrainian Village or Bucktown. Although those hoods do still have their inner city problems like gangs which still hang out on some of those streets. A friend of mine moved into a beautiful restored home on Chicago and Western in Ukranian Village.

Humboldt Park and Logan Sqaure is more like the Bushwick of Chicago--it's where all the hipsters who got kicked out of Wicker Park moved. Logan Square is still really nice. Logan Blvd. has tons of old mansions and two floor houses, the equivalent to Brooklyn's brownstone.

If you're looking for a neighborhood with bars and cafes and don't mind the commute, the neighborhood most like Park Slope would be the North Side of Chicago, primarily Andersonville and Rogers Park around Thorndale and Broadway. The further North you go the quieter and more residential it gets, if you go further north into Rogers Park you'll probably want to be somewhere close to Clark and Sheridan which is right by the lake and the lakefront park area and The red line train is there. There's also Loyola University nearby. That area is very collegiate, but also quite nice, and the houses and apts. are very affordable and spacious.

I lived there right before moving to Park Slope and the Northside of Chicago is the closest thing to living in Brooklyn. You can also check out Lincoln Square-- that area is really up and coming and my sister stays there now and quite likes it. Ravenswood is west of there and it's a really sweet and quiet neighborhood that I always enjoyed walking through to clear my head but it's pretty dead at night, You also have Roscoe Village, another up and coming neighborhood with bars and places to eat, but it can be also desolate at night.

The closer you get to downtown the more yuppie it gets so you have your areas like the Gold Coast. Wrigleyville (Lakeview) gets more expensive and yuppier--many sports bars and many good places to eat, but the apts get smaller, but it's still quite nice and near the Lakeshore Drive Expressway (which you may be driving on alot--Chicago is known for its mind-numbing traffic) although the brown and red line trains runs through there.

Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park are some of the most popular neighborhoods in Chicago besides downtown, tons tons tons of sports bars, music venues and Starbucks. Really expensive for Chicago, but coming from Park Slope you'll live like a king. Seriously, for what you pay to live in Brooklyn you could probably get a brand new place right in Downtown not far from Michigan Ave. The lakefront area in these places are the most spacious park areas and you have the zoo and small lagoons and wildlife areas so this would also be the closest thing to Prospect Park as well.

Feel free to PM me if you need any more advice. Like I said, I grew up there so I'm more then happy to give you the skinny on what all the neighborhoods are like.

Good luck!

I would second the advice on Northside neighborhoods. Andersonville, Rogers Park and Lincoln Park (if it's in your budget. And are the Trixies still there?). Wrigleyville and Lakeview are considerably younger and rowdier neighborhoods and probably have higher crime. If you don't mind not being in Chicago proper, then check out Evanston. Many parts of this first suburb north of the city have an urban, walkable feel, and you're still on the city train line.

good luck there, sorry to see another PS'er leave.

Lincoln Park, maybe Ravensoowd (quieter but cheaper and near Germantown), or Lakeview. If you move to Andersonville, you can go to Great Lake, recently voted the best pizza in America by GQ.: http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/01/great-lake-stunningly-good-pizza-in-andersonville-chicago-il-review.html

Oak Park is beautiful and is kind of like the U.S. in the 50's or something (and it has many Frank LLoyd Wright houses).

(Side story: I was at a conference there, went to the local coffee shop, asked the woman in her 50s behind the counter, "How long will it would take to get into Chicao via the Ell from here?" Her answer? "I've lived in Oak Park my whole life and I've never been to Chicago." It took 15 minutes on the Ell to get into Chicago. Sad.)

Subject: Re: Exactly the opposite

Olivesaxer wrote: I am having a tough time finding a "neighborhood's explained" site out there.

New York Magazine has some limited, ultra-basic descriptions...
(see Brooklyn Neighborhoods down the left side nav)

http://nymag.com/realestate/articles/neighborhoods/parkslope.htm