Lake View & Uptown

Busy Uptown, laid-back Lake View, and Chicago’s lesbian and gay neighborhoods

Noteworthy for: These northern neighborhoods feel self-contained, with a distinctive culture and ample amenities. Many residents find little reason to venture downtown.
Lake View is a sprawling, bustling, residential and entertainment district that includes Wrigley Field, home to the beloved but success-averse Cubs baseball team (no title wins since 1908). On game days, the raucous sports bars on nearby Clark and Addison – like Cubby Bear – explode into drunken revelry.

North of Lake View, former Swedish-American community Andersonville is now a lesbian-friendly part of the northeast’s blossoming gay community, which also includes the more boisterous Boystown along the edge of Lincoln Park to the east.
Uptown, with its grand Art Deco and Beaux-Arts buildings, once sought to be Chicago’s new commercial center, but that aim was halted by the crash of 1929. Famous jazz clubs like Green Mill and venues like the Aragon Ballroom still draw crowds, though – and the area, while still gritty, is now home to Chicago’s burgeoning improv scene, plus great South Asian cuisine on Argyle and entertaining nightlife.