BASICS:

Like many areas of Chicago, Uptown began to decline after World War II and many of its affluent residents fled to the suburbs. Revitalization efforts have paid off in that Uptown has big-name bookstores, coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques, with more coming soon. Many of the formally poorly cared for, beautiful & historic buildings are now being rehabbed into modern condominiums.

The Uptown neighborhood, which runs along Lake Michigan's Foster Avenue Beach and Montrose Harbor, offers residents easy access to Lake Shore Drive and Lincoln Park.

HOUSING:

Many of the spacious mansions and apartment buildings from the early 1900s were converted into rooming houses to provide more affordable housing. However, over the last 20 years, these architectural gems have been renovated and restored by individuals and developers intent on salvaging the heritage of this lakefront neighborhood. While it is growing in popularity, there are still many opportunities to find affordable renovated and renovation-ready properties in Uptown.

LOCATION:

Uptown's officially defined boundaries are Foster Avenue on the north; Lake Michigan on the east; Montrose (Ravenswood to Clark), and Irving Park (Clark to Lake Michigan) on the south; Ravenswood (Foster to Montrose), and Clark (Montrose to Irving Park) on the west. Uptown borders three community areas and Lake Michigan. To the north is Edgewater, to the west is Lincoln Square, and to the south is Lake View.

HISTORY:

A semi-rural crossroads before the turn of the century, Uptown boomed after the first elevated train service to the area was established in 1901. By the 1920s, Uptown was the city's fastest-growing neighborhood. Throughout the district, large apartment hotels were erected. As the supply of rooms increased, rents dropped and thousands of single adults moved to the area. Often new to the city, they sought the company of their peers at area restaurants, dance halls, amusement beaches, and movie theaters. Uptown has a long history as an entertainment center. The long-gone Uptown Theater, and the still-thriving Aragon Ballroom once hosted great names like Frank Sinatra, Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin.

DINING:

There are many places to dine in Uptown from pub food to pizza's, fine dining to fast food. But what Uptown also features many eclectic restaurants serving such fare as: comfort food from the mountains of Ethiopia, authentic Cambodian cuisine, Ghanaian cuisine, French-Vietnamese cuisine, the only Laotian food in town, upscale Indian cuisine, Lebanese and Middle Eastern cuisine, Latin fare, `no menu' Dim Sum feasts, Salvadoran cuisine, Cuban, Caribbean, West-African, and the cuisine of the Philippines, and arguably the best Thai restaurant in Chicago.

EVENTS:

The Uptown Poetry Slam started in 1985 when a construction worker and poet named Marc Smith started a poetry reading series that laid the groundwork for style poetry and performance that would eventually be spread across the world. In 1986 Smith approached the owner of the Green Mill (a Chicago jazz club in Uptown and former haunt of Al Capone), with a plan to host a weekly poetry cabaret on the club's slow Sunday nights and instituted the show's basic structure of an open mike, guest performers, and a competition. The Green Mill has since evolved into the Mecca for performance poets, and the Uptown Poetry Slam still continues 18 years after its inception.

ZIP CODE

The primary zip code for Chicago's Uptown neighborhood is 60640.