lakeview

you can't put lakeview in a box. punk, retro, squeaky-clean fitness, baseball, nightlife, and boystown all converge in a frenzy of commotion. this neighborhood loves you.

in lakeview, you could eat one endless meal all the way up clark, all the way down broadway, and all along belmont, noshing on burgers and fries, middle eastern, jamaican, indian, cajun, pizza, and swedish sweet rolls, among a thousand other foods. oh, yes, and sushi joints everywhere. but do you want to get your ears pierced with a railroad spike or buy a four-chambered hookah for your Moroccan roommate? do you thrive on live entertainment? noisy nightclubs? do you like to skate along the lake? or shag fly balls during chicago cubs batting practice? if any of these things appeal to you, then lakeview may be the right place to start looking for that new apartment.

but don't be misled. the energy may be high on the main drags, but you can keep a quiet life too. the side streets can rival lincoln park for tranquility. the population density is thicker, but the charm is unmistakable. there's an abundance of three and four-story courtyard lakeview apartments, four-and-one's, brownstones, and modern single-family homes. (a four-and-one, incidentally, is a four-story apartment building set on stilts with parking underneath.) for families and more of a residential feel, enter the west side of lakeview.

parking can be a serious hassle on the abundance of side streets, and the prospects darken considerably on the 81 times a year that the cubs play at wrigley. a whopping seven el stops (four brown line, three red line) serve the area. buses are plentiful and especially useful for those on the east side, near the lake. the vast expanse of territory inevitably means that commuters who live in the heart of the west side will need to get used to long walks. but it's worth it. lakeview is a fantastic place to live.