university village

university village is the near west side chicago neighborhood that surrounds the expanding campus of the university of Illinois-chicago (better known as UIC).  in the past decade, thousands of new construction townhouses, mid-rises, and single family homes have appeared on the scene, and warehouses and industrial plants have been rehabbed into stunning residential lofts.  the frenzied pace of development has brought droves of new residents to the village and created a hot new district for chicago’s youngest buyers and renters.

the prodigious new development has transformed south halsted street into a thriving retail strip, replete with restaurants, coffee, deli, and sandwich shops, grocers, and boutiques.  only ten years ago, you’d have been crazy to walk around here unless you were armed to the teeth and determined to reclaim all the parts that were stripped from your car.  today, it’s a thriving neighborhood and a truly remarkable success story.

university village includes “little italy,” which is on the northwest side of the neighborhood, above, on, and below taylor street, in which you can find an abundance of outstanding italian restaurants.  little italy is now a bit “older” than the other parts of the university village because its housing stock remains intact from a century or more of growth.  many professors and their colleagues from the adjacent rush-presbyterian / st. luke’s medical center, as well as from UIC, live in this area, which is replete with traditional graystone two and three flats, courtyard buildings, and single family homes.

residents of university village are never far from the abundance of UIC playing fields, and baseball and softball enthusiasts might easily mistake the facilities for a major league spring training complex.  access to the el trains is a cinch, and both the dan ryan and eisenhower expressways are only blocks away.