While visiting Chicago, most tourists usually choose to visit typical destinations that are often overcrowded. As a person who has lived in Chicago for the majority of my life, there is one area that I recommend to a visitor who wishes to not be in a place overburdened with people. The place that
I consider worth visiting is Logan Square. Logan Square is a neighborhood located on the North Side of Chicago, with Milwaukee Avenue being its main artery. Using the elevated train, it takes about fifteen minutes to get there from downtown Chicago, thus making the trip not too much of
a challenge. Also, Logan Square is a neighbourhood that has been inhabited by wide variety of different cultures, making it unnecessary to bring aninterpreter or a translator if one is not familiar with the English language.
Live entertainment
Logan Square is currently a bustling hub of different forms of Chicago style entertainment. The area has not yet fully undergone gentrification, which means that the cost of rent is still low. This attracts many art students and local artists to live in the area who cannot afford the higher rates in more affluent neighbourhoods. As a result, the area is peppered with live entertainment venues; the major ones being Empty Bottle, The Whistler, and Burlington. The artists perform a wide variety of music of that can satisfy any music taste. Often, even restaurants have local musicians performing music from their native countries. Poetry readings and comedy acts are also quite frequent.
A limitless choice of cuisines
From the Far East to Hawaii, the flavours of the cuisine that span the entire globe can be tasted in Logan Square. From its onset the neighbourhood has been inhabited by various ethnicities over its existence. This resulted in each population leaving their mark in Logan Square in the form of
a restaurant or a pub. Mexican, Polish, German, Cuban, Japanese, Chinese and Puerto Rican restaurants are ever-present, and are usually run by staff of their corresponding ethnicity. There is even a Hawaiian tiki bar that serves a variety of drinks from the Pacific isles. If one wants to experience real Chicago pizza or a Chicago style hotdog, these options are available as well. Polish, Japanese, Korean and Mexican pubs are also commonplace. They each serve alcohol from their respective country of origin.
The architecture
Although Logan Square does not feature any high-rise buildings, which Chicago is world renowned for, it does contain a variety of other options of typical American architectural style for a tourist to enjoy. One example would be the Illinois Centennial Monument, which is a Roman style column ornamented by an eagle located at the centre of the square. This landmark is used as a popular meeting place by the locals. Other landmarks worthy of mention are the American style, early twentieth century tenement houses which decorate the side streets of the neighbourhood. Apart from the architecture, many of the buildings surrounding the main streets are decorated by carefully crafted murals created by local professional artists.
Logan Square is an exciting neighbourhood bustling with life that offers a wide variety of attractions for any tourist visiting Chicago. The location is also not crowded by tourists, which makes it a more peaceful and easy-going experience in contrast to exploring the typical Chicago destinations. Through its architecture, cuisine and entertainment options, Logan Square guarantees a successful adventure.
(M.S.)
