Wicker Park

What is it?

Wicker Park is a neighboorhood in Chicago that is known for it's music and arts scene. It's center is generally agreed to be the intersection of Milwaukee, Damen and Chicago Avenues. Before I moved to Washington, DC, I liked my neighboorhood. Now that I live on Capitol Hill, I *love* my old neighboorhood. It's a walking kind of place, and it seems that everything worth doing in DC requires a car.

To experience True Wicker Park-ness, you might want to check out one of these "Wicker Park Style" Bars.. You see, Wicker Park is SO cool that you don't even have to be IN Wicker Park for people to recognize that your bar is cool just because it's remotely like some bar in Wicker Park. Some of the places listed are OK and all, but I still thought this silly.

Music

As far as that is concerned, they claim Liz Phair as output from the area. Another interesting personality that Wicker Park likes to claim is Wesley Willis was a street artist before he was a musician, and could be found drawing on any given corner in Lincoln Park. I used to run into Wesley all over town, especially at art supply stores, but never in Wicker Park. For more about Wesley, click here.

Transport and assorted lodgings

If you happen to find yourself in Chicago, the Wicker Park area is easy to get to from anywhere. Take the Congress/Douglas (blue) subway to Damen, and you'll be right there in the heart of things. For some local anarchist/activist fun, try visiting the Autonomous Zone.. To find an apartment in Wicker Park, check out the Chicago Reader Spacefinder Ads. The zipcode for Wicker Park is 60622. You can tell I don't live there anymore. Why else would I encourage hordes of random web people to look for an apartment there?

I've looked for a lot of apartments in Chicago, something like eight, I think. Some claim the walking tour is the way to go, but I can't seem to keep track of addresses and phone numbers that way. As a result, I think that ALL of my apartments have been had through The Reader. Beware of agents, especially The Apartment People. Ultimately, you'll be paying the fee in one way or another. If this is OK with you, then try North Clybourn Realty. They are fine, in my experience. I've had angels and devils for landlords. I'm going to think on it a bit, and I may publish those lists of each right here for all your consumption.