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When discussing North America’s top Cool
Street neighborhoods, Chicago’s Logan
Square deserves to be near the top of the
list. Logan Square is characterized by tree-
lined streets, stately greystones and large
bungalow-style housing. The neighborhood
surrounds namesake Logan Square Park on
Chicago’s near northwest side at the three-
way intersection of Kedzie and Logan
Boulevards and Milwaukee Avenue. Logan
Square’s early residents were of English or
Scandinavian origin. Subsequent waves of
growth were driven by Polish, Jewish and
eventually Mexican and Puerto Rican
immigrants, making this one of the most
ethnically diverse of the Cool Street
neighborhoods featured in this report.
Logan Square’s fortunes have long been
tied to its more well-known neighbor,
Wicker Park. That neighborhood had been
the center of Chicago’s independent art
and music scene going back to the early
1990s. But as Wicker Park became more
popular, its rents started pricing out its arts
community. Beginning approximately 20
years ago many of these creative types
began moving to the edgier (and cheaper)
environs of Logan Square. That influx of
artists has helped to drive projects like the
recently restored Hairpin Lofts. This LEED-
certified, six-story flatiron, landmark
building at the intersection of Milwaukee
and Diversey offers live/work residences
for creatives.
While Logan Square’s emergence as a Cool
Street began with the arts community
nearly two decades ago, the momentum
behind this neighborhood’s growth has
kicked in fairly recently. The arrival of the
Logan Square Farmer’s Market in 2007 was
a major touchstone, but the real growth has
been since 2010 and it has largely been
driven by new restaurants and bars. Multiple
eateries have popped up ranging from fast
casual to upscale, and from some of
Chicago’s most notable new white
tablecloth eateries to former food truck
concepts gone bricks and mortar. Logan
Square’s dining scene now is a mix of
creative concepts, dive bars, craft breweries
and cocktail lounges. Meanwhile, the city
has made some additional investments to
improve transit, bike infrastructure, and spur
economic development. A number of large
residential developments are in the pipeline
and this will surely drive further growth in
the immediate future. Not surprisingly,
many in the arts community are already
concerned that Logan Square may be on
the verge of mainstreaming… but that is the
cost of popularity.
34.3%
Millennial Population
$84,529
Average
Household Income
Logan Square:
Midwest Headquarters of Hip