All guides & resources →
All guides & resources →
Plain, useful guides to the Chicago neighborhoods we work, written for people deciding where to buy or rent. Each one covers the lay of the land, how you get around, the parks, the shopping streets, the housing stock, and the calendar.
All 77 official community areas, drawn from the real boundary data. Every one links to a written guide, and the numbers follow the official numbering.
Boundary shapes from the community-areas map on Wikimedia Commons.
Lofts and towers north of the river, Astor Street’s landmark blocks, the Water Tower, and vertical living done right.
Living inside the L’s circle: the six-acre park in the towers, the Riverwalk, and every train there is.
Wrigley Field, the Southport corridor, Belmont Harbor, and the Red and Brown Lines.
The city’s largest park and free zoo, Armitage shopping, DePaul, and rowhouse streets.
The Aragon, the Riviera and the Green Mill, Argyle Street, and Montrose Beach.
Street-end beaches, four Red Line stops, the Glenwood arts district, and Loyola on the lake.
Hollywood Beach, the rebuilt Red Line stops, Lakewood Balmoral, and Clark Street in Andersonville.
Giddings Plaza, the Old Town School, the Brown Line, and Ravenswood’s corridor of makers.
The Brown Line, Roscoe Village’s strip, river boathouses, and the Riverview story.
The landmark Triangle’s post-Fire cottages, Wells Street, Second City, and the Sedgwick Brown Line stop.
Devon Avenue’s world bazaar, Indian Boundary and Warren Parks, and deep blocks of bungalows and Georgians.
A 46-acre nature center with deer, two universities, the landmark Bohemian National gate, and the channel trail.
Greystones and two-flats along historic boulevards, the Blue Line, and Milwaukee Avenue.
The Milwaukee-North-Damen junction, Victorian mansions, and the Blue Line Damen stop.
The 606 trail, restored cottages and new construction, Damen and Armitage.
Brick bungalows and two-flats, the Blue Line, and the Milwaukee Avenue food strip.
The bungalow belt, Six Corners, the Copernicus Center, and one-seat rides to O’Hare.
The landmark district, Sullivan’s Holy Trinity, and the quietest brick streets near the Loop.
The Brown Line’s last stops, Kedzie and Lawrence food streets, the river’s North Branch, and brick two-flats.
Old Irving’s Victorians, the landmark Villa District, Independence Park, and Blue Line plus Metra in one stop.
The Circle’s curving streets, the 1833 Noble-Seymour-Crippen House, Superdawg, and three Metra stops.
Brick Tudors and Georgians on winding streets, forest preserve on three sides, and Metra at two stops.
Bungalows and Georgians by the thousand, Riis Park’s 57 acres, and the Belmont-Central crossroads.
Schorsch Village’s Tudors and Georgians, Wright College, big-fieldhouse parks, and both airports close.
Walt Disney’s birthplace on Tripp Avenue, Kelvyn Park, and a rail-wrapped pocket of two-flats and cottages.
Schorsch Forest View’s ranches by the preserves, the Cumberland corridor, and the airport that made the map’s island.
The transit gateway: Blue Line and Metra in one station, the Copernicus Center’s 1930 palace, and the free Paschke museum.
The city’s far corner: one Metra stop, Northwest Highway’s restaurant row, and brick blocks that trade by word of mouth.
The Grand Avenue pocket at the city line: twin park squares split by the railroad, and bungalow blocks most maps skip.
18th Street, the murals, the National Museum of Mexican Art, and Thalia Hall.
Restaurant Row, timber lofts and towers, Fulton Market, and the city’s densest transit.
The great park and lagoon, Paseo Boricua, boulevard greystones, and the 606’s west end.
Columbus Park, the Midway Park historic district’s big frame houses, and the Green Line to the Loop.
The 26th Street arch and two miles of commerce, La Villita Park, and the Pink Line.
Taylor Street’s institutions, Hull-House, UIC and the Medical District, and landmark Victorian rows.
The Conservatory’s gardens under glass, the gold-domed fieldhouse, the Green Line, and greystones around the park.
K-Town’s historic greystone rows, Douglass Park, the Sears tower that started it all, and three Pink Line stops.
The Conservatory’s gardens under glass, the gilded fieldhouse dome, two L lines, and greystones coming back.
The park’s west side: Madison-Crawford’s storied crossroads, the Legler library’s revival, and two-flats on the Green Line.
Historic housing between two great parks and the lake, anchored by the University of Chicago.
King Drive’s greystone rows, Great Migration landmarks, and the lakefront at 31st.
Printers Row lofts, the Museum Campus, three L lines at Roosevelt, and Motor Row.
Palmisano Park’s quarry hill, the Ramova, the art centers, and the Orange Line to Midway.
The Ridge’s hilltop houses, a real castle, Metra’s Rock Island stops, and Western Avenue’s long shelf of shops.
A national park around a planned town of 1880s rowhouses, the Clock Tower, and the Metra Electric.
Wentworth under the gate, Ping Tom Park’s riverfront, the round glass library, and Rate Field at the south end.
Post-war brick ranches, the Orange Line at Midway, Archer Avenue, and the easiest highway exits in the city.
Mid-century brick ranches on manicured blocks, 79th Street’s corridor, Tuley Park, and two rail lines.
Greystones and two-flats between the Midway and Jackson Park, with the Obama Presidential Center rising on Stony Island.
The Cultural Center’s lakefront campus, the Jackson Park Highlands, Rainbow Beach, and Metra every few blocks.
Victorians on the Ridge’s south end, brick Georgians to the county line, Rock Island stops, and a working farm on 111th.
Bungalows and two-flats off Archer, Orange Line stops at Kedzie and Pulaski, and the historic manufacturing district.
The stockyards story and its limestone gate, Sherman Park’s lagoon island, and the city’s most attainable cottages.
Kept bungalow grids, the Orange Line at Pulaski, and 55th Street’s food corridors.
Marquette Park’s 300-plus acres, the bungalow belt around it, and 63rd Street’s long run.
Post-war brick ranches and Georgians on calm grids, with two SouthWest Service stops of its own.
Hamilton Park’s landmark fieldhouse, Kennedy-King’s campus, two L lines, and first-foothold prices.
The 372-acre Olmsted park, the DuSable Museum, the Fountain of Time, and greystones by the boulevard.
Oak Woods’ storied graves, 75th Street barbecue, the rail-crossing story, and brick built for keeping.
Unbroken bungalow rows, the rebuilding 79th Street corridor, St. Sabina, and Foster Park.
Generous-lot housing, Palmer Park, Michigan Avenue’s historic mile, and the Red Line extension on its way.
Pill Hill’s mid-century showpieces on the ridge, kept bungalow blocks, the Metra Electric and the Skyway.
The South Works site’s next chapter, Steelworkers Park’s ore walls, Calumet Park’s beach, and entry-priced brick.
The 1883 model town by Wolf Lake: electric trains, marsh and prairie on three sides, and small-town loyalty.
The landmark Oakland District’s 1880s cottages, the 41st Street bridge to the lakefront, and blocks rebuilt with care.
The half-mile-wide sliver by the Ryan: a dignified old park, Eden Place’s prairie, and entry-priced cottages.
The Triangle: three rail lines, the sideburns general’s name, and a few calm brick streets inside.
The largest community area on the map: Big Marsh’s bike park, Jeffery Manor’s curving rows, and steel history.
The far edge on the Little Calumet: Eden Green’s planned community, Golden Gate, Altgeld’s history, and Beaubien Woods.
Owner-kept brick between the ridge and the Ryan, two Rock Island stops, and the Woodson Library’s great archive.
The stockyards enclave east of Halsted: the sparrow story, Burnham & Root’s St. Gabriel’s, and word-of-mouth blocks.
Chicago’s mid-century modern pocket: split-levels and ranches on curving streets, kept like a museum that people live in.
Midway’s south shoulder: the great rail clearing yard, wartime Chrysler Village’s curving pocket, and calm ranch grids.
The bungalow grid with its own Orange Line corner: Pasteur Park, 55th Street, and twenty minutes to the Loop.
The Archer Avenue diagonal: the Polish Highlanders’ hall, Curie’s campus, and two-flats inside Orange Line range.
The first great neighborhood park, the CMD’s landmark clock tower, Marz on Iron Street, and the Orange Line at 35th.
The kept bungalow grid by Midway: West Lawn Park’s busy fieldhouse, and Ford City’s bomber-plant-to-big-box story.
Ogden Park’s Olmsted acres, Lindblom’s landmark campus, working farm rows, and cottages at first-foothold prices.
The city’s farthest corner: a 72-acre working student farm, the 111th Street strip, and brick blocks of city workers.
The factory district’s second acts: a vast solar farm, the Major Taylor Trail, and brick houses on generous lots.
Between the river and the state line: Calumet Park’s lakefront acres, Ewing’s strip, the bridges, and the steel story.
Bronzeville’s north half: the Mies campus, the private parks of Groveland and Woodland, and three rides downtown.
Bronzeville’s heart: King Drive’s greystones, 47th and King’s storied corner, and the 1897 Forum coming back to life.
The mansion district: landmark blocks between 48th and 50th, KAM Isaiah Israel’s dome, and North Kenwood’s restored rows.
The kept grid with its own Metra stop: century-standard bungalows, the fieldhouse at its center, and Marynook’s curves.
Want a deeper dive on a favorite pocket, a sub-neighborhood, a landmark district, a single great block? Tell us and we will put it next in line.
Every client who rents or buys with us gets a welcome email built for their exact address: the parking permit zone on the block, the ward and alderman, the police district and station, the nearest emergency rooms and city clinics, the trains and groceries measured from the front door, and the building’s own details.
See a sampleWe keep a primer on ten suburbs worth knowing first, organized by the train lines that define them: Evanston, Wilmette, Skokie, Park Ridge, Arlington Heights, Oak Park, Riverside, Berwyn, La Grange and Oak Lawn.
The suburbs, briefly