Living in North Park: a neighborhood guide

The lay of the land

North Park sits where the North Branch of the Chicago River meets the North Shore Channel, and the water explains the green: river banks, channel trail, and the surprise at the middle of it all, North Park Village, the old municipal tuberculosis sanitarium grounds reborn as a campus of senior housing, gardens and the 46-acre Nature Center, where deer browse and school groups tap maples in March.

North Park University’s campus fronts the river at Foster, and Northeastern Illinois University’s sits off Bryn Mawr, so the neighborhood keeps an academic hum without a campus-town feel.

The landmarks

Bohemian National Cemetery’s 1892 castellated gatehouse and chapel are city landmarks, and its grounds, including a columbarium wall for Cubs faithful with a stained-glass Wrigley scoreboard, reward a respectful walk. Peterson Park’s fields and the channel trail connect north toward Lincolnwood and south toward the river’s confluence.

The housing stock

Brick Georgians and bungalows on the residential grids, mid-century ranches near the parks, courtyard buildings and two-flats along Kimball and Kedzie, and larger apartment buildings on Peterson. It is calm, owner-heavy stock a short bus ride from the Brown Line. Our home styles guide names what you are looking at, and the foundations guide answers the near-the-river basement questions.

The neighborhoods inside North Park

North Park is community area 13 of Chicago’s 77, on the Far North Side. The names people use inside it: Hollywood Park and River’s Edge.

The community areas have been the city’s official map since the 1920s; the neighborhood names inside them are the ones people use. All 77 on one interactive map.

Guides worth reading before you tour here

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