Living in Old Town: a neighborhood guide

OfficiallyOld Town straddles two community areas: the blocks south of North Avenue belong to the Near North Side (community area 8) and the Old Town Triangle north of it to Lincoln Park (7). All 77 community areas on one interactive map.

The lay of the land

Old Town sits between Lincoln Park and the Near North Side, with North Avenue as its spine street and Wells Street as its main strip. The heart of it is the Triangle, the wedge of narrow streets northwest of North and Wells where the street grid bends and the lots shrink to cottage scale.

The neighborhood grew up fast after the Fire of 1871 burned through, which is why so much of what stands here dates to the 1870s and 1880s. St. Michael’s, whose walls came through the Fire, still rings the hours over the Triangle.

Getting around

The Sedgwick stop on the Brown and Purple Lines sits at Sedgwick and North, a short ride from the Loop in one direction and Lincoln Square in the other.

• CTA buses: the #72 North, #37 Sedgwick, #156 LaSalle, and the #9 Ashland a few blocks west.
• Lake Shore Drive is minutes east at North Avenue, with the North Avenue Beach underpass for the lakefront trail.
• The Wells Street strip is walkable end to end, and Lincoln Park begins directly north.

Parks and green space

Lincoln Park itself begins at the neighborhood’s northeast corner, which puts the zoo, the Conservatory and the lakefront within a walk. Inside the neighborhood, the Menomonee Club and the small Triangle gardens carry the green; the district association keeps the courtyards and parkways famously well tended.

The housing stock

The Triangle is one of the city’s oldest landmark districts: wood workers cottages that beat the 1874 fire limits, brick Italianates, and the 1885 Crilly Court rowhouses, one of Chicago’s first planned residential courts. Landmark rules shape what owners can change on the outside, which is part of why the blocks look the way they do.

East and south of the Triangle the stock shifts to mid-century towers, courtyard condos and newer infill, so the same neighborhood covers both a vintage cottage and a high-rise two-bedroom.

The calendar

The Old Town Art Fair has run in the Triangle every June since 1950, joined the same weekend by the Wells Street Art Festival, and Second City and Zanies keep the comedy calendar full year round.

Check our events calendar for current dates.

Fuel, close by

An easy first errand in a new place: the rooms locals have kept in business for decades, each checked as open when this guide was last updated.

The Fudge Pot · 1532 N Wells · map
Hand-made chocolate on Wells since 1963.

Twin Anchors · 1655 N Sedgwick · map
Ribs in a corner tavern that has been serving since 1932.

Guides worth reading before you tour here

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