Living in Wicker Park: a neighborhood guide

The lay of the land

Wicker Park centers on the six-way junction where Milwaukee Avenue, North Avenue, and Damen Avenue all cross, which is about as busy as walking blocks get on this side of town. The park it is named for sits a few blocks northwest, ringed by some of the largest Victorian houses in the city.

It borders Bucktown to the north across the 606, Ukrainian Village and East Village to the south, and the Kennedy Expressway to the east.

Getting around

The Blue Line Damen station sits right at the Milwaukee, North, and Damen junction and runs to the Loop one way and O’Hare the other; the Division station serves the southern edge.

• CTA buses on the main streets: the #56 Milwaukee, #72 North, #50 Damen, #9 Ashland, #70 Division, and #49 Western.
• The Kennedy Expressway (I-90/94) is a few blocks east, with ramps at Division, North, and Damen.
• The 606 trail runs along the northern edge, opened in 2015 on the old Bloomingdale rail embankment.

Parks and green space

Wicker Park itself is a four-acre Chicago Park District park at 1425 N. Damen, with a cut-granite fountain, a fieldhouse, ball fields, and a summer wading pool; the land was donated by the Wicker brothers in 1870. The 606 trail runs along the north edge for a car-free route east and west.

The housing stock

The Wicker Park Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1979 and made a Chicago Landmark in 1991. The signature houses are the large late-1800s Victorians on Hoyne Avenue, long nicknamed Beer Baron Row, and on Pierce Avenue, built for owners of the nearby breweries and factories. Around them the stock runs to greystones, two-flats, workers cottages, and converted loft buildings.

The calendar

• Wicker Park Fest fills a stretch of Milwaukee Avenue in late July.
• Green Music Fest sets up on Damen Avenue in June.
• Do-Division Street Fest runs on Division Street in late May or early June.
• A Sunday farmers market runs in the park through the summer.

Dates shift year to year; check our events calendar for the current ones.

Coffee, close by

An easy first errand in a new place: the nearby rooms with good espresso and a table to land at, each checked as open when this guide was last updated.

The Wormhole Coffee · 1462 N Milwaukee · map
The one with the DeLorean over the espresso machine; a Milwaukee Avenue institution since 2010.

Brü Chicago · 1562 N Milwaukee · map
A big, easygoing room near the six-corners crossing with plenty of table space.

Guides worth reading before you tour here

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