Wicker Park

Boundaries: North: Bloomingdale Avenue; East: Chicago River; South: Division; West: Western Avenue

The center of Wicker Park is the intersection of Damen, Milwaukee, and North Avenues. Trendy restaurants such as MOD, Souk, and Spring sit next to great music venues, The Double Door and The Note. Eccentric coffee houses such as Earwax (which rents videos) and The Local Grind collide with such trendy boutiques as Niche and Xcito.

In the late 1980's and 1990's, Wicker Park became a haven for artists and musicians, affording a warmth and familiarity reminiscent of Greenwich Village of the 1960's. Residents who first came to the neighborhood for its cheap rents, Bohemian atmosphere, and diversity feel that their neighborhood is turning into another Lincoln Park. Artists do still inhabit the neighborhood, and the annual arts festival dubbed "Around the Coyote" draws large crowds to the neighborhood as stores become galleries and the galleries themselves stay open late.

Wicker Park's namesake is actually Wicker Park, a Chicago park, located just off Damen Avenue. Wicker Park contains a historic district today that contains fabulous 19th century mansions on Beer Baron Row (Hoyne Street, between Pierce and Schiller). Here one can find the homes of several of the Haymarket Martyrs, German anarchists sentenced to die in 1887 after a bomb killed seven policemen at a rally for the eight hour work day. This incident is celebrated around the world as May Day.

Transportation-Rapid Transit: Blue Line (Stations: Division, Damen, Western)