Logan Square named one of the 'coolest' neighborhoods in the world: 'We have the best of Chicago right here'
Andrew Schneider was both surprised and wasn’t when he saw Logan Square was named one of the “coolest” neighborhoods in the world by Time Out.
“When I got the Google alert, I felt like someone reposted an article from 2016,” said Schneider, president of Logan Square Preservation and a local historian. “I think me and many others in this neighborhood who thought we heard the last of these. ... This article is about two or three neighborhoods behind where the cool kids are."
Schneider, a 21-year Logan Square resident, said a number of articles like it popped up about eight years ago in the wake of a bunch of new restaurants and bars opening. He said he never sees classics like the Bob Inn or Whirlaway Lounge featured.
The Northwest Side neighborhood was ranked 34 of 38. It was one of seven American neighborhoods on the list: Miami’s Little River (12), New York City’s Flatbush (17), Los Angeles’ East Hollywood (26), Washington, D.C.’s Mount Pleasant (29), Philadelphia’s BreweryTown (32) and Somerville, Massachusetts (38).
Stephanie Kitchen, owner of City Lit Books, said the neighborhood has changed since she moved there in 2009 but it has kept the most important parts.
She said the area's many independent stores and highly rated restaurants — including Lula Cafe, the city's only 2024 James Beard award winner — have drawn in younger renters and visitors.
“[Logan Square has] always been a quirky place to live,” Kitchen said. “The independent flair has been able to keep up. ... We have the best of Chicago right here.”
Time Out focused on Milwaukee Avenue’s selection of restaurants and businesses as well as Logan Square Park, home to the Illinois Centennial Monument and the recent site of the World Dumpling Festival.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), whose ward includes part of Logan Square, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the neighborhood is one of his favorite places to walk around.
“What people love is the history and that sense of place, and I think that’s what Logan Square has to offer," Ramirez-Rosa said.
The publication called it an “eminently walkable neighborhood,” and a $27 million streetscape project is aiming to improve the area's walkability while bettering traffic flow and establishing a new pedestrian area by 2026. Schneider said he expects to see another round of articles praising Logan Square once it's finished.
Kitchen also said the neighborhood's connection to O'Hare through the Blue Line has helped bring in tourists, and access to the CTA and Kennedy Expressway makes it an easy destination.
“A hundred years later, we’re undoing poor planning decisions and we’re taking space that was taken from people and given to cars, and giving it back to people, which will make everyone safer," Ramirez-Rosa said. The area will have pedestrian safety measures like raised crosswalks and bump outs once completed.
“The secret’s out,” Time Out wrote, though the secret has been out for a while — so much so that last week the City Council passed an ordinance to help protect longtime residents and existing housing from the gentrification the area has seen in recent years.
The measure could help save some of the limestone buildings mentioned in the article. Developers looking to demolish multifamily apartment buildings for luxury, single-family homes would pay a penalty of $20,000 per unit or $60,000 per building, whichever is higher. The money will be used to preserve affordable housing through the Chicago Housing Trust and the Here To Stay Land Trust.
Kitchen said her two wishes for the neighborhood are affordable grocery spots and affordable housing to help offset the condos and single-family housing built before the ordinance and its precursors were passed. City Lit Books is in the middle of a yearslong relocation to make way for affordable housing.
"There’s been a lot of deconstruction of the two-flats and apartment buildings becoming condos," Kitchen said. "[And] I wish there were more grocery stores. ... [But] we’re very lucky, we have pretty much everything you need right here."