Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends – A project of The Chicago Community Trust

LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW Dense, high-income communities support healthy housing, retail A short bike ride from the Lakefront Trail, close to

downtown, and filled with entertainment and shopping

choices, Lincoln Park and Lakeview are among Chicago’s

most in-demand neighborhoods. A destination for recent Big

10 college graduates, hangout for fans of the Chicago Cubs,

and location of theater, music, and comedy venues, these

adjacent lakefront neighborhoods are experiencing heavy,

ongoing reinvestment in residential, commercial, and public

structures.

Lincoln Park and Lakeview were once solidly working-class

neighborhoods whose residents worked in factories and

workshops along the river and rail spurs – or at downtown

jobs reachable by CTA trains and buses. The communities

were crowded and worn out after World War II, peaking in population with 227,000 residents in

1950. Ever since, as household sizes and population fell, the neighborhoods trended upward in

homeownership, education levels, and income, and became less diverse in the process.

The district has a remarkable mix of housing types, with 110-year-old rowhouses and cottages

alongside new balconied condominiums, just down the street from corner apartment blocks and high-

rises. Land uses are just as varied. The lakefront park is half-a-mile deep in many places, strung with

paths and lagoons, Belmont Harbor, Lake Shore Drive, and the free Lincoln Park Zoo and

Conservatory. Retail corridors have widely varied character, including the Belmont theater district,

gay-oriented Halsted Street in Boystown, and bars and restaurants along Clark Street in Wrigleyville.

Source: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using 2010 Decennial Census.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 2

To the west along the river and Ravenswood Avenue are reminders of the area’s industrial past, from

metal-recycling companies to big-box stores on former factory land.

The district has one of Chicago’s consistently strongest

housing markets, though today it faces fresh competition from

other neighborhoods to the north, west, and south. The

highest housing values have traditionally been in Lincoln

Park, where new mansions go for $3 million or more, and

elaborate rehabs are interspersed with new single-family,

townhouse, and condominium developments. After decades

of growth, the scarcity of available land means that teardowns

of less-valuable property are common. On the 2700 block of

North Lakewood, for instance, worker cottages once lined the

street and railroad tank cars served a candy factory at

Diversey. Now the tracks are abandoned, the factory is gone, and the block is almost full of new single-

family homes with as many as six bedrooms and bathrooms, at prices to match.

Slightly less expensive than Lincoln Park, the Lakeview community has been coming on strong for

years, offering thousands of units in lakefront high-rises and many more on less-dense interior streets.

Like Lincoln Park and other hot neighborhoods to the west, including North Center, developable

parcels are mostly claimed by local developers, and “underutilized” buildings, including Single Room

Occupancy apartment buildings, are being converted to higher-end uses or torn down.

Investment drivers

In 2015, four major parcels are in transition to new uses that are likely to create ripple effects:

River Works – When steelmaker A. Finkl & Sons relocated to the South Side two years ago, this

parcel and the adjacent Guttman Tannery and A. Lakin rubber sites became available for future

uses. Extending along the river on both sides of Cortland Street, the 40 acres are in two Planned

Manufacturing Districts where retail and residential uses are prohibited. The economic

LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW OVER TIME 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Population 182,747 154,665 152,123 159,137 158,484

Share of population in poverty 13.2% 13.1% 10.4% 8.7% 11.4%

Percent owner-occupied/renter occupied 12/88 24/76 28/72 34/66 39/61

Sources: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using U.S. Census data from US2010 Project at Brown University.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 3

development group North Branch Works is conducting a $200,000 study to determine the

potential for new job-creating uses, including advanced manufacturing.

The 32-acre Lathrop Homes public housing complex is in the beginning stages of a

controversial $1.6 billion redevelopment to create a mixed-income community. The latest

master plan for the area calls for preservation of 14 historic structures north of Diversey and

construction of modern mid-rise buildings south of Diversey, for a total of 1,208 units. The plan

calls for improved riverfront access and new park space. Community debate has focused on

historic preservation and the reduced number of affordable housing units (212 affordable

rentals and 400 public housing units, versus 925 original units) in this increasingly expensive

part of the city.

Children’s Memorial site – Six acres that once served thousands of workers and visitors a day

have been idle since 2012 when the renamed Lurie hospital moved to Streeterville. A $300

million mixed-use redevelopment plan by McCaffery Interests was approved by the City

Council in 2014 but a lawsuit by residents in the surrounding historic district delayed

movement on the land sale (the lawsuit was dismissed in January 2015). Objections centered

around the development’s proposed density, with 540 apartments, 60 condominiums, and 160

senior units, plus retail space and a health club. In the meantime, nearby sandwich shops and

other businesses that once served the hospital have closed.

Wrigley Field and adjacent blocks are in line for years of construction as the Chicago Cubs

move forward on a $500 million renovation of the ballpark and construction of an adjacent

public plaza and 175-room Sheraton hotel on the west side of Clark Street. A separate

development on the south side of Addison will add 148 apartments and 170,000 square feet of

retail space fronting on both Addison and Clark. Many businesses in Wrigleyville cater to the

large crowds that converge on the area for Cubs home games.

Also in the works is a $31.5 million expansion of Lincoln Park at Fullerton as the Army Corps of

Engineers adds 5.8 acres of new park space to prevent shoreline erosion and relieve a pinch point in the

Lakefront Trail, which serves 13,800 bikers, hikers, and roller-bladers at Fullerton on an average

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 4

weekday. The improvements include conversion of the summer-only Theater on the Lake to a year-

round performance and event space with a 400-seat theater.

Housing and retail

The resurgence of Lincoln Park began in the 1970s during the hippie era, when Old Town’s eclectic mix

of music clubs, shops, restaurants, and bars began attracting a citywide clientele. Housing was mostly

inexpensive and deteriorated, but that began to change as century-old cottages and townhouses were

rehabbed and upgraded. On the 1300 block of North Wells, the former Dr. Scholl’s foot-product

complex, a warren of 30 buildings, was converted to loft housing in the 1980s and renamed Cobbler’s

Square. This spurred development of brand-new housing on previously forbidding blocks to the west,

bringing new retail stores to Wells Street and more customers to the Second City comedy club at North

and Wells.

High-rise residential buildings were already the dominant use along the lakefront, but vitality spread

into the mixed low-rise areas to the west, which were well served by express buses to the Loop via

Lake Shore Drive. By the late 1980s, many of the older structures in Lincoln Park had been rehabbed

and the first waves of gentrification were moving into Lakeview. Just as hippies marked the first phase

of Old Town’s renewal, a growing gay population was transforming Halsted Street north of Belmont,

where the concentration of gay bars, music venues, and other attractions became known as Boystown.

East Lakeview is virtually shut down one weekend each year for the Gay Pride parade, and the area

remains a major center of the city’s LGBT

population, despite outmigration of couples and

families to Andersonville and the North Lakefront.

In 2004, the Center on Halsted opened at 3656 N.

Halsted as the Midwest’s largest community center

for the LGBT community, and in 2014, the nearby

Town Hall Apartments debuted as the city’s first

LGBT-friendly senior housing development, with

79 units in a former police station and adjoining

new building.

EMPLOYMENT – LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW

Top six employment sectors (# jobs) 2005 2011

Accommodation and Food Services 9,664 11,014

Health Care and Social Assistance 9,350 9,693

Retail Trade 9,016 8,657

Other Services (except Public Admin) 3,346 3,516

Professional, Scientific, and Tech Services 1,709 2,056

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 1,950 1,883

Total # private-sector jobs in district

46,706

48,327

District Citywide

Unemployment rate 2012 4.9% 12.9%

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 5

With more than 23,000 residents per square mile –

second highest density among the planning

districts after the North Lakefront – and relatively high incomes in many households, the Lincoln Park

Lakeview district supports more than 2,700 small businesses spread along Clark, Broadway, Halsted,

Lincoln, Southport, Belmont, and other streets. Character varies from street to street and continues to

evolve as rents increase and populations shift. Boutiques and specialty shops created a cluster early on

at Armitage and Halsted and continue to thrive there even as some shoppers have moved on to

Bucktown, Pilsen, and other new hotspots. The area around Cubs park, known as Wrigleyville, is

heavily served by sports-oriented restaurants and bars, some serving not just Cubs fans but Big 10

alums who gather to cheer their favorite college teams. Much of Lincoln Park benefits from DePaul

University, which has invested heavily in its 36-acre campus around Fullerton and Sheffield.

Belmont Avenue maintains its dominance as a theater district, with about 20 venues including the Briar

Street Theater, which has headlined the Blue Man Group continuously since 1997; the Athenaeum,

which hosts a dozen resident companies as well as touring troupes; the Laugh Factory and Comedy

Sportz; and the four-theater Stage 773, which features long-running shows and comedy festivals. The

blocks of Belmont near the CTA Red and Brown Line station were once known for punk clothing, army

surplus, and tattoo parlors, but are changing along with the neighborhood. At the triangular

intersection of Clark and Belmont, the former Dunkin Donuts and its surface parking lot are being

replaced by an eight-story, 90-unit apartment building with two floors of retail. Proximity to the

Belmont CTA station qualifies the building for reduced parking; it will have just 39 residential spaces.

CTA Red and Brown Line Ridership (weekday boardings, year-end averages, 2009 and 2013)

Red Line Brown Line

Clark/

Division North/

Clybourn Fullerton Belmont Addison Sheridan Sedgwick Armitage Diversey Wellington Southport Paulina

2009 7,025 4,293 11,518 11,434 7,950 4,853 3,308 3,811 5,133 2,426* 2,927 1,569

2013 7,468 5,707 13,362 12,822 7,981 5,483 3,900 4,313 5,749 3,035 3,299 2,779

Source: Chicago Transit Authority Annual Ridership Reports. * Wellington ridership in row for 2009 is actually from 2010, because the station was closed for reconstruction in part of 2009.

Sources: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data (top sectors) and 2012 Five-Year American Community Survey (unemployment).

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 6

All of this activity is supported by the CTA’s heavily used Red, Brown, and Purple Line trains that

serve the neighborhoods. The area includes several of the CTA’s highest-ridership stations and has

shown substantial passenger growth in recent years.

Challenges and opportunities

After many years of strong demand for its housing and retail space, both Lincoln Park and Lakeview

face growing competition from other neighborhoods that offer similar or different lifestyle choices.

Most big-box retailers are now within a few miles drive; Logan Square, River North, and Humboldt

Park offer “edgier” street environments; and neighborhoods farther north have become bigger

attractions for the city’s LGBT population. High-quality housing choices, whether for families or

singles, are now more available in other neighborhoods than they were two decades ago, when Lincoln

Park and Lakeview were among the few upscale choices in Chicago.

Source: Easy Analytic Software, Inc., updated January 2014, as displayed on Woodstock Institute Data Portal.

Recent plans and studies include strategies to help the area maintain its competitive edge. The 2011

Lakeview Area Master Plan concentrates on the interconnected retail districts along Ashland, Belmont,

Southport, and Lincoln Avenue. It suggests better landscaping, “living” walls of greenery, gateways,

and branding of subdistricts to bring more life to the sidewalks and more shoppers to local stores. To

bring pedestrians from one district to another, the plan recommends turning the unused pathway

beneath the Brown Line tracks, between the Paulina and Southport stations, into a “Low Line” walking

trail with natural landscaping.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 7

The 2013 North Clark Street Strategic Plan identifies a lack of recent reinvestment along Clark Street

between Diversey and Belmont. The diagonal street is heavily oriented for auto uses north of

Wellington, with big-box stores, parking lots, and drive-through banks creating a hostile environment

for pedestrians, especially at the six-way intersection of Halsted, Clark, and Barry. South of Wellington

is a more traditional Chicago streetscape, with stores on the ground floor and apartments above, but

sidewalks are too narrow for sidewalk cafes and landscaping is drab or missing. The plan recommends

bump-outs and wider sidewalks, landscaping improvements for parking lots, an inviting connector

alley between Clark and Broadway to bring foot traffic in both directions, and reconfiguration of the

six-way intersections to provide more public spaces and safer street crossings. Specific building and

façade improvements are also suggested to enliven the corridor and attract new retailers.

The 2010 Halsted Triangle Plan addresses a very different environment on the edge of the North

Branch Canal, between Division and North Avenue. This former industrial area has transmuted into a

mixed commercial, industrial, and entertainment zone, taking advantage of its location near the North

and Clybourn commercial district. A master plan suggests delineation of districts within the triangle

and related streetscape and pedestrian improvements, including better access to the riverfront. When

the Whole Foods store relocated to Kingsbury Avenue in the triangle, from north of North Avenue, it

extended the existing riverwalk and opened its back doors to a riverfront plaza, exactly the type of

changes recommended by the plan.

Three pending transportation projects will create additional opportunities in the district:

Ashland Bus Rapid Transit – The first phase of this proposed service would bring new transit

stations to North Avenue and Cortland Streets at Ashland, creating new nodes of activity; the

second phase would continue the line north to Irving Park Road.

CTA Belmont Flyover – This bridge for northbound Brown Line trains, over the Red and

Purple Line tracks, will provide more-frequent trains and relieve overcrowding on the CTA’s

busiest corridor. Construction would require demolition of up to 16 parcels north of Belmont

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 8

for track realignment, creating transit-oriented-development opportunities after project

completion.

Redefine the Drive – The 2014 North Lake Shore Drive Phase I Study is the first step in

complete redevelopment of the lakefront transportation system, including the drive itself, inner

drive, Lakefront Path, and connections to east-west arteries. The project offers major

opportunities to expand overall capacity, reduce traffic accidents and conflicts, and improve

conditions for CTA bus riders, cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.

With continued heavy reinvestment in both the commercial and residential sectors of Lincoln Park and

Lakeview, and with multiple plans in place to address weaknesses and barriers to growth, this

planning district is positioned for growth. The primary challenge for the district is to find a balance

among competing interests, and to maintain the social and physical environments that have made it

such a strong attraction. Examples of development opportunities (to come)

Place Location Status Notes

In-fill sites Various locations Small lots continue to be developed with single-family homes or three- and four-flat residential buildings.

River Works (Finkl, Guttman, Lakin properties)

Around Cortland Avenue on east side of Chicago River.

40 acre site in Planned Manufacturing District is being studied for potential uses.

North Branch Works, an economic development nonprofit and city delegate agency, is managing the study process.

Children’s Memorial Hospital site

South of Fullerton, east of Lincoln Avenue.

McCaffery Interests has created detailed development plan but had not yet purchased the site as of late 2014.

Lawsuit by neighborhood opponents had stalled progress but was dismissed in January 2015.

Former industrial areas Multiple underutilized sites, generally along Kingsbury, Elston Avenue, and Chicago River.

Many sites are in buffer zone near Planned Manufacturing District, allowing retail but not residential uses.

Retail big-box stores have been added at multiple locations on the western edges of Lincoln Park.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Lincoln Park Lakeview – February 2015 – Page 9

Data note: Demographic and other data is compiled by Chicago Community Area, which may differ slightly from the boundaries of the CN2015 Planning Districts. Community Areas included in this profile are Lincoln Park and Lakeview.

Research support for Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends was provided by a team convened by The Chicago Community Trust. The summary of assets for this planning district was created by LISC Chicago and Teska Associates with materials from Metropolitan Planning Council, Place Consulting, Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, and many other sources. Author: Patrick Barry.

Learn more about Lincoln Park Lakeview and Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 at cct.org/CN2015/LincolnParkLakeview. Learn more about data and sources at cct.org/CN2015/DataSources.

Wilson Yards

Chicago

LAKE MICHIGAN

94

Costco

The VicBelmont Theater District

Wrigley

New City

Mariano's

Straw Dog

Whirlyball

Home Depot

iO Theater

Mt. Carmel

Apple Store

CH Robinson

Second City

Second City

Lincoln Hall

Stanton Park

Lincoln Park

Laugh Factory

Wrigley Field

Zanies Theater

Francis Parker

Apollo Theater

Children's Unit

City Day School

Riverfront Plaza

St. Luke Academy

Lakeview Academy

Timeline Theater

Lincoln Park Zoo

Center on Halsted

Annoyance Theater

Music Box Theatre

DePaul UniversitySt. Josaphat School

Steppenwolf Theatre

Briar Street Theater

Catherine Cook School

ArtDe Triumph Gallery

Latin School of Chicago

Signal of Peace Monumnet

British School of Chicago

Former Children's Memorial

Mayer ES

Blaine ES

Burley ES

Alcott ES

Greeley ES

Agassiz ES

Lincoln ES

Lasalle ES

Prescott ES

Newberry ES

Manierre ES Franklin ES

Schiller ES

Hawthorne ES

Nettelhorst ES

Lincoln Park HS

Paulina Southport

Diversey

Armitage

Sedgwick

Wellington

NORTH

ELSTON

DIVERSEY

FULLERTON

RACI

NE

ARMITAGE

LAKEVIEW

LINCOLN PARK

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Belmont

Fullerton

Addison

Belmont

Sheridan

North/Clybourn

Clark/Division

Lakeview WIC Clinic

Park West

North Ave. Beach

Athenaeum Theatre

LGBT Senior Housing

Northwestern Clinic

Diversey Golf Course

St. Alphonsus Academy

Anshe Emet Day School

Chicago History Museum

The Pointe at Clark St.

Lincoln Park Conservatory

Stage 773 and Theater Wit

P. Notebaert Nature Museum

North Ave.Volleyball

Courts

St. Peter's Episcopal Church

City College Lakeview Learning

Coyote Logistics, Green Exchange

Hamilton ES

Schneider ES

CICS ChicagoQuest

Inter AmericanMagnet ES

Merlo

Near North

North BranchIndustrial Corridor

See North CentralPlanning District

Jewel

Lathrop Homes

McGrath Acura

Fullerton Plaza

McGrath Lexus of Chicago

North & Sheffield Commons

St. James Lutheran School

St. Vincent de Paul Parish

Planned UI Labs

Former Near North HS

Illinois Advocate Masonic

19th

Old Town TriangleHistoric District

Mid NorthHistoric District

LakeviewHistoric District

SheffieldHistoric District

See Milwaukee AvePlanning District

See North LakefrontPlanning District

See CentralPlanning District

Wrigleyville

Boystown

CLARK

BROADWAY

Old Town

LOGAN SQUARE

Future Retail

Mariano’s

Whole Foods

LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW DISTRICT ASSET MAPCHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS 2015

DATE | 01.16.2015

Lakeview Chamber of Commerce

Central Lakeview Merchants Association

Old Town Merchants & Residents Association

North Branch South

Goose Island

North Branch North

Addison South

Eastman/North Branch

Lincoln/Belmont/Ashland

Division/North Branch

Weed/Fremont

Near North

Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce

See North Lakefront Planning District

See North Central Side Planning District

See Milwaukee Avenue Planning District

See Central Planning District

NORTH

DIVISION

ASHLA

ND

HALS

TED

DIVERSEY

BELMONT

ADDISON

FULLERTON

ARMITAGE

RACI

NE

43rd Ward

44th Ward

46th Ward47th Ward

32nd Ward

33nd Ward

1st Ward

2nd Ward

27th Ward

SSA#27 SSA#17

SSA# 8

SSA#23

SSA#18

SSA#35

SSA#48

LINCOLN PARK LAKEVIEW PLANNING DISTRICT WARD/TIF/SSA MAPCHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS 2015

*This planning area is located within the Local Economic & Employment Development Council & North Business and Industrial Council (LIRI)

LAKE MICHIGAN

DATE | 01.16.2015

(NBDC) serves this district but main o�ce may be located o� the map