Chicago Travel Forum

Hi - I will be visiting Chicago for the first time in a few weeks.

I just wanted to see if I could get a quick feel for what various neighbourhoods are like from you guys.

If I was in the Loop area and took Red Line up to Berwyn, and then walked from there to N Clark, at night, alone, would that a reasonable trip to make, or would I be crazy?

I intend to explore some Andersonville bars and clubs and wonder if I can use public transportation at least to get there in the evening from a Loop area base, if not make a very late-nite return.

Any thoughts from somebody with local knowledge would be much appreciated.

Many thanks - pete

Pete,

Although I don't live on the North side of Chicago (actually live is a Chicago suburb 30 miles southwest), my oldest son doesn't live too far from Wrigley Field along Addison. A lot of the area up north are fine to walk through any time of the day. The CTA trains are fine and there are a number of bus routes as well. Like any major city you should be aware of your surroundings and as long as there are other people around and/or the streets are well lit you should have no problems. Google CTA (The Chicago Transit Authority) and you can check out your routes and times.

Are you planning on walking down Clark Street from Berwyn? Remember that everything in Chicago is basically a grid E-W/N-S. Clark Street is a little tricky because it runs on the diagonal. Berwyn is at approx. 5300 North. Andersonville (where the bars, restaurants, etc is around 4400 North. That is about 9 blocks or about 1 mile. Clark Street is west of the red line up in that neighborhood. One option you would also have is to talk the Clark Street bus #22 (a little slower than the EL but not too bad). It runs from the Loop all the way up Clark Street.

I've done this many times. It takes about ten minutes to walk and you are perfectly safe. Andersonville is a great neighborhood if you aren't wearing an "I Hate Lesbians" t-shirt or prone to do dumb things. Make sure you stop at a place called the Hop Leaf, three businesses S past the Foster (the street you will walk on) and Clark intersection on Clark. Another is called Simon's, which has a local Swedish-American feel. You could take the Clark Street bus all the way there from downtown, but it would crawl. You're better on the red.

Best of luck Pete