Logan-Bucktown

Understand

The area now known as Logan Square was born in the boomtown days of the 1830s, when schoolteacher Martin Kimbell rejected a plot in the obviously going-nowhere Loop in favor of good, solid farmland about five miles northwest. The area remained independent from the city until temptations like water and fire departments became too much to resist, and in 1889, Chicago took over. (The streets were upgraded, but they were also renamed — most cruelly, "Kimbell" became "Kimball".)

And if you were a goat farmer in the city around that time, Bucktown was the place to be. You knew that you were in a place that understood the importance of goats, and that any goats you owned would be in good company. As home to farms, factories, and immigrants who were employed by them, Bucktown never developed any major tourist attractions, but it did support plenty of bars for discussions of issues both goat-related and non-goat-related, and that preponderance of cheap bars is still intact.

Logan Square, on the other hand, was named for the Civil War hero Gen. John A. Logan, and its tree-lined boulevards — one of which bears his name — are what really set the neighborhood apart from its neighbors, offering wide-open spaces for leisurely trawls by cars, bikes, and pedestrians alike. (Fittingly, Ignaz Schwinn, founder of the Schwinn bicycle company, settled in Logan Square.) The neighborhood became a destination for immigrants who'd struck it rich in Chicago, and they helped build the beautiful housing stock that survives, even after the business district collapsed in the 1950s.

It's those magnificent graystones and richly detailed brick classics that draw waves of new residents to Logan Square. It's the best of both worlds: murals and community gardens decorate the streets, and new residents kick portions of their salaries to businesses run by older ones, enjoying authentic taquerias on wide, sunny boulevards that are (mostly) rich with gritty, urban character and (generally) safe.

Despite the critical shortage of goats today, the chameleon-like Bucktown prospers from proximity to Wicker Park, with retail and restaurants that take their cues from the hipster paradise to its south, rough-and-tumble spots that resemble Logan on the other side, and new condos not dissimilar to Lincoln Park to the east. Bucktown is less notable than Logan Square in terms of looks, with a lot of same-y new construction hurried up to meet housing demand, but it also has some great bars and essential music venues with nightly bills of jazz, scuzz and genius.

Get in

By train

The O'Hare branch of the CTA Blue Line has stops in Bucktown (Damen, Western) and Logan Square (California, Logan Square). It runs all night.

By bus

• 49 Western runs through Bucktown all night, connecting with the Blue Line at Western and Armitage.
• 52 Kedzie/California travels on California through both neighborhoods, connecting with the Blue Line at the California station, and on to the Far West Side.
• 56 Milwaukee is the key route, running from Wicker Park, through Bucktown and Logan Square, and on to the Far Northwest Side. It connects near the Blue Line at Damen, again at California, and again at the Logan Square stop.
• 82 Kimball runs through Logan Square till midnight, connecting with the Blue Line at the Logan Square stop (Spaulding entrance).

Three buses connect Bucktown with Lincoln Park, Old Town, and the lakefront, not to mention the Red, Purple, and Brown Lines:

• 72 North runs a quick route between the Brown/Purple (Sedgwick) and Red (North/Clybourn) Lines and the Blue Line (Damen) at the center of the Wicker Park/Bucktown shopping district.
• 73 Armitage connects with the Blue Line at Western.
• 74 Fullerton connects with the Blue Line at California.
• 76 Diversey connects with the Blue Line at Logan Square.

By car

I-90/94, also known as the Kennedy Expressway, runs close to Logan Square and Bucktown. Diversey Avenue is the main exit for the neighborhood. Street parking is usually not a problem in Logan Square, but check for permit-only parking on side streets — the posted hours are a bit weird, and cops go on ticket binges every once in a while. Logan Boulevard itself usually offers plentiful open parking, though.

Stay safe

Both neighborhoods are reasonably safe, with standard precautions taken for an urban environment. Stay close to the bright lights after dark, and if you’ve had a lot to drink, use the money you saved on cheap beer for a taxi back to your hotel.

Go next

• As fashion follows the path of Polish migration, Avondale is often mentioned as the next place to receive the “hot neighborhood” treatment after Logan Square.
• Humboldt Park on the Far West Side has a major Puerto Rican community and a few cultural institutions that share an audience with Logan Square residents.