Pilsen

Understand

The first Europeans to settle Pilsen were Irish and German immigrants, who came to work at the factories and stockyards nearby. Those industries attracted Czech and Polish immigrants next, and in the late 1800s, the neighborhood was named in honor of the city back in the former's home in Bohemia. The streets of Pilsen still bear their mark — weathered stone castles like St. Adalbert's and Thalia Hall loom over buildings with colorful turrets and dashes of ornamentation completely absent of the Prairie School influence found elsewhere in Chicago. As Pilsen escaped relatively unscathed from the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, many of the buildings here are among the oldest in the city.

In the 1960s, the construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago displaced a community of Mexicans from the Near West Side, and many resettled in Pilsen. Meanwhile, many of the original Eastern European residents relocated to the suburbs due to government policies encouraging suburbanisation of the white population, while at the same de facto banning non-whites from the suburbs and confining them to the inner cities. Though they inherited an area in economic decline, Pilsen's new residents built a set of cultural institutions that far outpace many wealthier neighborhoods, crowned by the excellent National Museum of Mexican Art. And with the city's once-thriving West Side Italian community mostly wiped out by that same construction, a single block of the industrial Heart of Chicago neighborhood drew new focus as a place where Italian Chicago survived, remaining today as an alternative to the more heavily touristed Little Italy near the university.

Fears of gentrification began several years ago when the Podmajersky company began converting the old warehouses of East Pilsen into cheap studios for artists. Depending on who you ask, this was either intended to:

a) Revitalize the nearly vacant eastern half of an economically depressed neighborhood by creating spaces where exciting young artists could live, work, and exhibit, a "SoHo in Chicago";

b) Jump-start the process of gentrification that happened in Wicker Park several years earlier, driving up property values by exchanging low-income residents for wealthier ones looking to trade on that artistic "cool."

The artists arrived and opened galleries, but many left for lack of foot traffic. Most of those who remain have private studios, open to the public only for special events, giving East Pilsen the feeling of a ghost town on non-event days. There is an increasing split between the two halves of the neighborhood, and businesses seem torn between appealing to the working-class Mexican community already here and the affluent community that is still arriving. Whatever direction Pilsen may be headed, what's there now is an area with a long history of re-inventing itself, rough in places and full of inspiration, and guaranteed to provide visitors with an interesting day.

Get in

By train

Pilsen is very easy to reach by train from the Loop. The key is to know which part you'd like to visit first: the arts district in East Pilsen, which is centered at 18th and Halsted, and the arts/commercial center in West Pilsen, which surrounds 18th and Ashland. It's a long but manageable walk between the two areas, with a quiet zone in-between.

For East Pilsen, take the CTA Orange Line to Halsted, which is on the border of Bridgeport, and walk a few blocks north on Halsted (the street), crossing over the river almost immediately.

For West Pilsen, take the CTA Pink Line to 18th. (Even if you're just passing through, the astonishing murals at the 18th station are worth a look.) The Pink Line also stops in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood (Damen, Western) and then on to the Far West Side.

The last trains for both lines are around 1:15AM heading back toward the Loop (Downtown).

By bus

The streets of Pilsen don't get the same tender, loving care from snowplows as some other parts of the city, so the wind and the drifts can make walking between East and West Pilsen considerably more difficult.

• 8 Halsted runs the length of the arts district, coming from Bridgeport to the south and the Near West Side to the north. It connects with the Orange Line at the Halsted station.
• 9 Ashland will drop you at 18th and Ashland, near the taquerías and the Pink Line. It runs all night.
• 18 16th 18th runs, appropriately enough, down 18th street, connecting with the Pink Line at the 18th station.
• 49 Western runs down Western Avenue for nearly the full length of the city, passing near Pilsen and Heart of Chicago. It's an all-night route.
• 60 Blue Island/26th runs from the Chicago/Loop through the Near West Side, Pilsen, Little Village and South Lawndale all night long.
• N62 Archer branches off to cover the same ground as the 8 Halsted while passing through the arts district. The plain 62 Archer only stops within walking distance back at the Halsted Orange Line stop.

By car

If you're traveling within the city, the wide expanses of Western Avenue are the fastest way to reach Pilsen. Otherwise, use the I-55 exit at Damen Avenue for Pilsen, and the Canalport left exit off of I-90/94 to get to the arts district on Halsted.

Stay safe

Smash-and-grab robberies have been reported for cars parked in East Pilsen during the 2nd Fridays art walk, so park in a well-lit area if possible and take any valuables with you (or, better, leave them at your hotel). Many Chicago residents overstate the crime rate in Pilsen, but it still has some problems. After dark, stick with other people and be aware of your surroundings.

Go next

• The majority of Chicago's Mexican-Americans live in Little Village to the west and near Marquette Park and Back of the Yards on the Southwest Side.
• The other major gallery scenes are in River North and the West Loop, albeit with far higher rents. You'll find a gallery scene even further off the beaten path in nearby Bridgeport.