Favorite Chicago Walks?

What with the gorgeous weather and the extra sunlight in the evening, Sunday gave me a great opportunity to embark on one of my favorite activities, the city stroll.

On this occasion, I didn't set out with the walk in mind, so improvising from ground zero (Dusty Groove America, on Ashland), I walked west on Division to Humboldt Park, then around to North Avenue back to Milwaukee and my first walk in longer than I'd realized through the heart of Wicker Park. All in all, it was enjoyable, although I made less stops than I thought I might.

The walks I like are not particularly motivated by a dense list of destinations; I prefer to have a place or two I plan to hit separated by a few stretches with decent serendipity potential. As much as the specific stops, I enjoy just walking through neighborhoods seeing what's happening and who's around. I like walking through any kind of neighborhood, or (as on this walk) through a variety of neighborhoods.

Do you have any favorite places to walk like this? Maybe places you almost take for granted, but which once made you realize what an amazing city we have here? A restaurant you choose almost as much for the postprandial strolling options as the food itself? Or places you've been meaning to check out?

Help me be prepared as Spring approaches...

PS it was not a very chowish walk, except for a decent pair of tacos de asada from La Pasadita.

Joe G,

On Saturday I took my first walk of the year and really enjoyed it. First I walked from my apartment over to the Paulina el stop on the brown line, which means walking through Roscoe Village, which I love for its many outdoor-seating restaurants, young families, and great dogs. I took the Brown Line up to Kimball and walked west on Lawrence through Koreatown, which I had never done before. I've driven to a restaurant in Koreatown but never walked, and it was much more enjoyable this way. Stopped at Chicago Kalbi for dinner, which was tasty but unspectacular, then stopped in a korean bakery just west of Hamlin on the north side of Lawrence for some after-dinner treats. From there our group went to see a play at Northeastern, which is a short walk away. I like this neighborhood because, at least on this day, there were all sorts of vendors out on the street, and there was a great diversity of people. I could easily live there.

Love,
John

The Gold Coast north of Division is especially nice in Spring once the gardens get going. Say, taking in the farmers market at Clark/Division(unless you don't want to get loaded down) walking into the neighborhood then up past the cardinal's residence and over to Lincoln Park Zoo and the conservatory; that's a favorite stroll of mine. Not much chow, but awfully pretty. And, if yr tootsies get tired you can bus back to Division on the 151.

Today I strolled down Michigan Avenue and then across Ohio to Columbus Drive for a meeting. It was very pleasant. Everyone seemed to come out of their winter cocoons and was smiling as they walked along with only a light jacket, if that. I love springtime!

This is just the kind of stuff I was looking for -- keep it comin!

I love walking around Andersonville. Clark Street has a great variety of shops (antiques, bakery, etc.) and restaurants. The people watching is also great. But, even better is the walk around the Lakewood-Balmoral neighborhood in the 4 square blocks immediately east of Clark street. The houses in this neighborhood are so beautiful. From there you can walk another 4 blocks east to the lake. It is much less crowded this far north, and it's easy to find a shady spot with no one around.

I don't do nearly as much of this as I'd like, as I live in suburbia. But food/ethnic-oriented walks I'd like to do this summer include:

- Little Village - start at Pulaski/26th, walk east to Kedzie on one side of the street, walk back on the other side;
- The near south side/Chinatown. Start at Roosevelt/Canal at White Palace and/or Manny's, make my way east over the bridge to Wabash, then down to 24th/Wentworth then back up to LSC for lunch. (I drive through Chinatown/Canal Street three mornings a week, but I don't stop nearly as often as I should...); and
- Milwaukee Avenue from North to Six Corners

if i'm entertaining newcomers or visitors to chicago, my favorite place to appreciate the city is NOT michigan avenue or navy pier(the old, 'unimproved' pier might have been). rather, i love to walk down roosevelt road. start at the museum campus, walk west, enjoy the amazing decorative lamps on the bridge (wrapped with dolphins and other animals). look to the north and to the south and see an expansive view of a city that's WORKING (not shopping). continue past some oldstyle stores (tube socks anyone?) and turn right for a classic chicago meal at manny's deli. in the good old days a further walk west , turning south on halsted would bring you to the remnants of the old maxwell st. market. now, its way too depressing. i'd rather walk back to the museum campus, or south on michigan to see the giant legs by magdelena abakanowicz. i find this part of chicago totally exhilirating. justjoan

In the south loop, along the Metra right of way next to the river. You can get there by heading S. on Wells where it ends at River City (800 S. or so) and keep going. We used to walk there and see pheasants, etc.

My favorites walks:

Hyde Park:
Pretty U of C-centric but I usually take the express bus from the Loop and get off just past MSI, right before the first U of C underpass on 57th. My route from there varies, but I usually take this walk when I'm in bookstore-nerd mode, so I'll pass by Powell's and spend a bigger chunk of time lost in the stacks of the Seminary Co-op. I'll walk past Robie House and then the business school building (the architecture nerd in me). If I'm with a guest, I'll troll past the Rockefeller Chapel. On my all-time top 10 list of why Chicago is an amazing city is the Oriental Institute's collection of Mesopotamian cylindrical seals (a niche interest, I realize), so I also typically make a stop there. Sometimes I like strolling through Jackson Park, with my romantic notions of Olmstead's designs and what the grounds of the Columbian Expostion looked like in 1893. Foodwise, on a sunny spring or summer day, any place with outdoor seating on the 53rd St. drag is perfectly enjoyable to me. I also find the burgers at Mellow Yellow pretty satisfying after all of that walking (though no outside seating).

More generally, I like the Andersonville walk, Pilsen with the houses below street level, love walking Chicago's old boulevards, exploring the churches of Ukrainian Village...excellent eats can be found easily in any of these neighborhoods.

Thank for starting this post. I plan on incorporating suggestions in future walks my walking group takes...

Re Hyde Park:

After browsing through Powell's turn left and walk down Harper to 59th. It's IMO one of the most charming turn-of-the-last-century residential streets in Chicago particularly when the flowers are blooming during summer or whatever-passes-for-early-Spring in Chicago.

I used to tell people you'll think you're in small-town Ohio when walking down this street, altho when I once confronted a colleague from Athens, OH, with this comment, she replied, "No, but maybe Indiana."

Living in Beverly, I do most of my walking there. It's a great neighborhood for walking. Lots of beautiful, old houses, and lots of people doing outdoorsy things.

I like walking in Northerly Island too. Great lake views, and desolate feeling, yet the city skyline is always there.

jbw wrote:Re Hyde Park:

After browsing through Powell's turn left and walk down Harper to 59th. It's IMO one of the most charming turn-of-the-last-century residential streets in Chicago particularly when the flowers are blooming during summer or whatever-passes-for-early-Spring in Chicago.

I used to tell people you'll think you're in small-town Ohio when walking down this street, altho when I once confronted a colleague from Athens, OH, with this comment, she replied, "No, but maybe Indiana."

Funny re: Athens vis a vis Hyde Park...

I know what you're getting at but there really is no comparison; even "smalltown Ohio" has nothing on the bucolic idyll of OU. Your colleague's right.