globetrotter wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Maybe I just have a really high sketch tolerance, but I never got a bad vibe on Argyle. There are areas immediately surrounding it that I wouldn't wander alone, but the street itself is just fine.

I made the mistake of taking my wife, kids and mother once for lunch, on the only day I have ever had a problem there. we had a homeless person follow us for a block screaming obsenaties at us, totally freaking my family out. she won't go back.

I live near Clark and Diversey, and the same thing has happened to me in my neighborhood. Welcome to living in a big city

It should be mentioned though that Tien Giang on N. Broadway, just half a block south of the corner with Argyle, that has been reopened a few months ago is not only a friendly and clean place, owned by the same family as 2 years ago when they were on Argyle, offers some very good traditional dishes, such as buns, good phos, and specialty dishes.
Unfortunately, as it too often the case in many Vietnamese restaurants nowadays, even good ones like the often mentioned Hoanh Long (at 6144 N. Lincoln), they have the sad tendency to overcook sauteed and grilled chicken, rendering that poor bird's meat dry and sometimes fibrous.
Nevertheless Tien Giang remains, in my opinion, one of the barely 2 or 3 acceptable Vietnamese eateries around Argyle.
The fact that its client base is around 90% Vietnamese is symptomatic.
Tien Giang
4925 N. Broadway
Tel: 773-275-4928

globetrotter wrote:we had a homeless person follow us for a block screaming obsenaties at us, totally freaking my family out.

Sorry about that, I was just trying to find somebody to "increase my ordering power".

Next time I'll just start a thread on the Events board.

AlekH wrote:I'm not going to pretend to have lived in the neighborhood and long time, so it may very well have been like this for decades. Scaryisn't the word I would use, but living a block away and frequenting the stretch 3-4x a week, I regularly see drug dealing, excessive panhandling, vomit on sidewalks and mentally unstable and/or high folks milling about, not to mention gun planearby on a couple occasions. It hasn't kept me from the area, but i certainly see how others would be uncomfotable, especially as a destination from the suburbs where people may have a lower tolerance for the delights of urban living.

When I was hanging at O'Banions on Clark and Erie, in the late 70's and early 80's, the statement above would have fit the whole area from Chicago Ave all the way to Kinzie on Clark to State St.

Interesting how things change.

I live just two blocks away from the intersection of Broadway and Argyle, and so I'm frequently shopping, eating, or just passing through that area. If you walked out there today, you'd see that every possible street parking space is full, crowds are spilling out of Tank, Ba Le, Chiu Quon, etc, the parking lot to Tai Nam is, per usually, overflowing on to Broadway causing lots of honking, and every street sign post has a couple of bicycles locked to it.

Some days when I walk my dog down to Patisserie P for a curry beef bun (for me, not the dog), things look sad, slow, and there are more people spanging than shopping, but days like today it's vibrant and bustling.

I'm moving to Bucktown next week and will surely miss having Sun Wah, Tank, Pho Xua, Sun Sun Snack Shop, Hong Xoung, and many other fantastic eats in my back yard.

-Dan

I heard all the Vietnamese people have moved on to Carol Stream. Anyone from or been to Carol Stream? How is the Vietnamese community like over there? Any good pho restaurants popping up in Carol Stream yet?

dansch wrote:I

I'm moving to Bucktown next week and will surely miss having Sun Wah, Tank, Pho Xua, Sun Sun Snack Shop, Hong Xoung, and many other fantastic eats in my back yard.

-Dan

Dan, I lived in Margate Park for 4 years. Long enough that I actually got tired (read bored) with Asian food. There's not a time now, however, when I'm in the neighborhood and I don't think, man I miss that street/that food. So, see what happens.

(And this was before Thai Avenue opened, one of my fav places in the area)

I went to the Wilson Yard Target on Sunday, and had to drive past Argyle St on the way there and back. After dodging people pushing shopping carts across the street, waiting for lines of cars to turn into parking lots, and generally trying to avoid hitting pedestrians going every which way, I can assure you that Argyle St is as busy as ever.

I live within walking distance of Argyle (I often go past it walking the doggies in the morning). It is one of my favorite streets, doesn't seem to be in decline, if you don't count Tank replacing Mekong on the corner of Argyle and Broadway. Nothing compares with the late lamented Mekong for Vietnamese on Argyle. Tank is nowhere near.

Bumping for some Argyle related news.

Per Uptown Update, Ostermann recently announced that "in coming months, each Thursday night will feature an Asian Night Market between 4pm and 8pm, with food booths, entertainment and shops staying open late". An evening street market with food booths could be awesome if it's even remotely close to an Asian version of Maxwell St...I can see the grilled meats now.

Also, a daytime police foot patrolmen will be working from 9-5 on Argyle Street. I know the vibe doesn't keep many of you away but i'm sure it hurts the businesses. I can't tell you the number of times I've been at Nha Hang Viet Nam and had to watch them deal with drunks and addicts in front or wandering into their business.

http://www.uptownupdate.com/2013/04/act ... rgyle.html

AlekH wrote:Bumping for some Argyle related news.

Per Uptown Update, Ostermann recently announced that "in coming months, each Thursday night will feature an Asian Night Market between 4pm and 8pm, with food booths, entertainment and shops staying open late". An evening street market with food booths could be awesome if it's even remotely close to an Asian version of Maxwell St...I can see the grilled meats now.

Also, a daytime police foot patrolmen will be working from 9-5 on Argyle Street. I know the vibe doesn't keep many of you away but i'm sure it hurts the businesses. I can't tell you the number of times I've been at Nha Hang Viet Nam and had to watch them deal with drunks and addicts in front or wandering into their business.

http://www.uptownupdate.com/2013/04/act ... rgyle.html

funny you mention this, because earlier today was my first time venturing out to Argyle since moving here, as I was in the mood for some Pho as just as I was getting off the train I noticed the police having to deal with a noticeably drunk and homeless looking dude.. then after setting in and getting food at Pho 777 the same guy ends up walking into the restaurant demanding to use the phone. One of the employees there immediately removes this man, but that only upsets him even more, and after trying to unsuccessfully enter the restaurant again because he had to lock the door, the man starts pounding on the glass in which i thought at one point he was going to smash through the place. Luckily this didn't happen and the bum eventually gives up and leaves before police needed to get involved again.

Being the first time in this neighborhood I had no idea it was a common occurrence ..

valgalder wrote:

Being the first time in this neighborhood I had no idea it was a common occurrence ..

I don't think it's all that common. There are a lot of homeless beggars in the area, but pounding on the windows to get in a place isn't something you see every day.

Asking because I have been out of Chicago for awhile-- Aren't they upgrading the Argyle EL stop? That seems to help any neighborhood when it happens.

And I agree with others who have posted here that things have improved in the Argyle area A LOT since the late 80's. In the early 90's I worked at a nearby social service agency and frequented the area for lunch. We used to monitor our choices in the neighborhood by watching the movements of the shoes with tied shoelaces flung over the phone lines-- supposedly then a signal for the current location of crack sales. Haven't felt anything like that atmosphere in 10 years or more. Not that there isn't some panhandling, which is a staple in many urban commercial areas.

Josephine wrote:Asking because I have been out of Chicago for awhile-- Aren't they upgrading the Argyle EL stop? That seems to help any neighborhood when it happens.

And I agree with others who have posted here that things have improved in the Argyle area A LOT since the late 80's. In the early 90's I worked at a nearby social service agency and frequented the area for lunch. We used to monitor our choices in the neighborhood by watching the movements of the shoes with tied shoelaces flung over the phone lines-- supposedly then a signal for the current location of crack sales. Haven't felt anything like that atmosphere in 10 years or more. Not that there isn't some panhandling, which is a staple in many urban commercial areas.

Josephine-

The Argyle station was part of the "Red Line North Interim Improvement Project." It definitely is more inviting than it was. Like many neighborhoods in the city, there are some rough edges and sometimes those edges are more prominent than other times. That's the nature of city living!

I think Argyle is less sketchy than it was 10-15 years ago.

Also, I think the Night Market is an excellent idea. It sounds like it could be a lot of fun!

To me Argyle Street just feels several notches below other north side neighborhoods but I can't put my finger on exactly why that is. There's a lot of garbage on the streets, but that's true in plenty of other neighborhoods, too. There are a lot of shuttered storefronts but that's also true in other places. There are some creepy characters lurking about but that's the same in other spots, too. Maybe it's a combination of those things (and more)?

While it seems to have improved a bit over the past decade, it still feels like a forgotten wasteland at times. I've never felt unsafe there but I have had some run-ins that were fairly memorable. In any case, the main reason I don't frequent the neighborhood more often than I do has very little to do with the conditions there as I perceive them. It's geography more than anything else. Being that far east, it's pretty much a dedicated trip or not at all for me. If I lived or worked in Evanston, Rogers Park, Andersonville (or somewhere along the lake), I'm sure I'd be there a lot more often.

=R=

Living as close as I do, I find it to be a tremendous resource. Great spot for pho, a bobba tea, cheap seafood, a very cheap carwash, Sun Wah, Ethiopian, concerts, Target, and best, the Green Mill. Thai Grocery's closing still hurts, a lot. Sundays the street and surrounding area is nuts with SE Asian shoppers from a vast area of the midwest and mid-south, if license plates don't lie. During the week, eerily empty but for those troublemakers at times.

The problems associated with *apparently* homeless, addicted, mentally ill people in Uptown and Edgewater is pretty well documented and studied. Much of it has to do with the area's abundant extended care facilities that occupy mid and high rises in this long-ago chic 'hood. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009 ... sing-homes

I love the neighborhood's hyper urban and diverse feel (one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the world, I have read), and the spectacular crumbling architecture that put me in the mind of LA's downtown theatre (and skid) row or pre-Guiliani/Bloomberg Chelsea. I hope it doesn't get too scrubbed.

JeffB wrote:Living as close as I do, I find it to be a tremendous resource. Great spot for pho, a bobba tea, cheap seafood, a very cheap carwash, Sun Wah, Ethiopian, concerts, Target, and best, the Green Mill. Thai Grocery's closing still hurts, a lot. Sundays the street and surrounding area is nuts with SE Asian shoppers from a vast area of the midwest and mid-south, if license plates don't lie. During the week, eerily empty but for those troublemakers at times.

The problems associated with *apparently* homeless, addicted, mentally ill people in Uptown and Edgewater is pretty well documented and studied. Much of it has to do with the area's abundant extended care facilities that occupy mid and high rises in this long-ago chic 'hood. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009 ... sing-homes

I love the neighborhood's hyper urban and diverse feel (one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the world, I have read), and the spectacular crumbling architeture that put me in the mind of LA's downtown theatre (and skid) row or pre-Guiliani/Bloomberg Chelsea. I hope it doesn't get too scrubbed.

Ditto. Don't scrub the area. I remember, having had a lot of family in Uptown (near Carment & Broadway) in the early 90s, that is was a bit worse in some ways, but also better. Yes, there were lots of gangbangers. But the area was also more diverse (and I don't mean to imply that this phenomenon was related to gangbanging). Now it's starting to feel like an extension of Wrigleyville. Ugh.

AlekH wrote:Bumping for some Argyle related news.

Per Uptown Update, Ostermann recently announced that "in coming months, each Thursday night will feature an Asian Night Market between 4pm and 8pm, with food booths, entertainment and shops staying open late". An evening street market with food booths could be awesome if it's even remotely close to an Asian version of Maxwell St...I can see the grilled meats now.

Also, a daytime police foot patrolmen will be working from 9-5 on Argyle Street. I know the vibe doesn't keep many of you away but i'm sure it hurts the businesses. I can't tell you the number of times I've been at Nha Hang Viet Nam and had to watch them deal with drunks and addicts in front or wandering into their business.

http://www.uptownupdate.com/2013/04/act ... rgyle.html

Thanks for posting AlekH - that's terrific news and such a fantastic idea. I can see this becoming a regular Thursday night event for me. Wouldn't it be great if the folks on Devon did the same thing, just on a different night!

As someone who lived about a 5-minute walk away for 18 years (93-11), I can say that while it was a distinctive neighborhood, I never once felt unsafe, was never once hassled in any significant way, and never chose not to go anywhere nearby because I had even a slight concern. Perhaps more to the point, the Lovely Dining Companion is a small person (five feet, one hundred pounds soaking wet). Although the argument might be made that she "fits in" (she's of Japanese descent), I can honestly say that not once did she ever complain about the vibe or the distinctiveness of the 'hood either. It may not have been her favorite place in the city, but it was far from being a problem either. There are many things we like in our new place (a bright white corner of Evanston), but we both count Argyle Street among the many things we miss.

Habibi wrote:

JeffB wrote:Living as close as I do, I find it to be a tremendous resource. Great spot for pho, a bobba tea, cheap seafood, a very cheap carwash, Sun Wah, Ethiopian, concerts, Target, and best, the Green Mill. Thai Grocery's closing still hurts, a lot. Sundays the street and surrounding area is nuts with SE Asian shoppers from a vast area of the midwest and mid-south, if license plates don't lie. During the week, eerily empty but for those troublemakers at times.

The problems associated with *apparently* homeless, addicted, mentally ill people in Uptown and Edgewater is pretty well documented and studied. Much of it has to do with the area's abundant extended care facilities that occupy mid and high rises in this long-ago chic 'hood. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009 ... sing-homes

I love the neighborhood's hyper urban and diverse feel (one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the world, I have read), and the spectacular crumbling architeture that put me in the mind of LA's downtown theatre (and skid) row or pre-Guiliani/Bloomberg Chelsea. I hope it doesn't get too scrubbed.

Ditto. Don't scrub the area. I remember, having had a lot of family in Uptown (near Carment & Broadway) in the early 90s, that is was a bit worse in some ways, but also better. Yes, there were lots of gangbangers. But the area was also more diverse (and I don't mean to imply that this phenomenon was related to gangbanging). Now it's starting to feel like an extension of Wrigleyville. Ugh.

My Grandmother lived at the corner of Kenmore and Winona. I can remember running wild with my cousins down Kenmore and Argyle as a young child. There was an old school candy store a couple doors north of Argyle on Kenmore that we used to frequent when we had some extra pocket change. The neighborhood has come a long way down since then and is on its way back up. I hold out hope and never hesitate to visit.

Hold out hope for what?

Habibi wrote:Hold out hope for what?

That's a good question. I guess in the long run, world peace. In the short run, an even more thriving Asian community in the area, which is what appears to be slowly taking shape.

Construction is beginning on Chicago's first "shared street" project that will transform a three-block stretch of Argyle Street in Uptown into a European-style plaza boulevard where pedestrians, bicyclists and motor vehicles must learn to co-exist in one wide, curb-less lane, city officials said Monday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

Hmm, that doesn't strike me as such a good idea.

To quote the Onion from a long running recurrent piece I believe they will have to bring out of retirement:

Passersby were amazed by the unusually large amounts of blood.

Dave148 wrote:

Construction is beginning on Chicago's first "shared street" project that will transform a three-block stretch of Argyle Street in Uptown into a European-style plaza boulevard where pedestrians, bicyclists and motor vehicles must learn to co-exist in one wide, curb-less lane, city officials said Monday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

Oh that's beautiful. Yeah, we really need traffic here to be more like it is in Napoli.

That's ridiculous. As long as cars are allowed to drive through (and in both directions, no less), pedestrians are not going to be strolling around in the middle of the street the way they are in the rendering.

I already stroll like that through Argyle and find the traffic to be consistently light to practically a ghost town outside a 4-6 hr window mid-day Sat/Sun. And even during those limited high traffic periods, it's lines of cars slowing marching towards parking spots.

Given the current state of that strip after 8 or 9 pm, I'm wondering if this will allow it to become even more of a drive-thru drug market than it already is. Love Nha Hang, but the walk there from Broadway usually involves dodging some interesting transactions.