Chicago Addick living in Bermuda
Wednesday 19 March 2008
  My Chicago - #15 South Loop A whole new world has opened up south of Chicago's financial Loop distict. This was an area once reserved for the stupid or the brave and even in my time in the city the development and augmentation of the streets south of Congress Parkway has been amazing.

The renovation of Chicago Bears' Soldier Field in 2004 broadened the appeal to both locals and visitors and developers soon caught on building new and modernising old apartment buildings.

Back in the day the South Loop was one of Chicago's first ever residential areas. Initially it was families displaced by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, but later the railways came and they marked the southern edge of the buisness district.

More rail tracks track radiate in more directions from Chicago than from any other city in America and originally the South Loop grew around railroad tracks and stations serving freight depots and passenger stations. Still today Chicago is the most important interchange point for freight traffic between the nation's major railroads and it is the hub of Amtrak, the intercity rail passenger system.

Dearborn Station was one of the original train stations designed by Cyrus L.W.Eidlitz and opened in May 1885. The station was closed on 1971 after 86 years as the first step of Amtrak's consolidation of Chicago's intercity train operations and was left rotting until the mid 1980's when it was converted to offices and apartments. It has since had another spruce up and is now a signature beacon to the neighbourhood.

Back in the late 1880's Chicago's South Loop was also home to the nation's printing industry. High loft buildings filled the narrow blocks near Dearborn Station feeding off the important transport links, but the industry soon died after the demise of the station. However pioneering architects and developers recognized the potential of loft buildings in the area still called Printers Row.

Printers Row is now a small but busy locale that extends north from the old Dearborn Station and is home to many beautiful loft buildings and numerous bars and restaurants spanning all the way up to the Blake Hotel on Congress Parkway and one of my favourite restaurants Custom House.

Printer's Row retains its connection to its print and literary history with an Annual Book Fair, held each June. Started in 1984, the fair draws booksellers and readers from all over the city and surrounding suburbs and hundreds of stalls span both Dearborn and Harrison Streets.

Another facet of life in the South Loop in the late 1880's was the goings on at The Levee, the city's most infamous vice district. Brothels and gambling parlours hung around for quite some years until the customers, like the area, dried up.

The high-rises are the most visible newcomers to the South Loop, towering over the cityscape with their domed tops and their glassy sheens. I read recently that six of the ten biggest-selling condominuim buildings in the city in 2006 were in the South Loop, although as elsewhere sales have considerably slowed in the last 6 months. Not suprising as there has been so much construction activity in this area.

One of the coolest buildings (right) is at 610 S. Michigan Ave occupied by the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies. Sure, the inside will not appeal to the masses but the environmentally sustainable building is a masterpiece, shaped with cascading faceted glass, built from 726 windows in 556 different shapes.

As architecture flourishes upwards so does what is happening at street level. Like other developing neighborhoods, the South Loop is farther along on restaurants than on retail. The real dining scene started around 10 years ago when local restauranteur Jerry Kleiner launched Gioco and just a year or so after the 100-year old Chicago Firehouse was turned into a sumptuous restaurant called incidentially the Chicago Firehouse (left), the building's facade has kept all of it's original splendour.

Retailing has not been as dynamic, although in recent years some of the larger chains have found homes in the neighbourhood including a massive and very nice Whole Foods. A huge cinema complex is also mooted but the South Loop doesn't yet have any individualistic boutiques that can distinguish one neighbourhood from another and give it that kind of hip feel. However new residents and increasing foot traffic should bring the neighborhood another step closer to maturity.

The largest land owner in the district is Columbia College, the biggest arts and communications college in America. Columbia owns more than 1,200,000 square feet in Chicago's South Loop, with amazingly more expansion plans.

The Auditorium Theatre occupies a big space in the other big university complex in the South Loop. The Roosevelt University actually holds classes in the theatre as well as it being the current home to the Joffrey Ballet. I saw Giselle there in October.

Famous Blues singer Buddy Guy has his club at 754 S Wabash Ave. Arguably Chicago's most famous Blues club with fascinating memorabilia adorning the walls and southern soul food served at night but arrive early as this place gets packed.

Buddy Guys has been down here since 1989 but there are plenty of fantastic new entries on the South Loop restuarant and bar scene. For beer Hackney's has a wide range of draft beers and is in one of the oldest buildings in Printers Row.

For food Zapatista is a great Mexican place with guacamole made for you tableside and a good wine list and I love Eleven City Diner (right), superb anytime of the day. I must mention Hi-Tea as well, as it is owned by a friend's brother. It's excellent for a cup of cha and a sandwich.

When I first came to Chicago in 2004, there was very little reason to head to this part of town, now I find myself in the South Loop often. There are certainly still some growing pains but this pain is relieved by some great restaurants and the ever beautiful Grant Park, commonly known as Chicago's 'front yard,' which borders this chronicled part of town. 
|



<< Home
About Me
After living in Chicago for four and a half years, I moved to the beautiful if bewildering island of Bermuda in July 2008. This blog is about being an exiled and depressed Charlton Athletic fan and whatever else the day brings.
CAFC Links
  • Charlton Athletic FC
  • CAFC Player
  • Forever Charlton
  • CAFC Picks
  • CASC
  • City Addicks
  • Community Trust
  • Fans Forum
  • Charlton Life
  • / forum
  • Charlton Scrapbook
  • Addicks Downunder Forum
  • Fellow Addick Blogs
  • Addicks Diary
  • Doctor Kish
  • New York Addick
  • All Quiet in the East Stand
  • SE3 Addick
  • Jakartass
  • Charlton Athletic Online
  • Views from an Iberian Valley
  • Charlton North Downs
  • Blackheath Addicted
  • Drinking During the Game
  • Kings Hill Addick
  • A Red Divided
  • Deepest Darkest
  • All in a Day
  • Johnny73
  • Confidential Rick
  • Charlton Casual
  • Many Miles....
  • Croydon Addick
  • Stickleback
  • And Nothing Else Matters
  • Out in the rain
  • Hungry Ted
  • Bermuda - all 21 square miles of it
  • The Royal Gazette
  • Weather forecast
  • Discover Bermuda
  • Bermuda National Trust
  • Bernews.com
  • Bermuda Blogroll
  • Bermuda Shorts
  • Jen in Bermuda
  • Daily London fix
  • Diamond Geezer
  • Onionbagblog
  • 853
  • The Cabbies Capital
  • A piece of my heart still in Chicago
  • Chicago Tribune
  • Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Chicago Bears
  • Chicago Blackhawks
  • Chicago White Sox
  • Chicago Cubs
  • Chicago Fire
  • My Chicago stuff
  • Andersonville
  • Bucktown
  • Chinatown
  • Evanston
  • Gold Coast
  • Greektown & Little Italy
  • Lincoln Park
  • Lincoln Square
  • The Magnificent Mile
  • Old Town
  • Oak Park
  • River North
  • Roscoe Village
  • South Loop
  • Streeterville
  • Ukrainian Village
  • Wicker Park
  • Wrigleyville
  • Ten things to do with a child
  • My Bermuda exploring
  • Paget Parish
  • Southampton Parish
  • Town of St George
  • Ten things to do with a child
  • Travelogue
  • Atlanta
  • Bahamas
  • Beachy Head
  • Beaver Creek, Colorado
  • Bermuda
  • Buenos Aires
  • Californian Hwy 1
  • Charleston
  • Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Dubai
  • Eastbourne
  • Ft Lauderdale, Florida
  • Grand Canyon
  • Hiroshima
  • Honolulu
  • Houston, Texas
  • Kohler, Wisconsin
  • Kyoto
  • Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
  • Las Vegas
  • Lille, France
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico
  • Miami Beach
  • Mt Fuji & Hakone, Japan
  • Munich
  • New Orleans
  • New York
  • Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Oman
  • Orlando
  • Palm Springs & Joshua Natl Park
  • Park City, Utah
  • Reykjavik
  • Route 66 and Hoover Dam
  • San Francisco
  • San Diego
  • Santa Fe
  • Saugatuck, Michigan
  • Sedona, Arizona
  • Sonoma & Napa Valley
  • St Petersburg, FL
  • Taos, New Mexico
  • Tokyo
  • Uruguay
  • Washington DC
  • The good old days?
  • The men in charge Parts I
  • / II / III / IV / V
  • Carlisle (a) 1986
  • Luton (a) 1989
  • Sunderland (h) 1975
  • Stoke City (a) 1994
  • Crystal Palarse (a) 2000
  • Norwich City (h) 1987
  • Coventry City (a) 2001
  • Barnsley (h) 1985
  • Bristol City (a) 1994
  • West Brom (a) 1995
  • Hull City (h) 1976
  • Burnley (h) 1978
  • Nottingham Forest (a) 1989
  • Sheffield Wednesday (h) 1986
  • Ipswich Town (a) 1981
  • Birmingham City (a) 1993
  • Hereford United (a) 1989
  • Interesting stuff
  • We're not on the telly much but who is?
  • Football Pyramid
  • Football Ground Guide
  • The Political Economy of Football
  • The Fiver
  • London 2012
  • TV Cream
  • Nice cup of tea and a sit down
  • Banksy
  • www.flickr.com
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from ChicagoAddick. Make your own badge here.
    And not so interesting
    Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com Powered by Blogger
    EMail me
    ChicagoAddick@Gmail.com
    Follow me on Twitter
  • ChicagoAddick
  • CAFC on Twitter
  • Archives
    June 2004 / July 2004 / August 2004 / September 2004 / October 2004 / November 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / February 2005 / March 2005 / April 2005 / May 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / September 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / August 2007 / September 2007 / October 2007 / November 2007 / December 2007 / January 2008 / February 2008 / March 2008 / April 2008 / May 2008 / June 2008 / July 2008 / August 2008 / September 2008 / October 2008 / November 2008 / December 2008 / January 2009 / February 2009 / March 2009 / April 2009 / May 2009 / June 2009 / July 2009 / August 2009 / September 2009 / October 2009 / November 2009 / December 2009 / January 2010 / February 2010 / March 2010 / April 2010 / May 2010 / June 2010 / July 2010 / August 2010 /