Lincoln Park: Something for Everyone

Chicago has some of the most beautiful and unique neighborhoods in the country. The Lincoln Park neighborhood is named after the city’s largest park. With its 1,200 acre park, Lincoln Park is regarded as the shining star of city’s lakefront neighborhoods. It is one of the oldest communities, originally settled back in the 1850’s by German immigrants.

Lincoln Park is known for its great atmosphere, and its large park makes it an ideal location for a zoo. In fact, this neighborhood has the oldest zoo in the country, a botanical conservatory, and some of the city's most popular beaches. The Lincoln Park Zoo is one of only two free zoos located in metropolitan areas in the United States. The park itself features plenty of outdoor areas: The Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course, tennis courts, boating facilities, open areas for football, baseball, and soccer, bike and jogging paths, and even paths for horseback riding.

But it doesn't stop there. Lincoln Park is also famous for its theaters; the infamous Second City and the Steppenwolf Theatre are located here. There are many festivals happening during spring and summer; The Lincoln Park Fest, Air and Water show, the Spring Flower Show, and the Summer Concert series.

On top of that, Lincoln Park is a "college town", hosting DePaul University, which has over 16,000 students. The university, combined with the large park has made this neighborhood the ideal location to raise a family. It is also perfect for students, mainly due to the close proximity of the university campus and the community's thriving nightlife. Lincoln Park is only minutes from downtown Chicago (2.5 miles), and full of cozy coffee houses that rub elbows with four star restaurants and stylish boutiques. Here, residents enjoy a wonderful variety of cultural and entertainment opportunities.

There are a lot of individual neighborhoods contained within Lincoln Park, including the Old Town Triangle which is designated as a Historical Chicago landmark district. Lincoln Park is bounded by North Avenue on the south, Diversey Parkway on the north, the Kennedy Expressway on the west side, and Lake Michigan.

The housing opportunities in Lincoln Park are tremendous, because this neighborhood offers a wonderful mix of historic homes, Victorian three-flats, traditional brownstones, condominiums, contemporary townhouses, vintage mansions and high-rises overlooking Lake Michigan. Real estate prices range from very expensive to surprisingly affordable, depending on the type of property and specific area of the community. But have in mind that this youthful community is not dominated by modern architecture. Most of the real estate still standing today was built in the late 19th century. But the remodeling efforts have given these Lincoln Park homes a new life and have consequently driven up Lincoln Park real estate values.

People who appreciate art would love Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park is known for its statuary. Walking through the zoo and into the park, one sees many of Chicago's great works of art. Just as there is a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Grant Park, there is a memorial to Ulysses S. Grant in Lincoln Park overlooking Cannon Drive at the south end of the zoo. A statue of Shakespeare is always decorated for winter.