Living in Chicago my entire life, I’ve surely explored a lot. It’s an interesting comparison to the people who come to visit Chicago for a few days and share their travel stories with me. Working in the loop as well, I constantly have customers who I can tell are from out of town, or who ask me for recommendations on the best places to visit. Sometimes I really do struggle to recommend specifics, since I want to suggest my favorite things to do as a resident.
When you’re from somewhere, as opposed to a visitor, the way you explore a city is different in my opinion. There are what we consider “tourist activities”, such as visiting the Bean, pictured above, surrounded by the fountains and the river walk which thousands of people travel along every day. I really enjoy these areas, but considering how populated they tend to be, I have begun over the past couple years to explore other neighborhoods. Chicago is certainly not just the Loop and the Magnificent Mile. It hides its treasures off certain L stops, in smaller less expansive areas.
Some of the areas of Chicago I recommend visiting are generally just a train ride away. I live in the Loop most of the year, and work down here as well, so I enjoy going on a little getaway. Taking the blue line toward O’Hare, if you get off around Western or Damen you can explore Wicker Park. This neighborhood has become insanely populated with new restaurants, coffee shops, arcade bars, and clothing stores. It has always been a great area but is very up and coming. The nightlife is amazing in terms of carrying a very happy comfortable vibe when you’re walking around.
I also frequent the Belmont / Fullerton area off the red/brown line, you can take either train from the loop to get there. Again, honestly this area has been brought up over the years, additional stores and restaurants have appeared. It’s a great area to explore when you are looking to visit a couple shops and get something to eat. A few of my friends live in that area as well, the apartments are quite nice. It can be a nice change to leave the Loop where everyone generally wants to be and find something new!
When you’ve lived here your entire life, and seen most of the city, it can take some effort to decide where to go on a Saturday night, if you’re like me and want to try new things. However, it just goes to show how expansive and fantastic this city is that you really can find something new to do every single weekend. If anyone out there is considering moving to Chicago, or possibly just visit again, I would sincerely recommend stepping out of the box of tourist recommendations and really exploring around. Buy a 5-day Ventra pass for the public transit and go have some fun!
By: Nicola Hannigan