Living in Logan Square, Chicago

The Illinois Centennial Monument rises at the center of Logan Square's boulevard, a formal traffic circle lined with century-old greystone mansions and one of the widest green medians in the city's boulevard system. Palmer Square Park sits about half a mile south with open lawn and a playground, while the restaurant-and-bar corridor along Milwaukee Avenue runs busy from early evening through last call. Restaurants set directly on the boulevard tend toward a quieter, sit-down pace, a contrast to the louder bar scene just one block over. The Logan Square Blue Line stop anchors the neighborhood's north end, putting the Loop within a direct ride.

Restaurant Row's popularity comes at a price: Milwaukee Avenue stays loud on weekend nights, and traffic backs up around the boulevard during peak dinner hours, spilling some of that noise onto the surrounding side streets.

Historic buildings, including the Logan Theatre's restored marquee, sit alongside bars and coffee shops without much visual clash, and the boulevard's median runs in a straight green line from the monument south past Palmer Square, giving residents a continuous stretch of grass for a walk or a jog without crossing Milwaukee Avenue's busier commercial blocks.