Andersonville is Cool

In May we decided to move to Andersonville. Andersonville is cool (I actually have a button that somebody handed me at the Midsummer Fest that declares it, so it must be true) -- wide, tree-lined streets and pretty houses with big yards. In many ways it feels suburban (sprinklers and lemonade stands up and down the avenue) while in other ways it's more urban than homes we've had much closer to downtown (wide diversity of people, more street noise from the main vein about a half block away). If we go East toward the lake we first pass through Uptown which is a socioeconomic mix of people, shops and restaurants with the backdrop of a crusty el stop and a lot of old, delapidated buildings scattered about a Starbucks and a few upscale cafes. Feels more like New York than any other area of the city, as far as I can tell. There's the Green Mill where I went in my early 20s alongside the Victory Theatre -- long since deserted -- a relic from the early 1920s but still standing and, hopefully, soon to be refurbished into something grand once again. Slightly to the North in Andersonville proper, there are many great restaurants and bars, but the best part is the sense of an authetic neighborhood. While some of the neighborhoods on this side of Chicago feel like they are trying to be Lincoln Park North, Andersonville feels true to itself. Gay couples walk hand in hand pushing baby strollers, couples make out on corners, and children stop to watch the nightly corner puppet show at Berwyn and Clark.One evening last summer I drove by that puppet show after dropping Stella at a friend's house and there were about 20 kids jumping up and down screaming at the puppets, their parents looking on behind them. Last weekend it was my own kids jumping up and down -- stashing dollars into the puppets little hands. Another night after a great dinner at Ombre, we noticed 3 dancers in the window above Hamburger Mary's -- three men in gold lame speedos doing a little swagger and sway to music that we couldn't hear. Roc looked at me and I looked him. "We're not in Lincolbn Park anymore."  Nope, no we're not.