Wednesday, February 18, 2009

What Do You Love About Uptown?



The folks at "Our Town," a blog from the Sun-Times, have already weighed in. Check out the top 3 things they love about Uptown here. Bulldozers? Come on...
We're sure our readers can think of much better things to love about Uptown than that.

20 comments:

  1. Currently, my 3 favorite things about Uptown:

    1) Thursday nights at the Green Mill...where else can you see a 16-piece swing band for $6?

    2) Concerts at the Riv (Bloc Party and Lily Allen are coming up).

    3) Dog Day Afternoons at Wild Pug...nothing better than a bar full of studs and bitches!

    Wait a second...just realized that all of my favorite locations have a fully stocked bar. Maybe I'll end up with cirrhosis before Irish Pirate?!?!?!

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  2. 1. Friends
    2. Pancake House
    3. Alma Pita
    4. BillyJoe doesn't live here.

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  3. The Pegasus Players at Truman College; I try to see at least one production per season and it's a "real" theatre instead of a converted storefront.

    St. Mary's church at Buena & Sheridan; a beautiful "old school" Catholic basilica with conveniently-scheduled Masses.

    Close enough to Wrigley that an L or bus ride isn't too long; on the other hand far away enough so the "usual suspects" don't cram up the bars in Uptown the way they do in Lakeview.

    Architecture of the "classic" houses on side streets in Sheridan Park, Hutchison St., etc.

    The car wash! You know which one! (The famous movie song has just started going on in your head, right? Sorry about that!)

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  4. Marathonman1977,

    actually I have a magic liver. The more I drink the healthier it gets.

    Obama is going to use stimulus money to develop stem cells to mimic my liver.

    What do I love about Uptown?

    1. Roland Burris doesn't live here.

    2. Blago only jogs through.

    3. Da lake and da lakefront parks are number one in da city.

    4. Da EL

    5. So many gay men that I actually have a chance with da ladies. It's not only my liver that is magic!

    6. So many ways to die. Gunfire, knifings, car accidents, train wrecks, being run over by a 250 pound man on a racing bike who is wearing speedoes. The list is endless.

    7. Graceland.......a place of quiet and beauty in the middle of the city.

    8. Being killed by a poodle that has fallen off a Marine Drive Balcony. To paraphrase Denis Leary "I knew the poodle man and he hated freaking poodles".

    9. Walkable to Jewel

    10. Not to be many Republicans to be annoying, but just enough to taunt.

    11. Helen Shiller. It is going to be sweet to watch her lose the next election.

    12. Subpoenas. They make my heart sing with delight.

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  5. 1) Uptown Bikes

    2) Agami (expensive as hell but damn tasty)

    3) Drunk-fights at 11 p.m.

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  6. I cannot limit to three! In no particular order...:

    1. The lake!
    2. The dogpark.
    3. My lovely neighbors.
    4. Dib.
    5. The FREE party room available at Uptown Lounge.
    6. Cafe Too.
    7. The architecture.
    8. The diversity.
    9. Proximity to the "L".
    10. That I can call myself an Uptown Girl... although that name is already taken by another blogger ;-)
    11. Soggy Paws.
    12. Crew's fratboy night!
    13. Crew's food.
    14. UPTOWN UPDATE
    15. James Cappleman

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  7. 1 - It's not Lincoln Park.

    2 - Where else can you see an African lady carrying home a grocery bag ... on her head; Buddhist monks in full Dalai Lama-wear; a Chinese dragon dancing its way through the McDonalds drive-through after a parade ... all on the same day?

    3 - Our beautiful old buildings, particularly the ones in the 48th Ward that have been restored to their original splendor.

    4 - The gangster history. While they're no more admirable than the current gangsters, people from all over the world know the names of Uptown's historical thugs.

    5 - The neighborliness. Uptowners really get out and get to know each other. This is the first time I've lived in such an active and involved community. I shovel my neighbor's walk; she picks up my newspaper and puts in inside my front door. I go to Alma Pita and they know my order before I can tell them what I want. I can stand on my back deck and know people in all the buildings I can see. All new stuff for this lifelong urbanite.

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  8. Carol's Pub
    Nick's on Wilson
    The Green Mill

    I like to drink till 4 am

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  9. Top 3?

    •Graceland Cemetary (great neighbors)

    •Proximity to lake/transportation

    •ChipDouglas.......his 'Billyjoe doesn't live here' comment made me laugh out loud!

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  10. 1. Mr. Salsa ( I'm a taco maniac)
    2. The lake of course
    3. Unique Thrift (best thrift store music while shopping)
    4. Montrose Hill (new people call it cricket hill)
    5. Montrose Harbor summer picnics
    6. SIAM Cafe
    7. So close to the bike path
    8. WIlson Mall
    9. Rainbow Clothing Store
    10. #8 was a joke. I only go there when I need a computer monitor from the 90's or a pager.

    Chip. Your BillyJoe comment made soda pop come out of my nose.

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  11. Location... Proximity to the lake.
    Location... CTA
    Location... The view from our condo.

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  12. (In no particular order)
    cafe too
    darts at driftwood
    Mr Salsa
    Thai Pastry
    Carol's
    Velvet Elvis at the Tattoo Factory
    Unique thrift
    tennis courts in the park
    and
    rent!

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  13. Uptown Girl - Try the Village Thrift on Clark & Ainsie - they also have great bargains on designer-label clothes and at this time of the year they start to supplement their ladies' department with prom and wedding gowns. And every day's a sale day!

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  14. Thanks Gayle-

    I know that thrift store. My dad used to take me there when I was a little girl. And then we would go across the street to look at the red fox that lived in the St.Bonifacious Cemetery. Good memories.

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  15. AHH THE LEGEND OF THE RED FOX,GOOD MEMORIES!
    1)THE SMELL,IT'S LIKE URINE AND FRENCH FRIES,I LOVE IT.
    2)THE FACT THAT THE GUYS AT UPTOWN PIZZA,AND SIAM NOODLE AND RICE HAVE KNOWN ME SINCE I WAS SEVEN,AND IF I AM REALLY BROKE I CAN ALWAYS GET A FREE SLICE!
    3)GOOSEBERRY PARK
    4)THE PARK BEHIND ARAI SCHOOL(FORGOT THE NEW NAME)IT USED TO BE A DIRT LOT,WHERE MY SIS AND I WOULD SNEAK AND SMOKE!
    5)THE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS AND ACCEPTANCE THAT I WITNESS ON A DAILY BASIS!
    6)THE CHARACTERS,HOPEFULLY I AM ONE OF THEM!
    7)SEEING THE SAME PEOPLE AT CLARENDON PARK,ON WILSON AVE,AND DOWN BROADWAY SINCE I WAS LITTLE.
    8)STANDEES...CUZ IT'S ALWAYS OPEN!
    9)THE PENNY CANDY STORES THAT SEEMED LIKE HEAVEN TO ME AT 5YRS OLD.
    10)THE EL,WITH ALL OF IT'S UPS AND DOWNS,THE WILSON RED LINE STOP IS THE SHIT!!!
    UPTOWN IS A PART OF ME AND I OF IT,
    -TNT

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  16. I FORGOT SLEDDING ON MONTROSE HILL,THE LAKE,RAINBOW,AND CITY SPORTS,THE GUYS WHO OWN THE CONVENIENT STORE NEXT TO THE FRIENDLY TOWERS,UNIQUE THRIFT,MY ENTIRE WARDROBE CAME FROM THERE GROWING UP,...THEN ONCE I HAD MONEY I CONTINUED TO SHOP THERE,IT'S LIKE A TREASURE HUNT TO THE SOUND OF THE LATE EIGHTIES EARLY NINETIES,FANTASTIC,MY FRIENDS FROM WILSON CARE,CCO,SYLVIA CENTER,AND UPTOWN BAPTIST,I HOPE THIS DOESN'T GET MY COMMENT BLOCKED...BUT ALSO LOVE ANYONE WHO (IN MY OPINION)HAS HAD A HEART FOR UPTOWN,ACTIVIST,ORGANISERS,CONCERNED CITIZENS,AND ALDERWOMAN SSHILLER,TOUCHY SUBJECT I KNOW,BUT,MY OPINION NONE THE LESS!

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  17. I like

    1. The public transit options 36, 22 (which are now on bus tracker) Red Line, 78 to the Brown and Blue Lines, and LSD express busses to downtown, and a short walk to Metra.

    2. Living by the lake, sitting around Montrose Harbor on Wednesdays and Saturdays on Summer evenings watching the fireworks from Navy Pier, hearing and seeing planes scream through the neighborhood at low altitudes for a few days every August.

    3. Parking is not too bad.

    4. There is some great people watching in this here Neighborhood.

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  18. I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments. I agree with so many of them. So here goes for me:

    1 - The school crossing guards at Brenneman Elementary and at Sheridan and Sunnyside. They are out in all kinds of weather making sure the kids get to school safely. I'l bet they have no idea how much their efforts are appreciated and how comforting it is to see a friendly face every day.

    2- Echoing Truman Square Neighbors comment...African woman balancing heavy packages on their heads and/or carrying their babies in beautiful scarves. (That is me watching in admiration as I pathetically schlep along with my Jewel bags and my double stroller!)

    3 - The Uptown Theater

    4 - The UPTOWN BANK rotunda. (!)

    5 - The people. ALL PEOPLE.

    6- Helen Shiller. (YES, I do have love for Helen Shiller.) This is a woman who has tried to dedicate her life to people who usually get shut out of the corridors of power. While I do agree her tactics are divisive and increasingly contradictory to the kind of social justice she seeks, that doesn't mean I can't have love for her willingness to step up and try to make a difference. A human being with such generosity of spirit should be capable of a better outcome in Uptown. It is too bad that we are where we are right now.

    7 - Uptown Update! (Although I don't like this new comment moderation thing. It will stifle discussion.)

    8 - The regulars on these threads. Lots of good information, good fun, good debates and good laughs.

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  19. truman college where my spanish had a tibetan monk in full garb speaking spanish to a polish girl.

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