Chicago: a city of villages

My second favorite adjective to describe Chicago, after awesome, is manageable. New York with its jigsaw puzzle of islands and burbs or L.A. with its maze of freeways and traffic jams, just don’t hold the same appeal as easily broken apart and digested neighborhoods that define Chicago.

From Uptown over to Wicker Park down to Bronzeville, Chicago contains 77 communities as defined by the U of C or 210 neighborhoods as defined by Wikipedia. For the most part, these mini-chi-ties are entirely self sufficient, supplying their residents with food, shelter, entertainment and community. But thanks to the el and a web of buses, these 77 villages are connected allowing North Siders to indulge in soul food in the South, Hyde Parkers to enjoy Swedish pastries in Andersonville and Wicker Park Hipsters to play for spare change in the financial district.

To be clear, I’m not hating on New York or L.A….well maybe I’m hating on L.A. a little as the only decent thing it has produced in the past decade is Kat Von D. They are gigantic metros filled with respectable art (New York) and the less respectable modern pop art (L.A.), which are suitable for the big city “I like living in a sardine can” people or the “I like living in the burbs away from any real life but in the proximity of chic culture” people. But to me, Chicago is the burbs and the city in the same frozen breath. It is a city that I constantly energizes me with its diversity but never exhausts me with limitless possibilities. It is manageable.

So in order to show the all diversity the city has to offer and to force myself to explore the city in negative wind chills, I’m going to highlight one chi town hood each Sunday. Of course, I have to represent my area first and represent Boystown.
Boystown

I guess they could have chosen a subtler name for the first officially recognized gay neighborhood in the United States…then again subtlety is not what Boystown is known for. The boys are roughly contained north and south by Addison and Belmont and east and west by Lake Shore and Clark but the heart of the community is really rainbow statue lined Halsted Street.

Halsted is where you can find the infamous Sidetrack club, which bumps just as loud on Monday show tunes night as it does on Hi-Energy Saturday nights. The street is also home to futuristic looking Center on Halsted that is home not only an array of LGBT support groups and events but also has a beautiful Whole Foods under it. And of course there is restaurant galore, my favorite being Nookie’s Tree, a 1950 esque café with soul reviving cream of broccoli soup.

But most importantly Boystown is filled with good folks. There are families with little kids dragging sleds down the street. There are middle-aged respectable professor types sharing the coffee counter with young gel-haired aspiring actors/writers/directors/waiters. And everyone is willing to give you directions or advice on the best bars. (note: Hydrate for young glossy gay men on the dance floor, The Closet for a chill lesbian dive bar.)

Yesterday at Treasure Island- “America’s most European Supermarket”_- the middle eastern produce lady told me the secret to amazing cous cous, which is pine nuts, almonds and a lot of butter. I didn’t ask; she just saw the cous cous in my cart and wanted to share some cooking advice. It was probably one of my favorite Chicago moments so far.

The thing is Boystown is not just a gay hot spot; it is a community, one of those rare places you can call home even when you’ve only been living there a week. I can honestly say I wouldn’t want to live any where else.