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32-526: The Marshall McGearty Lounge was established in 2005, in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois , by the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company. The company intended it to be the United States' "first upscale, luxury lounge dedicated to the smoking of cigarettes ". The lounge specialized in cigarettes "hand-crafted" (not hand-rolled) on the premises. The lounge closed on January 14, 2008,

64-667: A newly installed fountain was named after Algren and inscribed with a quote from his 1951 essay Chicago: City on the Make around the fountain's base: "For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart". The second more recent one has been a push by a number of area residents led by Zygmunt Dyrkacz, head of the Chopin Theatre , to artistically redevelop the Triangle as "the gateway to Wicker Park ". Although Polonia Triangle has deteriorated from its heady days as

96-1116: A portion of the Spike Lee movie Chiraq was being filmed at Double Door on Milwaukee in Wicker Park, including rapper actor Nick Cannon . In 2016, the Chicago-based TV show Shameless filmed across Wicker Park. The NBC Chicago franchise including Chicago Fire , Chicago P.D. , and Chicago Med often film in Wicker Park. Milwaukee Avenue's Irazu Costa Rica Restaurant has been featured on PBS television's Check, Please! , Food Network 's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives when Guy Fieri sampled several dishes, and Food Network's The Secret Life of Milkshakes . The burritos competed in ESPN 's FiveThirtyEight 's 2014 Burrito Bracket. 41°54′27″N 87°40′37″W  /  41.90750°N 87.67694°W  / 41.90750; -87.67694 Polonia Triangle Polonia Triangle ( Polish : Trójkąt Polonijny ), or

128-422: A tasteful and attractive manner as a park." Present at the meeting was alderman Charles Wicker, who, with his brother Joel, purchased 80 acres (32 ha) of land along Milwaukee Avenue in 1870 and laid out a subdivision with a mix of lot sizes surrounding a 4-acre (1.6 ha) park. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 spurred the first wave of development, as homeless Chicagoans looked to build new houses. Before

160-554: Is also located at the Polonia Triangle. There have been two major controversies relating to Polonia Triangle. The first dealt with renaming the plaza after writer Nelson Algren (1909–1981), whose controversial 1940s novels prominently displayed the Polish American underclass and was taken by Chicago's Polish community as Anti-Polonism . A compromise was reached in 1998, where the Triangle kept its name and

192-488: Is an outdoor gathering place in the neighborhood. The borders of the Wicker Park neighborhood are generally accepted to be the Bloomingdale Trail (also known as the 606) to the north (~coordinate 1800 North), although historically it has ranged as far north as Armitage (~coordinate 2000 N) at times, Ashland Avenue to the east (~coordinate 1600 W), Division to the south (~coordinate 1200 N), and Western Avenue to

224-528: Is best known for its numerous commercial and entertainment establishments, and being a convenient place to live for downtown workers due to its proximity to public transportation and The Loop . In 2001, MTV's reality TV show The Real World: Chicago was also staged in Wicker Park, which caused protests due to perceived promotion of gentrification. In the past two decades crime has decreased and many new homes have been built as well as older homes being restored, leading to increased business activity. The neighborhood

256-466: Is extremely trendy known for hosting emerging bands, high fashion boutiques, cutting-edge gourmet restaurants and bakeries, European-style cafes, upscale independent grocers, and artsy businesses. In a September 2012 Forbes article, Wicker Park was named the #4 hippest hipster neighborhood in the country. Wicker Park, along with other nearby West Town neighborhoods, has seen rising property values and increasing tax rates, increasing taxes levied by

288-789: The Archdiocese of Chicago , built in the Polish Cathedral style of Renaissance Revival and Baroque Revival architecture in the Eastern U.S. Polish immigration into the area accelerated during and after World War II when as many as 150,000 Poles are estimated to have arrived between 1939 and 1959 as Displaced Persons (DPs). Like the Ukrainians in neighboring Ukrainian Village , they clustered in established ethnic enclaves like this one that offered shops, restaurants, and banks where people spoke their language. Division Street

320-498: The CTA Blue Line subway. It is home to many luxury boutique shops and several flagship retail stores. Within the 60622 zip code , Wicker Park is home to some of Chicago's most expensive real estate with median home prices over $ 550,000. The neighborhood is northwest of The Loop , north of East Village and Ukrainian Village , east of Humboldt Park , and south of Bucktown . The 4-acre Chicago Park District Wicker Park

352-489: The Chicago Public Schools district. Notable past and current residents include: Notable past and current musicians who have/now live or work in Wicker Park include: In 2001 a season of MTV's The Real World , named The Real World: Chicago , was filmed in Wicker Park. A protest grew, as residents of the neighborhood felt the exposure may lead to a quicker gentrification of the neighborhood. While

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384-623: The Polish Triangle , is a plaza located in West Town , in what had been the historical Polish Downtown area of Chicago . A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl about nine feet in diameter is installed at its center. Polonia Triangle derives its name from the Polish word Polonia (" Polish diaspora "), which itself comes from the Latin name for Poland. Polonia Triangle

416-529: The "first casualty" of Chicago legislation banning smoking from nearly all establishments, including bars and restaurants, throughout the city. The lounge opened the same week in 2005 that the Chicago City Council passed the anti-smoking ordinance. This Chicago -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Wicker Park, Chicago Wicker Park has seen real estate and commercial development, particularly along

448-563: The Golden Arm and Never Come Morning focusing on the stories of junkies, gamblers, hookers, and drunks in some areas of that neighborhood. Writing about the area's Polish American underclass against the background of prevalent anti-immigrant xenophobia was taken by Poles as blatant Anti-Polonism and resulted in the book Never Come Morning being banned for decades from the Chicago Public Library system over

480-630: The Latin Kings and held sit-ins with L.A.D.O. at the Wicker Park Welfare Office and large nonviolent marches to city hall with the Spanish Action Committee. Urban renewal projects were undertaken to combat "urban blight" in some parts of the neighborhood, but disinvestment continued at a rapid clip as downtown banks redlined West Town for much of the mid-20th century. Wicker Park was also promoted by

512-434: The area (many in woodworking ) also closed or moved away. The city increased building code enforcement and raised taxes. The shift from manufacturing to the new city-sponsored service economy also increased unemployment in the area and it was now in a downward decline. North Avenue between Western Avenue & Milwaukee Avenue became notorious for prostitution and drug dealers and gang crimes. The setting now became feasible for

544-399: The center of Polish Downtown , the entire West Town area has undergone a renaissance as gentrification has transformed the area. The old " Polish Broadway " along Division Street is becoming an increasingly thriving business district, full of nightclubs, restaurants and cafes. These changes have accelerated calls to improve what had become a long neglected area, most recently publicized in

576-455: The city's urban renewal plans, as a good " suburb within the city" because of its easy access to downtown, via Milwaukee and the elevated train (via Damen and Division stations). Chicago and Wicker Park reached a nadir in the 1970s, a decade when the city overall lost 11% of its population. During the 1970s, hundreds of cases of insurance-motivated arson were reported in Wicker Park, near St. Elizabeth Hospital. Many small factories near

608-512: The city. In 2016 the city overall saw an average increase in taxes of 13%, when the city government raised the property tax rate and re-assessed housing values, however Wicker Park saw a 28.1% average increase. Nearby developments including the Bloomingdale Trail (otherwise known as The 606) have fueled an increase in property values and helped spur other large scale developments. Wicker Park residents are zoned to various schools in

640-416: The end of the 19th century, Germans and Norwegians tended to live in the area's north and northwestern sections. Wicker Park became the abode of Chicago's wealthy Northern European immigrants. The district proved especially popular with merchants, who built large mansions along the neighborhood's choicest streets—particularly on Hoyne and Pierce, just southwest of North and Damen−known then as Robey. Hoyne

672-641: The festival centered on the Flatiron Arts Building and was typically held during the month of October, Chicago's Artist Month. Since 2008 "Around the Coyote" moved downtown, officially marking an end of an era, in 2008 it was renamed Looptopia . The presence of local artists also declined in the area, many migrated to other art communities in Pilsen, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Jefferson Park, Rogers Park, and Uptown. The present day neighborhood

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704-838: The massive outcry by Chicago Polonia . Later controversies to commemorate Algren would bring these old wounds back to the surface, most recently when Polonia Triangle was to be renamed to honor the deceased author. Beginning in the 1960s, Wicker Park began to change radically. Construction of the Kennedy Expressway , completed in 1960, had displaced many residents and torn holes in the sustaining network of Polish-American churches, settlement houses, and neighborhood groups. Additionally Puerto Ricans and other Latinos displaced by urban renewal in Old Town and Lincoln Park began moving in. In 1960 Latinos comprised less than 1 percent of West Town's population, but by 1970 that number

736-429: The neighborhood associations to organize land grab tours of real estate and speculators and developers saw a gold mine. The entire Puerto Rican Community along with other low income residents were displaced. Efforts by community development groups like Northwest Community Organization (NCO) to stabilize the community through new affordable-housing construction in the 1980s coincided with the arrival of artists attracted by

768-545: The neighborhood's easy access to the Loop, cheap loft space in the abandoned factories, and distinctly urban feel. In 1989, the "Around the Coyote" festival was launched to help the hundreds of working artists and micro-galleries in the neighborhood to gain a level of local and international prominence. This 501(c)3 non-profit was established with the mission to "bring to the art community a professional organization that will help artists network and exhibit their art." For decades,

800-745: The northeast. Organisations located within its vicinity include the Polish National Alliance to the Polish Daily News . Polonia Triangle is one of 11 neighborhoods included in The Labor Trail which chronicles Chicago's history of working class life and struggle. The site is still home to the Chopin Theatre and is used for processions during Corpus Christi by parishioners of two of Chicago's Polish Cathedrals : St. Stanislaus Kostka and Holy Trinity Polish Mission . The Blue Line 's Division/Milwaukee station

832-420: The population density of West Town, especially in areas east of Wicker Park. The area around Division , Milwaukee , and Ashland was once known as " Kostkaville ", and the intersection retains the names " Polonia Triangle − Polish Triangle " to the present day. The provisional government of Poland met in Wicker Park during World War I . The near Northwest Side became home to many of the most opulent churches in

864-516: The protest began somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it soon intensified and there were 11 arrests by the time the cast of the show left the city. Wicker Park is the setting of the 2004 film of the same name . However, the filming of this movie was done on location in Montreal , Quebec . Another film of note, that used Wicker Park as its background, is High Fidelity (2000) directed by Stephen Frears and starring Evanston -born John Cusack . In 2015,

896-603: The west (~coordinate 2400 W). The Wicker Park Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Chicago . Much of Wicker Park was also designated as a Chicago Landmark District . In late 1868, the Chicago Board of Public Works announced the desire to build a park "lying west of Milwaukee avenue and south of North avenue. The grounds are of considerable capacity and are laid out in

928-493: Was considered to be the center or town square of Chicago's Polish Downtown, the city's oldest and most prominent Polish settlement . In many ways it functioned as the capital of American Polonia , with the headquarters for almost every major Polish organization in the United States clustered in its vicinity. The Triangle is bounded by Division Street on the south, Ashland Avenue on the west, and Milwaukee Avenue on

960-542: Was known then as "Beer Baron Row", as many of Chicago's wealthiest brewers built mansions there. With the end of the 19th century the area was subsumed into the surrounding. Polish Downtown , being adjacent to Wicker Park , which gave the neighborhood its name, also became known as the "Polish Gold Coast". In the 1890s and 1900s, immigration from Poland and the completion of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Lines greatly boosted

992-503: Was referred to as Polish Broadway . Poet John Guzlowski whose parents first came to the area as DPs commented on growing up in the area in the 1950s that "it felt like everyone was a Pole" , a place where the local store owners, priests, cops, trash men, teachers, librarians all either spoke Polish or had family that did. Nelson Algren 's literary output lionized the Division Street strip in his books such as The Man with

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1024-610: Was up to 39 percent. Split from the Lincoln Park neighborhood by the Chicago River and then the Kennedy Expressway in the late 1950s and 60s, it contained the second largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in Chicago . It was the original home to the largest Latino gang at the time, the Latin Kings . The Young Lords , a human rights movement under the leadership of Jose Cha Cha Jimenez respectfully worked with

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