The Future of Ravenswood, the North Side Chicago Neighborhood

Just about a mile north of the baseball fan (and 22-year-old) dreamland Wrigleyville in Chicago, sits the juxtaposition of three sub-cultures. This cartographic montage has elements of the Hispanic working class and professional white America, and on the western edge, traces of the old German influence creeping from Lincoln Square. Four separate retail units in the center of the neighborhood (along Damen) have been recently abandoned, and local residents anxiously wait to see which of the flavors of the neighborhood will add another foothold.

One is inclined to think gentrification of Ravenswood will continue; some of the freshly vacated places will become home to the next Starbucks or Panera Bread. But the newly converted condo units in the area aren't selling as fast as expected, and the elote street carts are still ubiquitous. There is usually a Mexican street cart within eyeshot any time of the day, and the customer lines at each are at least three or four people deep. Still another possibility is that it may be the perfect opportunity for the established German enterprises to expand, but one gets the feeling that over the generations, the German community to the west has become just diluted enough to be content merely holding its ground. Only time will tell which direction Ravenswood will take.

In the commercial sector, a very small, but budding part of the neighborhood lines the roads which are the neighborhood's namesake. Ravenswood, which are actually two roads separated by an elevated railroad, are still mostly cobble-stoned and two-thirds the width of a normal city street. The converted warehouses lining the streets are now home to small office spaces and art studios, which are flanked by nascent and niche restaurants and boutiques. (Spacca Nappoli on Ravenswood and Sunnyside was named Best New Pizza by Chicago Magazine in August 2006. Each authentic, personal Neapolitan pizza is flashed baked in 90 seconds and will cost you $15 a pop.) A couple of the abandoned warehouses hide art studios, within which are cafes - the proceeds from which go to charities helping the city's homeless. It's within this embryonic part of the neighborhood you picture the next Google being created. Just like this area, Google honed its potential under the radar of the general public into something magnificent. The historic, but forgotten region will without a doubt allure similar creative outside-the-box thinkers.

The residential area of Ravenswood is made up of small single family homes, apartments, and new condominiums. Over the last five years, the multi unit buildings have steadily been converted from apartments to condos. Five years ago the buildings were roughly 80% apartments; today the figure is closer to 50%. The neighborhood is in a transition period, but with the slow housing market, the neighborhood is momentarily at a standstill. It may actually be the entrepreneurs near the rail tracks who bust through the victory tape and make the neighborhood's identity their own.