Lake View, Chicago
Lakeview, also spelled Lake View, is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois, in the city’s North Side. It is bordered by West Diversey Parkway on the south, West Irving Park Road on the north, North Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and the shore of Lake Michigan on the east. The Uptown community area is to Lakeview’s north, Lincoln Square to its northwest, North Center to its west, and Lincoln Park to its south. The 2016 population of Lakeview was 99,876 residents, making it the largest of the Chicago community areas by population.
Lakeview includes smaller neighborhood enclaves: Sheridan Station Corridor, Northhalsted, Southport Corridor, Wrigleyville, and Wrigley Plaza. Boystown, famous for its large LGBT population, holds the pride parade each June.
Wrigleyville is another popular district. It surrounds Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. Lakeview is home to the Belmont Theater District showcasing over 30 theaters and live performance venues located near the Belmont “L” station.[2] In 2013, Money Magazine named Lakeview as number 3 of its top 10 Big-city neighborhoods for its selection of Best Places to Live.
Lakeview was used as a camp and trail path for the Miami, Ottawa, and Winnebago Native American tribes. In 1837, Conrad Sulzer of Winterthur, Zürich, Switzerland, became the first known white settler to live in the area. In 1853, one of the first permanent structures was built by James Rees and Elisha Hundley on the corner where present-day West Byron Street (or West Sheridan Road) meets North Lake Shore Drive and was called the Hotel Lakeview, named for the hotel’s unobstructed view of the shore of Lake Michigan.[4] It gained what was characterized as a resort atmosphere.
The early settlement continued to grow, especially because of increased immigration of farming families from Germany, Luxembourg and Sweden.[4] Lakeview experienced a population boom as Chicago suffered a deadly and devastating cholera outbreak.
The Hotel Lakeview served as refuge for many Chicagoans but became filled to capacity. Homestead lands were sold and housing was built. Access to the new community was provided by a wooden plank road connected to present-day West Fullerton Parkway, which was called Lakeview Plank Road and is the present-day North Broadway. With infrastructure and growing population, residents realized it was time to organize formal governance to provide essential public services.
Lakeview is divided into Lakeview East and Lakeview West, with Lakeview East having distinctive areas that include Wrigleyville, and North Halsted with the latter including Boystown, the city’s gay village. Lakeview East expanded borders to also include the Central Lakeview area which is home to Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. The boundaries of Lakeview are 1800 west to the west, Montrose to the north and Clark to the east north of Irving Park, but the rest is of Irving Park to the north, Lake Michigan to the east, and Diversey to the south.
