Andersonville, Edgewater

I lived more than two decades in Albuquerque, New Mexico before locating to Chicago. Before leaving the Land of Enchantment I wrote my first women’s fiction novel Welcome to Gold Street. The book was published around the time we moved.

Living in Hyde Park I’ve been lucky to continue working on my writing with the Indie City Writers. In mid-February they arranged a group reading by authors at the Women & Children’s First bookstore in the Andersonville neighborhood of Edgewater, on the far north side of Chicago. Since I was scheduled to present, I decided to explore the neighborhood.

I took the red line L from downtown. I’d never stopped in the Edgewater area before. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I found Andersonville to be surprisingly pleasant. It was the first time upon visiting a new neighborhood that I wondered if I should have considered moving there.

The community was originally populated by Swedes, who migrated north from the center of the city to build houses constructed of wood. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 wooden buildings were forbidden in their previous Chicago settlements.

While it takes a while to reach downtown on mass transit, Andersonville is an easy walk to the lake and has plenty of services available in the area. The residents seemed very involved with their community. The first thing I noticed was a “Little Free Library” box along the sidewalk. I’d read about the concept of having public boxes to give away free books. It was the first time I’d spotted one in the wild. I would find more walking around the neighborhood.

Andersonville seemed to take pride in projects to strengthen their neighborhood. I noticed a couple of street parking spaces converted to bike corrals. I later read they emphasize recycling and other sustainability projects.

The neighborhood’s main business district is along Clark Street. The strip was thriving and most of the businesses appeared to be local. It’s been designated a National Historic District. There were a variety of shops, restaurants, and bars.

While Andersonville no longer has a significant number of Swedes, some of their bakeries and restaurants have remained. I grabbed an early dinner, finding freshly baked Swedish cookies and bundt cake to take home to my family.

The area is going through a renaissance. It’s become a quirky community friendly to LBGTs. The artistic spirit reminded me of Santa Fe, New Mexico three decades ago, when creative types could still afford to live there. It’s always risky to make predictions. However, if I were to pick an area of Chicago likely to shoot up in value, it would be Andersonville.