Party in Lathrop

I attended a birthday party near Diversey Parkway and Wolcott Avenue last night. The building is a stunning condo low-rise of five floors, with two units to a floor. The master bedroom in this multi-bedroom unit has a striking view of the glorious skyline to the southeast. The main living room view is straight east. Still, I was very impressed by the living space. One intriguing topic of discussion I raised with several people was, "What neighborhood are we in?" The correct answer, according to two maps I studied,* is "Lathrop." I've never heard of that. If someone had asked me yesterday, "Is Lathrop a Chicago neighborhood?", I would have replied, "I don't know. It doesn't sound familiar." A friend made light of the fact that I can name the four suburbs that meet at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Lake-Cook Road: clockwise, from the northwest, Deerfield, Highland Park, Glencoe and Northbrook--but I did not know what neighborhood we were standing in. (Love you too, Naomi. =) ) Diversey Parkway is a border between neighborhoods: just to the north is West Lakeview or Roscoe Village, depending on which map one checks. Past Ashland Avenue to the east, Lincoln Park lies to the south and Lakeview is north of Diversey.

Speaking to almost-married Vitali and Inna, we strongly agreed on one positive aspect of outlying neighborhoods and the suburbs: ease of parking. I parked around the corner from this party. True, I took the last spot, but I could have parked on Diversey or Clybourn. Either one would have been a very short walk. Compare that to trying to find a spot in the Park** or (horrors) Lakeview. Finding a free legal parking spot in Lakeview is like winning a contest. When I go to parties just a few miles from those neighborhoods, though, the parking crunch eases. And in the suburbs, it's rarely a problem.

Easy access: being minutes from the Kennedy Expressway doesn't hurt either. This condo building was a short drive from the Kennedy with no stop signs in between.


*I ran a Google search for "Chicago neighborhood map."
**Lincoln Park (the cool way to say it).