This fast-growing neighborhood is home to some of the top museums and attractions in Chicago. Many of the buildings here are made of brick, great for those who enjoy an authentic feel. South Loop is popular with young professionals searching for apartments for rent, and there’s lots of cool stuff to do here. Acadia on Wabash Ave has some of the best cocktails in Chicago.
There are places you cannot describe with just one phrase, a mix of stories and impressions, a study in contrasts and a melting pot of people and possibilities. Take South Loop: is it historic? Is it green? Is it cultural? Is it upscale? Is it quiet? And is it lively? Yes, to all, and even more: from cuisine to booming business, from shopping spots to natural sceneries, it’s just different for everyone. You can spend your life exploring this neighborhood of Chicago, and still, have more to find.
Did you know South Loop was once a vice district of Chicago? Bars and brothels, burlesque theatres and cheap studio townhouses for rent made this area attractive for the motley public – up until the 1970s when gentrification became trendy all over the country. Development boomed in several directions at once, from culture to business, from arts to public gardens. Today, South Loop, Chicago, is a collaged piece of art that has a bit of everything.
For jobs, local residents mostly travel to the adjacent Loop – fortunately, it only takes several minutes. Locally, several large employers offer jobs to the residents. Columbia College Chicago is a major education facility and a landowner. The presence of such a large convention center as McCormick Place attracts businessmen from all over the city. Several superb business hotels are nearby, not to mention that retail flourishes in South Loop, from independent bookstores and multiple bars to ethnic restaurants and hipster coffee shops.
South Loop gives that special cozy but urban feel that only places with diverse, young, and well-off people have. Millennials prefer this area to any other Chicago neighborhood, and the students from the several university campuses flood the area with an energetic vibe. Naturally, 80% of locals have Bachelor’s degree or higher and are mostly employed in white-collar industries. Most of the local people are white, but African American and Asian presence is substantial.
Find yourself a part of South Loop, Illinois, that suits your preferences best. Eastern South Loop is all the culturally and artistically packed Museum Campus and Chicago’s front yard, Grant Park, where the city’s major festivals take place. To the south, sports fans gather at Soldier Field for Chicago Bears matches, and businessmen meet one another in the American largest convention center, McCormick Place. Northerly Island attracts with its natural landscapes, and the 19th-century Millionaire Row nearby boasts its architecture of improbable beauty.
Town inside a big city – this phrase describes South Loop better than any other. If you’re looking for a place to settle, try to find it here, and you’ll be just one step away from every possible urban entertainment. Historic Motor Row and Prairie Avenue Districts, upscale South Michigan Avenue, the scenic waterfront of Lake Michigan – take your pick.
Central Station and Dearborn Park area were formerly railyards; today they offer newest townhouses with parking for rent in South Loop. Lofts and luxurious condos have transformed the former Printer’s Row from the commercial space of the publishing industry into an upscale residential area. Still, summer literature fest and independent bookstores remind of the past – there’s no place better to find houses for rent in South Loop, Chicago (and probably the whole world) if you’re a true intellectual and a bookworm.