Uptown
Music Venues, Montrose Beach, Four Red Line Stops
MEDIAN: $431,000
The Neighborhoods of Uptown
Uptown is the lakefront community where Chicago went out at night in the 1920s, and its music halls still fill up. It runs from Irving Park Road up to Foster Avenue, and from Lake Michigan west to Ravenswood Avenue and Clark Street, with Lakeview to the south and Edgewater to the north.
People come for the mix. Within about a mile and a half you get the Green Mill's jazz, the restaurants of Argyle Street, Montrose Beach and its harbor, and four Red Line stops that run all night.
The housing has the same range. Lakefront towers line Marine Drive, 1920s courtyard buildings fill the middle, and Buena Park's historic district holds Prairie-style mansions on Hutchinson Street.
Argyle
Argyle Street is Uptown's restaurant row, lined with Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Laotian kitchens and markets. Its own Red Line station sits in the middle of the strip. Daily life revolves around food: pho for lunch, roast duck from a barbecue counter and a bakery run on the way home. Though Argyle is not technically an officially mapped neighborhood, it adds so much flavor to the Uptown lifestyle.
Buena Park
The quiet southeast corner, between Montrose Avenue, Irving Park Road, Graceland Cemetery and the lake. Prairie-style mansions line Hutchinson Street, and the Lakefront Trail is a few steps away. It's a front-porch neighborhood: summer brings Buena Park PorchFest, with live music on front steps across the blocks, and evenings end with a walk to Montrose Harbor.
Margate Park and Marine Drive
The lakefront strip east of Sheridan Road, where Marine Drive's towers and 1920s buildings look over the park. The lake and the Lakefront Trail are across the street, and Montrose Harbor is a short trip south. Mornings start on the Lakefront Trail, summer evenings end on the sand, and a doorman greets you on the way home.
Sheridan Park
The residential blocks between Lawrence and Montrose, west of Broadway, built as a spacious suburb from the 1890s to the 1920s. Single-family houses and three-story six-flats fill a National Register historic district, and Dover Street is a city landmark district of its own. Life here is quiet and residential, with deep front yards, Metra a short walk west and dinner on Broadway a few blocks east.
Uptown Square
The entertainment center at Broadway and Lawrence, home to the Green Mill, the Aragon Ballroom and the Riviera Theatre. Vintage apartment buildings and condos sit within a few blocks of two Red Line stations. Nights here run late, with jazz at the Green Mill, a concert at the Aragon or the Riviera, and a late dinner on Broadway.
Getting Around Uptown
Uptown is built for living without a car. Four Red Line stations, a dozen bus routes and DuSable Lake Shore Drive all run through it.
The Red Line runs down the middle. It stops at Argyle, Lawrence, Wilson and Sheridan, and it runs 24 hours. Argyle and Lawrence were rebuilt in 2025 with elevators and escalators, and Wilson was rebuilt in 2017.
Wilson adds an express. Weekday rush-hour Purple Line Express trains stop at Wilson, with a cross-platform transfer from the Red Line. Uptown Square, Argyle and Sheridan Park are a short walk from a station; Buena Park uses Sheridan station at its south edge.
Metra sits just west. Ravenswood station on the Union Pacific North line, rebuilt in 2023, is a short walk from the west side of Sheridan Park.
The lakefront rides the express buses. From Marine Drive and Sheridan Road, the 146 and 147 run express down DuSable Lake Shore Drive toward downtown. The 22 on Clark Street, the 36 on Broadway and the 151 on Sheridan cover the rest.
Drivers get five ramps. DuSable Lake Shore Drive has exits at Foster, Lawrence, Wilson, Montrose and Irving Park. In the towers and the vintage courtyard buildings alike, ask whether a parking space comes with the home.
Cyclists get the lake. The Lakefront Trail runs along Uptown's shore, and Broadway and Lawrence have bike lanes.
Is Uptown right for you?
John will help you narrow it down, then match you with a Chicago agent who knows these blocks, at no cost to you.
Housing in Uptown
Uptown has one of the widest mixes of housing on the North Side, and it can change from one block to the next.
Along the lake: towers and co-ops. Marine Drive is lined with high-rises from the 1950s onward, alongside 1920s landmarks like the Aquitania, a 1923 co-op that once sat right on the shoreline. Expect lake views, doormen and building amenities.
In the middle: courtyard buildings and former apartment hotels. Uptown's 1920s boom left blocks of three- and four-story courtyard buildings, plus grand apartment hotels that have since become condos and co-ops. Most units are a short walk from the Red Line.
Sheridan Park: houses and six-flats. Built from the 1890s to the 1920s, these blocks mix single-family houses with three-story six-flats and small apartment buildings. On Dover Street, houses and two- and three-flats sit on wide lots with deep front yards.
Buena Park: the mansions. Hutchinson Street's Prairie-style mansions anchor a historic district of single-family houses, walk-up apartment buildings. East of Broadway, the blocks are noticeably less dense than the rest of Uptown.
Across the whole community, condos in vintage buildings are the usual way in. Houses are the rare find, mostly in Sheridan Park and Buena Park.
Living in Uptown
Uptown's daily life splits three ways: music and restaurants in the middle, the lake on the east, and quiet residential blocks on either side.
What you can walk to. Uptown Square puts the Green Mill, the Aragon Ballroom and the Riviera Theatre within a few blocks of each other, beside the 1925 Uptown Theatre, which is still waiting on its restoration. A few blocks north, Argyle Street packs pho shops, barbecue counters and bakeries into a short strip, and hosts a summer night market.
Sheridan Park and Buena Park are mostly residential. Broadway, Wilson Avenue and Clark Street handle coffee and errands a few blocks away.
The lake. Montrose Beach has a half-mile of sand, a dog beach, kayak and volleyball rentals, and a bird sanctuary on the point next to it. Montrose Harbor, Cricket Hill and the Lakefront Trail are part of the same stretch of park.
From Marine Drive, it's a walk across the street, and from most of Buena Park about ten minutes. From Sheridan Park, plan on about 20 minutes, or a quick bike ride.
Groceries. The Target at Wilson Yard, on Broadway near the Wilson station, carries fresh produce, meat and bakery goods. A Mariano's sits just over the Edgewater line at Foster and Sheridan, a Jewel serves Buena Park, and Argyle Street has Asian markets.
LetsMovetoChicago.com founder John knows how to find the right real estate agent because he has been one since 2015. When it’s time to start your home search, John can connect you with a local real estate agent who specializes in the neighborhoods you’re focused on, at no cost to you!
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Find Your Fit
atch what you want most to the part of Uptown that does it best.
A historic house or a quiet, leafy block by the lake: start with Buena Park.
Live music and nightlife at your door, two Red Line stops close: start with Uptown Square.
A restaurant row for dinner most nights: start with Argyle.
A vintage house or six-flat on a residential street, with Metra nearby: start with Sheridan Park.
A high-rise with lake views and an express bus downtown: start with Margate Park and Marine Drive.
Still deciding? John can help you weigh them.
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