North Park

North Park wraps around the North Branch of the Chicago River and two campuses, North Park University and Northeastern Illinois, which keep the neighborhood supplied with students, faculty, and cheap good food along Kedzie and Foster. The North Park Village Nature Center, a former tuberculosis sanitarium turned 155-acre preserve, is one of the city's least-known great green spaces.

The housing is bungalows and small apartment buildings at prices that undercut the lakefront by a wide margin. Rail is the weak point: the Brown Line's Kimball terminal sits just south in Albany Park, walkable from the southern blocks, while the rest of the neighborhood leans on buses and one car. For grad students, university staff, and families priced out of Lincoln Square, North Park does a lot of quiet work.

North Park offers moderate transit access: a single car per household is usually sufficient. One car typically covers the gap that transit leaves.

With a Walk Score of 72, North Park is "Very Walkable": most errands can be accomplished on foot.

At roughly $12,000/year for 1 car, transportation is a moderate line item in North Park's true cost. The neighborhood is served by the Brown line.