Milwaukee Ave, The Old Neighborhood

Rainbow, Milwaukee Ave

The Ark, Milwaukee Ave

Heads & Threads, Milwaukee Ave

Lingerie Store, Milwaukee Ave

Religious Kitsch, Milwaukee Ave

Family Fashoin, Milwaukee Ave

DS Yo Yo, Milwaukee Ave

Barry Medical, Milwaukee Ave

Wicker Park was first settled by German and Scandinavian immigrants. In the 1860s many Polish immigrants joined them there. So many that the intersection of Milwaukee/Division/Ashland became known as Polish Downtown. In the 1950s many of the Poles moved away and Mexicans and Puerto Ricans moved in. Most recently, artists and hipsters have begun to take over. Milwaukee Ave. where it meets Division and Ashland is part of the ooooold neighborhood. A few blocks after this and you start to see a trendy shop here and a sushi restaurant there and before you know it you’re in what looks like an entirely different place. But it’s still Wicker Park.

See Also
ยป The Many Accents of Wicker Park by Brenda Fowler for The New York Times

10 thoughts on “Milwaukee Ave, The Old Neighborhood

  1. this is a collection of photos that i’ve taken since i moved here. some thoughts –

    who wants to bet that barry medical used to be a bowling alley?

    why is there a doctor statue in the middle of all the religious ones?

    the owners of the lingerie store must think that their plastic mannequins don’t do lingerie justice so they tape photos of scantily clad women to the window.

    to the right of the ark thrift shop there is the ark thrift shop 2. it looks slightly more modern and isn’t bilingual.

    maybe family fashoin #2 went out of business because they couldnt spell any words on their sign, much less balance the books.

  2. you crack me up! I didn’t notice the pictures in the lingerie store until you said something. and yes, that medical building had to have been a bowling alley or some sort of bar.

  3. a – i don’t think it’s wide enough to be a bowling alley.

    b – i think that’s just a priest in garb. a man of the cloth.

    c – you know you’re going to the store to pick up some lingerie

    i got nothing for d and e.

  4. there’s a spiffy nightclub on milwaukee b/t north and divison? (in brenda fowler’s article) we may have to check that out sometime.

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