The fourth matchup in the Curbed Cup quarterfinals is coming down to the wire. As I write this, Logan Square is leading West Town in voting 55% to 45% after 176 votes. The winner of this showdown will move into Curbed’s final four with Uptown, South Loop, and Lincoln Square.
This morning I pulled up the New York Times map of American Community Survey data and tried to identify an “average” census tract in both Logan Square and West Town. Opting for the high end of income and home value would give me nearly identical tracts in Bucktown (which straddles the West Town / Logan Square line), and opting for the low end would position me well outside the places people usually identify with these neighborhoods.
For West Town, I picked census tract 2434 (above left), bounded by Chicago and Racine avenues and Noble and Kinzie streets. For Logan Square, I picked tract 2215 (above right), bounded by Milwaukee, Armitage, Western, and Fullerton avenues, and Rockwell Street. Here’s a side-by-side look at their ACS data:
For just under the median price in that West Town tract, you can buy the single-family home at 1311 W Ancona St. The remodeled three-bedroom / two-bath has hardwood floors on the main floor, concrete countertops, stainless steel appliances, a master bath with glass sink bowls and a jet tub, a main-floor laundry room, and a full finished basement with a family room and wet bar.
The closest home to the median price in the Logan Square tract is a 2,200 square-foot, four-bedroom / three-bath cottage at 2546 W Medill Ave, priced at $450,000. The rehabbed home features stone baths, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, a lower-level family room with a wet bar, a fenced yard with a new deck, and a two-car garage.