Just when we thought Lincoln Park had ventured beyond gentrification straight into la-la land (multimillion dollar homes, restaurants with cell phone booths and catwalks, stores that sell ski parkas for dogs), we hear something about the old hood that is refreshingly down-to-earth.
One local who lives in one of the beautiful new condo-converted highrises in exclusive East Lincoln Park tells us she likes the L.P. because it is a neighborhood of “many people”, pointing out that her building is a neighbor of Clayton Residential Home, a service for the mentally ill at 2026 N Clark St, and that residents of both buildings frequently exchange “good morning”s.
“I love that the mentally ill and developmentally disabled are part of our community. You never know if somebody is talking on their cell phone or talking to themselves, and what difference does it make?” she says.
But if you thought maybe the frat-element was subsiding, fear not, it’s alive and kicking. The boys are just getting older and starting to suffer from golfing injuries and the like. YoChicago overheard this snippet of a conversation between two men in their early thirties walking along Armitage Avenue one recent evening: “Dude! So I went to this lady chiropractor and she had the best hands.”
Miller Lite’s going to have to update its advertising themes.