Most Chicagoans would agree that it’s faintly ridiculous to call the area west of the river to the Kennedy, from Diversey to Addison, “West Roscoe Village.”
The objectors to the name fall into two main camps — the “nothing wrong with calling it Avondale” crowd, and the group that feels that calling this part of Avondale West Roscoe Village is like slapping a Target sign on a Family Dollar store.
I think the area in question merits its own neighborhood name — the expressway is a strong natural boundary that sets it apart from the rest of Avondale, and it’s begun to develop along a different trajectory than the rest of Avondale.
Roscoe Village, however, strikes me as too weak a brand for a brand extension to be much help to another area. Traverse the whole of Roscoe Village, as I do fairly often, and fairly answer this question: what’s special about Roscoe Village? Not enough, is my answer.
So, I’m inviting one and all to suggest a better name for the area from the river west to the Kennedy, from Diversey north to Addison.
I’ll toss out Riverview just to start the discussion.
Riverview is good, but the original Riverview Amusement Park was clearly at the edge of Roscoe Village. For those who don’t know it is now the Jewel/Dominicks/Walgreens/Whatever the hell else I am forgetting mall on Western south of Lane Tech high school.
I agree it shouldn’t be called Avondale as it is “gentrifying” quicker and differently.
I suggest “Elstonville”. On second thought “Riverview” sounds pretty damn good compared to that.
irishpirate,
Roscoe Village didn’t exist as a neighborhood name at the same point in time as the Riverview amusement park, so I don’t think there are any connections to disengage.
Riverview is probably a good choice. Better than DeVryville. I just looked at a google map of the area and nothing else comes to mind.
With Devry, WGN, and all the other non housing uses on the east end of the neighborhood it is difficult to find a common name or theme.
I rode my pirate bike through there earlier this year and there is some new construction going on……higher end if my memory is correct.
Riverview might appeal to those buyers.
Joe,
I think Roscoe Village is a huge brand name and I can see why my peers would try to slap it on anything they can. Many of my buyers trying to stretch their budgets to live there as we speak.
-Irish Pirate, there is land on Addison north of Lane Tech cleared for a single family home sub division… like the one existing east of WGN.
How bout just calling the area “Devry” (Kinda like “DePaul”) since it’s in the center of the area in question?
Branding is key in any business, whether one is attracting high-end customers or customers who simply aspire to be high-end customers but do not have the means. Most people who are going to plop down big money for a condo or house are going to figure out the real name of a neighborhood. Any directional prefix (west, east, etc.) usually brings suspicion. You’ve got to be able to market a neighborhood name with a straight face. Otherwise, credibility is lost and the whole sales cycle is a waste of time. I’m not a real estate professional, but my gut tells me I’m right on this one.
Roscoe Village is a pleasant neighborhood: it’s safe, the Roscoe commercial strip is fun for a Saturday stroll, and the businesses around the Paulina stop (Whole Foods, the YMCA, and some bars and restaurants) are close. However, the prices in Roscoe Village are quite high (~$450 for a very nice two-bedroom condo), and the side streets have somewhat uneven architecture: big new brick house, old three flat, new modern four flat, old house with garden apartment all in a row.
Buying in Roscoe Village is a little less interesting/exciting than in other areas because it is no longer a bet. The prices reflect true market conditions, and it can even be argued that the prices will remain flat for a while given how high they currently are. No one’s going to lose their shirt buying in Roscoe Village, but few people will make much money buying and selling in 3-5 years. For those willing to pay the price, Roscoe Village is a great neighborhood. For those looking for value for money, heading north a mile or two is recommended, and it might be surprising to see that Lincoln Square and other parts of North Center are just as attractive.
For some, the question is as basic as: is it worth a savings of 20-30% (hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases) to have an L ride to the Loop that is 10 minutes longer? How much is your time worth? The still affordable yet increasing prices in Lincoln Square indicate that many people find the extra time on the L a reasonable trade off to saving big on monthly mortgage payments.
Who actually buys condos in West Roscoe? Everytime I drive through the neighborhood all I see are For Sale signs and vacant units.
A better question is, what exactly justifies giving the area a new name beyond Avondale, besides a transparent attempt to fuel speculation and overdevelopment?
An amusement park that has been gone for 30 years?
Avondale actually has many logistical things going for it above Roscoe Village, the brown line downtown is a sluggish experience, the blue line is far, far better – and try getting to the expressway on Saturday from Roscoe and Damen.
Not every part of the north side needs to be inundated with boutique shops and Starbucks, it’s nice to have a neighborhood that still has some character.
Geez – and people wonder why Realtors get a bad name.
Let’s be clear. Roscoe Village ends at Western Avenue. Perhaps you could claim that the Dominick’s and the Jewel on Western are in Roscoe Village. But once you move west:
beyond the Police Station,
beyond DeVry,
beyond the Chicago River,
beyond Lane Tech High Scool,
beyond the ComEd factory
YOU ARE SOLIDLY IN AVONDALE!
All that said, I do have to admit that if people living there want to refer to their neck of Avondale as Riverview or whatever that I’m not too bothered, I just see a big difference between it being driven by residents and it being imposed by people looking to inflate housing prices.