Ep. 19: Living In Ravenswood feat. The Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce!

Explore the vibrant heart of the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago in this episode featuring key figures from the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce. Delve into the dynamic art scene, local businesses, and community efforts that characterize this unique neighborhood. Listen as guests Amy Czarkowski, Christina Pecce, and Gene Wagendorf III share their experiences of the areas they live and work in, highlighting events like the Ravenswood Art Walk, and discuss the fabric of creativity and connection that defines Ravenswood.

The Living in Chicago Podcast is where I, Jake Lyons, get to interview all kinds of people about the Chicago neighborhoods they live in, work in, and play in. This way, you can learn about the lifestyle pros and cons of various neighborhoods directly from the people who live there (or maybe even learn something new about your own neighborhood!)

More from the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce:

https://ravenswoodchicago.org/

Follow/Watch Living In Chicago: 

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Want to be a guest on the show?

https://www.livinginchicago.com/guest-form

About The Host:

https://linktr.ee/jakelyonsrealtor

Real Estate in areas discussed:

https://www.thechicagohomesource.com/uptown/

https://www.thechicagohomesource.com/lincoln-square/

https://www.thechicagohomesource.com/edgewater/

https://www.thechicagohomesource.com/north-center/

Real Estate Quick Start Questionnaire 

https://www.thechicagohomesource.com/form/

Local Businesses Mentioned:

https://business.ravenswoodchicago.org/list/

TRANSCRIPT IS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED AND NOT CHECKED FOR ERRORS

[00:00:00] Jake: Welcome to Living in Chicago, the podcast where I get to interview real Chicagoans about the neighborhoods that they live, work, and play in. I'm your host. My name is Jake Lyons, and in this episode, I interview three representatives from the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce. That's going to be Amy Czarkowski, Christina Pecce, and Gene Wagendorf.

[00:00:19] Jake: That's from left to right, if you're watching this on YouTube, if you're listening to this on the podcast. Um. It's not that don't worry. Don't worry about the order, but you'll catch on to that as you're listening. And in this episode, we talk about all the different nooks and crannies and things to know about the,, the art scene, the restaurants, the local businesses, what it's like to live in.

[00:00:41] Jake: Ravenswood from a few different perspectives, and it's just a really fun conversation and very educational, uh, definitely, if you have any interest whatsoever in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago, and if you're wondering what the boundaries of that are, we, uh, get into that quite a bit because that's kind of a whole, , topic unto itself is a lot of different neighborhoods that kind of bleed [00:01:00] into Ravenswood.

[00:01:00] Jake: So it's a little different. Difficult to even define what exactly Raven's wood is, but, um, I think they do as good of a job as, as possible, but yeah, so this is a great conversation that we had and just a quick note, it's going to sound a little bit different than especially how you hear my voice right now, because this was recorded in person.

[00:01:18] Jake: This was the first time I've done an episode in person. Usually I do it. Over over zoom or some other thing like that. So if it sounds a little different, that's why I say that in the beginning as well. But, wanted to give you a, I guess, a double heads up on that. Sometimes my voice is a little bit hard to hear, but at least I believe you can hear them pretty well.

[00:01:33] Jake: So, you know, if it had to go one way or the other at least you can hear them and their responses because they are all fantastic. So without further ado, I'm not going to step on any more toes of the conversation. Let's go ahead and get into my conversation with the. Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce.

[00:01:52] Jake: all right. Join here today. This is a special episode. This is the first episode of Living in Chicago [00:02:00] in a, in a couple different ways. This is the first episode that I've done more than one guest at a time, and the first episode that we've done it in person. So if everything sounds a little different it is, it is.

[00:02:11] Jake: 'cause it is different. So joined here today by Christina Pecce. Amy Czarkowski and Gene Wagendorf III, all of the greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce. And I'm just gonna go ahead and give them a quick opportunity to tell them a little bit about themselves and what they do respectively for the G or the, the IT RGCC as the acronym would be.

[00:02:35] Jake: Right. No, nothing we're going to get with the the in person things.

[00:02:44] Christina: Cool. I'll go first. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Jake, for having us on today. Thrilled to be able to talk about. What we do here with you my name's Christina, as you mentioned originally from Boston came over to Chicago in 2017, plopped as [00:03:00] sublet apartment right across the street from Winnimac Park.

[00:03:02] Christina: And I have not left Ravenswood since I am new to the chamber. I have been the business services manager here since the beginning of May. So I'm very happy to have Amy and Gene here helping fill in any gaps that I may have, but let me pass it over to Amy.

[00:03:17] Amy: Yeah, so I am Amy Zarkowski. I live here in Ravenswood and I am our business and program or sorry, your business services.

[00:03:25] Amy: I'm events and programs manager. And I take care of all of the public facing events that we do here at the chamber. So I am usually a blur running up and down the street. So, if you just see something, you think that you may have just seen someone out of the corner of your eye. Usually me. Running up and down, checking on people, making sure everything's operating properly at our events that we do.

[00:03:47] Amy: Okay.

[00:03:48] Gene: And my name is Gene, I'm the associate director here at the chamber. I've been working at the GRCC for coming up on 10 years this June. I'm a Humboldt Park resident, and I was born in Chicago on the [00:04:00] Northwest side. So I've lived Jefferson Park, Portage Park as a kid and then. Moved to Belmont and Cragen and then eventually bought a home in Humboldt Park.

[00:04:07] Gene: So I stopped the southward progression there. Had to put a stop to that at some point.

[00:04:12] Jake: Okay. Awesome. So what the, what is the area that the GRCC

[00:04:20] Jake: um,

[00:04:21] Jake: encompasses? Because I know, I mean, we're, we're pretty close to a couple of different, Like, it's not the link. Lincoln Square has their own thing, right? And then, you know, we're close to uptown.

[00:04:29] Jake: We're close to Edward are close to all these other things. So what what would you say is kind of like the parameters of. You know, what you represent

[00:04:39] Gene: I can feel that one. So we focus on Ravenswood and its surrounding communities, which includes some of the ones you touched on Lincoln Square, North Center, a sliver of uptown and a little bit of Bowmanville.

[00:04:49] Gene: Our boundaries for the chamber roughly go from the river to Clark Street and from Irving Park up to Balmoral. So it's a large area. You mentioned there's some great other local organizations that do work in [00:05:00] some of those sections. So we focus the majority of what we do on the area between Damen and Clark and Irving Park and Foster, roughly.

[00:05:07] Jake: Okay. What would you say, what would you say are the sort of the unique characteristics? Of the business needs in that area.

[00:05:17] Gene: That's challenging because it's such a diverse mix of industries here. There's another really 1 business type that defines neighborhood the neighborhood. We've got this glorious industrial corridor where our office is situated that you're visiting today.

[00:05:29] Gene: That has traditional old school manufacturers, brewers, spaces, tech startups, nonprofit offices. But then if you go out to Wilson or Lawrence or Damien, you're going to find more traditional retail corridors that are like a lot of the others across the city, struggling struggling to recover from the pandemic.

[00:05:45] Gene: But full of entrepreneurs who had ideas and career changes over those couple of years too. So it's an exciting time. That's a challenging.

[00:05:52] Jake: Sure.

[00:05:54] Jake: What kind of resources do you find that? The businesses that did struggle from the pandemic was probably [00:06:00] in some way or another, all of them, , what do you find that's, or how about this?

[00:06:05] Jake: What, what characteristics would you say the ones that have made it through had?

[00:06:13] Gene: Creativity and a willingness to collaborate. You know, the pandemic forced people like our neighbors at Koval Distillery to shift from producing spirits to producing hand sanitizer. And that's not something that, you know, they were even legally allowed to do at the onset of the pandemic, let alone is built into their business model.

[00:06:31] Gene: Another good example would be the long room, which is a bar and tavern up at Ashland and Ravens Irving Park. Pardon me. They developed the bottling line so that they could do cocktails in house that they would bottle for to go sales. And that was something that. Even after business opened back up wound up being something that was a new revenue stream for the business and something that kept them front and center for people during those couple of years where we couldn't go out much so Really creativity and a willingness to move away from what you've been doing for a couple of [00:07:00] years, even if it was temporary

[00:07:01] Jake: Yeah, that makes sense.

[00:07:02] Jake: I did During the pandemic, I definitely didn't buy a lot of hand sanitizer that was made by, you know, distilleries and things like that. And we had some that, you know, kind of had like a gin smell or like a tequila smell, but not in a, in a good way. Yeah,

[00:07:15] Gene: it made it convenient to go on shopping during the pandemic because I definitely needed whiskey and I definitely needed a hand sanitizer to get them both from the same drive up to that spot.

[00:07:24] Jake: Yeah, yeah, you know exactly where to go. Yeah, so you're wearing the Maltrow hat, huh? Is how long has that branding been been a thing because it's such a dope name. I love it and it makes sense, too

[00:07:36] Gene: that was about 2015 2016 Okay We were we had just had the first ravenswood on tap craft beer festival at the time of it fostering ravenswood in front of what used to be empirical brewery and we were looking for aside from the ravenswood art walk that happens in the fall things to um Um, showcase about the neighborhood in an outdoor summer festival setting.

[00:07:55] Gene: And we looked around and saw, I think at the time, four or five breweries in close [00:08:00] proximity and another on the way plus Koval distillery. And so that was, I think the first conversations about Mall Row came from planning that first festival. And then, you know, the conversation about what to do after the festival and before it really took off.

[00:08:14] Jake: Nice. What was the I guess what was the launch of that branding light? Like what, how do you go from just the ideation of like, you know, what would be cool is if we just started calling this Malt Row to, you know, like actually putting it out there and making it a thing.

[00:08:30] Gene: A lot of beer and hiring a competent graphic designer.

[00:08:35] Gene: I think we spent a lot of time meeting at the different breweries to talk about the strengths of the neighborhood. What differentiated the breweries from each other and how they liked to collaborate. Mall was the 1 ingredient that we found that everybody was using, including Koval distillery.

[00:08:49] Gene: So there were a lot of hop related puns that were suggested at the time, but mall really felt right for being able to include Koval. And then I mentioned hiring a competent graphic designer. We [00:09:00] worked with Jenny from work posters who also runs neighborly right over in Lincoln square. She does some incredible work, including our Malt Row logo.

[00:09:07] Gene: And so. Some of the branding elements that we use and then from there, you know, to make anything official, you have to have some city buy ins that we invited. Reps from the city of Chicago to come down to Koval and have a press conference where we announced Malt Row as the branding initiative for the neighborhood.

[00:09:23] Gene: And really once we did that, we started hearing requests for group tours of Malt Row or ways that people could do events or have tastings or hop on a trolley that would move people between breweries. And so now the biggest struggle has been trying to keep up with the amount of things people want to do to connect with all of the breweries.

[00:09:39] Gene: We've been lucky that as we've lost a couple over the years, we continue to have them all in the neighborhood. So, we just celebrated the ribbon cutting for demo brewery right across the street here at Ravenswood on Berteau. And that is first new brewery we've had in the since the pandemic.

[00:09:53] Gene: So it was very exciting to see them finally with their doors open.

[00:09:55] Jake: Right. Yeah. And I'm sure all the distilleries and breweries and restaurants and things like that probably lend themselves [00:10:00] to having some pretty, some pretty gnarly events.

[00:10:02] Amy: Oh, yeah. Yeah. We, we Obviously, we celebrate all different kinds of businesses that we have, but obviously people have a certain age.

[00:10:10] Amy: They love having a drink. And so, we have quite a few different options as far as getting included and malt related. Events that we do we just recently restarted 1 of our event series called the hoppy hours. It was something that we were doing remotely during the pandemic where we would get a few different breweries and Gene and they would have people get.

[00:10:32] Amy: Select beers from various breweries, collect them, and then they could drink them at home and have a guided tasting. So we, it's funny, because I used to work at empirical brewery. So I was representing empirical during 1 of the Hoppy Hours that we did. And now I am planning the Hoppy Hours from the chamber side.

[00:10:49] Amy: So I kind of know both ends of it in that aspect. We recently had our 1st 1 at spiteful. It was highlighting loggers versus ales and the brewing difference between the 2 of them. We had about 25 people [00:11:00] show up for it and they did an absolutely amazing job of giving the science behind it in a very digestible way and where's our.

[00:11:08] Amy: At spiteful grooming up in Bowmanville, and that went absolutely fantastically. We have our next 1 coming up at dovetail on May 15th. That 1 is going to be highlighting beer service traditions because they're very European beer focus. So they'll have different glass options that you can. Drink your beer from, and they'll be talking about the camaraderie and the environment that's around drinking beer.

[00:11:32] Amy: And then we have a few more down the pipeline. We obviously have on tap our gigantic festival that we do outside. And then we also have in the end of June tomorrow on Damen coming up where various breweries open up in Damen Avenue businesses between Argyle and Wilson, and you get a little glass with a cozy lanyard.

[00:11:51] Amy: That you can wear around your neck and you can get five ounce samples of all the beers, slightly less for alcohol, hard alcohol. Obviously, we [00:12:00] don't necessarily need people walking around with 5 ounces of whiskey as much as we would love it. Give them some thimbles. Exactly. Yeah, it's a great way to not only highlight the mall row members that we have, but also get them involved with Damen businesses and highlight how many amazing boutiques and stores that we have on Damen Avenue.

[00:12:18] Jake: Yeah, Damen Avenue is a really cool, really cool place to be. Probably just take a quick step back. And we've talked in general terms of definitely the, events that, that you guys can throw and support and other, general ways, but what, how would you define exactly what a chamber of commerce does and the role that it plays for the local business community?

[00:12:39] Gene: So we're a nonprofit organization that works to support local businesses, which is pretty Rowad. We help them with navigating city government, acquiring permits and licenses. Developing community events marketing, hiring, HR issues getting access to city resources pretty much anything that a small business owner is going to run into.

[00:12:59] Gene: We're a [00:13:00] resource for them, or can connect them with another city resource. Okay. Our organization has been around since 2015. We also have a sister nonprofit called the Ravenswood community council. That's been around since the 60s. They've historically been focused on resident issues, like community safety, greening initiatives.

[00:13:17] Gene: More recently, their focus has been on greening and sustainability projects, advocating for affordable housing and supporting public art.

[00:13:25] Jake: Okay. So it's a non profit that, and I'm sure you, I'm sure you work closely in conjunction with the local government, like you said. I'm sure you have to have constantly,

[00:13:34] Jake: uh,

[00:13:35] Jake: good communication with,

[00:13:36] Jake: like,

[00:13:37] Jake: the aldermen, alderperson.

[00:13:39] Jake: Things like that. Yeah. And that classic, the classic Chicago phrase of like, Oh, I got a guy. It's like, you kind of are the guy that the quote, unquote guy here that, you can go to to get stuff done.

[00:13:50] Gene: And if we're not, we should be equipped to refer you to the person who is your guy.

[00:13:54] Jake: Gotcha. Okay. I have a random question. So you say you live across from Winnemeck Park, right? [00:14:00] I did. Yes. You did. Okay. Do you, do you happen to know, because every, every summer when it gets to be around 4th of July time, there's always the rumor that, oh, they're, they're actually going to shut down the fireworks this year.

[00:14:13] Jake: This year is the last, you can't go there. They're going to be there to shut it down. And then, inevitably, it just, it happens anyway. You know, is that this past year? Did it still happen? Is it still going on? Because for anybody who's listening or watching who doesn't know, Winnemeck Park for 4th of July goes hard for the fireworks.

[00:14:32] Jake: Like, there's all these these baseball diamonds out there and the families will just gather up from all over the place. And, I mean, it's like a professional great fire show that goes on there. But. It's a little significantly less safe. Like, you know, you're definitely taking your life into your own hands a little bit.

[00:14:50] Jake: Like you're going to get some shrapnel coming your way. There's going to be a rocket goes astray. You know, a bottle rocket or something. I'm just going to, something's going to happen every time you go, but that's like a little bit of a fun in it, you [00:15:00] know, too, but what's, I don't know, is that, is it more popular than, or is it actually, what's this?

[00:15:06] Jake: I don't know. This is this week.

[00:15:07] Christina: Yes. Yeah. So this year there is a community led organization. And Amy or Gene can help me with the name. I believe it's Winnemac fourth for all. That's the name of the event. That's the name of the event on 4th of July. What I do know is they're going to have the folks from Full Moon Jam come out which is a group that does this amazing drum circle celebration at every full moon at Foster Beach.

[00:15:32] Christina: In the past, so they're coming out for the 4th and they're a really cool performance based group. I don't believe there's some sort of dancer or acrobat situation. But baton. I feel like I've seen fire, maybe fire eating. I don't wanna speak more than what I'm fully aware of, but I know that Full Moon Jam will be out for the fourth.

[00:15:54] Gene: Yeah. And they will for sure have fire dancing. They just emphasize that there won't be fireworks. This Mm-Hmm, .

[00:15:59] Jake: And this is, [00:16:00] this is where, this is at the beach you said? Or

[00:16:01] Christina: This will be at Winnemac Park. Oh, okay. Okay, yeah,

[00:16:05] Gene: so this is a group that normally works or puts on these events out at the lakefront.

[00:16:08] Gene: They're working with the park advisory council to host that as the finale of a day long celebration in the park. But I think we'll also include some outdoor yoga and a community kickball contest. I think they're trying to get a softball tournament going as well. So it seems like the approach from neighbors is to try to do something different this year.

[00:16:27] Gene: Yeah. To your question about whether there's ever been a truly successful stopping of the event. Not that I've seen yet in the 10 years I've been working in the neighborhood. And it's been going on in an unofficial capacity for a couple of decades now. Last year was the closest I think we got.

[00:16:43] Gene: I know Alderman Vasquez up that way was working with the park and Amundsen school to try to close some of the ball fields and reduce the amount of people that were at the event to hopefully increase safety, as you mentioned. Some of the very real shrapnel that goes flying around there. But TBD, we're very curious, I think, to [00:17:00] see how it goes this year and to see what type of event the neighbors put on and how their neighbors respond to it.

[00:17:06] Jake: Makes sense. Yeah, I mean, from from from a resident and just somebody looking for something cool. I love it, but I can also see that if you're in a position of somebody who's actually trying to look out for the well being of their citizens, why. Why they would probably want to try to let's pivot here and try to do something a little different

[00:17:25] Gene: as a smart distinction.

[00:17:26] Gene: I think my answer would also be very different if I was a resident versus if I was in charge of. Keeping the residents safe.

[00:17:31] Jake: This is for for anyone or, or all of you? Maybe just take, take a, take a turn. Who, who would you say the neighborhood of Ravenswood is ideal for? Like what what, why, why do you think somebody would want to live in Ravenswood over, you know, any of the other hundreds of odd neighborhoods?

[00:17:51] Christina: I can take that first.

[00:17:52] Christina: Yeah. I think the neighborhood is ideal for makers artists. Small business owners and folks who love [00:18:00] enjoying all of those things. There's a really cool community of, as I said different creatives in this neighborhood because there are, there are so many, you know, Educational outlets and places where they can display their work as well as great places to eat and hang.

[00:18:15] Christina: That's what I think that's a great, great group of people that this neighborhood is ideal for, but I'll let Amy and Gene chime in too.

[00:18:22] Amy: Yeah, I mean, I agree with everything that Christina said and from a residence perspective, as someone who works and lives in Ravenswood, even if you aren't a owner or an active professional artist, or you're not selling your art, just being within this community can really get your creative juices flowing because you're seeing so much fantastic, craft going on.

[00:18:45] Amy: You see the public art that we have. And it's just really exciting to be able to get more ideas if you're a hobbyist or if you know, it's the classic thing, like what you do for work versus what you do to live versus [00:19:00] survive. So if you are a living artist, even if you're not a professional one, it's still a really fantastic place to be able to

[00:19:08] Amy: Uh, make

[00:19:09] Amy: connections and just expose yourself to some ideas that you may not have already gotten yourself.

[00:19:17] Gene: It's also a great neighborhood for people that enjoy being active and either don't own a car or don't use a car as their primary transportation. We've got a lot of bike infrastructure, greenways, protected bike lanes, more of those coming to the neighborhood. An abundance of public transit options, you know, some buses that run with pretty regular hours and service a couple of train lines, the Metra stations here Divvy stations all over the place.

[00:19:41] Gene: And then, because of that small business makeup, you really can find most of what you need within 15 minutes of your home here in the neighborhood. So it's just incredibly long. And I'd say, if. You're somebody who prioritizes that we've got that here.

[00:19:54] Jake: Time for the real estate stats corner presented by me, Jake Lyons, real [00:20:00] estate advisor here in the Chicago area with app properties and my website, the Chicago home source. com. In this segment, I am going to share three statistics about the Ravenswood area that I believe will give you at least a pretty good idea of what's going on in the real estate market and what people are willing to pay to live in this neighborhood.

[00:20:23] Jake: I think that this is relevant because after all, what. Is a neighborhood without real estate, right? So the three stats I am going to share are the median sales price of two bed condos in the Ravenswood area, the median sales price of houses with at least three bedrooms, which pretty much every house will have more than three bedrooms for the most part in these areas anyway, and the median rent price for two bed apartments in this area.

[00:20:51] Jake: So the first statistic is the median sales price. For two bed condos, which [00:21:00] as of the most recent data that I have access to right now, which is March of 2024. So keep that in mind whenever you are watching or listening to this episode, that is probably different now, but in any case, March of 2024, the median sales price for two bed condos in the Ravenswood neighborhood is 322, 500.

[00:21:19] Jake: 50 percent sold for more 50 percent sold for less. That is the median sales price. For two bed condos in the Ravenswood area of Chicago for houses, the median sales price is 998, 000, almost a million, almost made it. This is just a little hair under a million dollars is the median sales price for a house.

[00:21:42] Jake: In the Ravenswood neighborhood do keep in mind. That's a pretty small sample size because houses in this neighborhood don't they there are houses. They just don't come for come up for sale. Very often. I think as I'm looking at this, it's only been 9 that have sold in the last year. So that affects you know, that affects this [00:22:00] number a little bit with a kind of a smaller sample size.

[00:22:04] Jake: And for a two bed apartment in the Ravenswood neighborhood, expect to pay a median of basically 2, 100, 2, 095. And so there you have it. There is the. Real estate SAS corner for Ravenswood. If you want to see what all is on the market right now, you can go to the Chicago home source. com. And that is good for not just this neighborhood, but every neighborhood in the greater Chicago area.

[00:22:34] Jake: And the URL for that will be posted in the show notes.

[00:22:42] Jake: Yeah, the public transit is a good call out because I mean, especially the method.

[00:22:46] Jake: There really aren't that many. places in the city that are anywhere near as convenient to the Metra specifically. Yeah, to this day, I've never heard of it. Oh, I love the Metra. I've never heard [00:23:00] a bad thing about the

[00:23:00] Jake: Metra.

[00:23:01] Jake: Everybody loves it.

[00:23:01] Christina: You can drink on the Metra. You can. No, the Metra's great. And then they're having the Ravens with station, you know, right in the heart of the neighborhood is so convenient.

[00:23:09] Christina: If you wanna go downtown, it's two, two stops to Ogilvie and I've cocked it before. Sometimes it takes us as quick as eight minutes. Wow. To get right in the center it downtown from here. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. And you can also take that line the opposite direction and head over to Rivinia over the summer. So it's super convenient and fast.

[00:23:26] Christina: I, I. I love it. I love taking it.

[00:23:28] Jake: That's good to know. Yeah. Yeah, I, I talked about Ravenswood Avenue a lot because, you know, the Metra line goes straight down the middle of Ravenswood Avenue. So it Ravenswood Avenue itself. It doesn't even feel like a real street for part of it. It kind of just feels like a parking lot or like an alley or something, but it's just because there's a train line going through the middle of it.

[00:23:48] Jake: But.

[00:23:49] Christina: Well, part of our programming to kind of segue about the Ravenswood corridor and I'll let Amy follow on this, but two of our biggest events happen right, right on the Ravenswood corridor. [00:24:00] And Amy, you want to talk about some of our cool programming?

[00:24:03] Amy: I'd love to. So we've. Obviously, I already talked about Ravenswood on tap.

[00:24:07] Amy: That is our craft beer and music festival that we do highlighting Malt Row. We have all of them up and down Ravenswood between Berteau and Belle Plaine on the east side of the tracks. I think that's one of the big things with Ravenswood that makes it kind of, interesting to give people directions.

[00:24:22] Amy: Cause you have to be like, okay, east versus west side. And then also then what corner. Southeast or whatever you're specifically talking about. So it can be a little bit interesting to give people specific directions on where you're supposed to go on Ravenswood Avenue. But it was on the pathway.

[00:24:39] Jake: I mean, the, you know, it started, but, you know, just in case, like, what I said earlier about that seemed like the negative.

[00:24:45] Jake: Like, the, it's not just the train line going through the middle of the street. It's actually, it's really pretty. Like the, you know, cause it's like, it's like tree lined, and the Metra coming through is quiet. Relatively quiet, I think. Versus the CTA. The [00:25:00] Metra is crazy quiet. You'll get a boat ride here.

[00:25:03] Jake: Yeah. Yeah, I've heard it a couple times, but you barely notice it. And This is one of the, one of the kind of unique charms of being in a big city is trains coming through. And I don't know. Speaking for myself, I loved trains growing up. So I, you know, I had like the little toy train sets and all that kind of stuff.

[00:25:18] Gene: It's funny that you went with parking lot at 1st, because that very much was the vibe on rate and for a long time. 1 of the, you poke around along the Metra embankment. You'll still see the occasional no dumping sign. Those are all rusted out and we're put in in the 60s or 70s and 80s when it was really common for people to just do fly dumping in the neighborhood.

[00:25:41] Gene: So, it was not on you people to see piles of garbage or old furniture or piles of tires or things like that. And that was free. A lot of the landscaping that you notice and a lot of that tree can be was put in by design to try to discourage people from. Seeing more of an industrial area and piling on to the [00:26:00] mess.

[00:26:02] Amy: So, yeah, Ravenswood on tap this year is going to be on July 20th and 21st.

[00:26:06] Amy: We have a lot of amazing bands coming amazing food vendors, and it's a whole weekend of just celebrating Ravenswood. Not only the Malt Row breweries, and the Facilities, which obviously are a huge part of it, but also local businesses who are able to pop up and sell their food or artists who are able to be retail vendors.

[00:26:26] Amy: There we try and keep it as local as possible. And then we also do the Ravenswood art walk this year, September, 14th and 15th, and that we have an outdoor artist market on Ravenswood same East side of between Bertone Belk lane. Typically about 60 plus artists are on the street and then additionally, we open up along Ravenswood between Irving Park and Lawrence.

[00:26:49] Amy: Various studios and manufacturers and galleries who sign up to be on our map, and they will open their doors and either give tours, or just let people look around a little bit, [00:27:00] do demos and just engage the. Ravenswood community and also whatever people come into Ravenswood for it and show them the amazing thriving network of artists and manufacturers that are on Ravenswood Avenue that make this such an amazing creative place to be.

[00:27:20] Jake: Love it. Yeah, my, my wife was in that. So, she was Yeah. last, last fall and had a, yeah. A great turnout. It was a really good, really fun weekend. Mm-Hmm. . We were across the way from this group that was building. They were, they were teaching children who came by how to how to build. Mm-Hmm.

[00:27:37] Christina: bit space.

[00:27:38] Christina: Yeah, yeah, there's a segue right here.

[00:27:43] Gene: We were just before you came into the office today. I'm checking in with the people who helped us with that project. Yeah. So every year at our walk, this local youth makers lab bit space comes down and leads that building project. You saw. So they're teaching kids on the street how to use power tools.

[00:27:57] Gene: They're letting them kind of free design this [00:28:00] structure. They call it an exquisite fort but over the two days of the festival, kids can just drop in, learn how to build it, paint it, design it, and then play on it for the rest of the weekend.

[00:28:08] Jake: It was really cool. It's really fun. Yeah. Especially cause we were literally right across from it.

[00:28:11] Jake: So we were just seeing it, you know, being built every step of the way. And I mean, the kids were eating it up and they loved it. And it was just like, this is so, this is such a good idea.

[00:28:21] Gene: So one of the things they did last year that was a little different was aside from the Fort Bitspace also led the kids in.

[00:28:27] Gene: Building and designing panels that would be put together and do a little free library that we just had a community vote to decide where to install. And so, for children's book week in May, we'll be kicking the week off with installing a little free library, a Wilson and Ravenswood in 1 of the existing people spaces that we've got in the neighborhood.

[00:28:46] Gene: It's already kids focused. There's some colorful sidewalk painting and some tiered stone slab seating for kids to climb on. And in just about a month we'll have an adorable little free library. The kids from the neighborhood and the festival designed that'll be stocked with age [00:29:00] appropriate books.

[00:29:03] Gene: And they'll be there again this year, or? Yes. Yeah, they'll be there again this year and hopefully every year we're involved in it. Yeah. Mm-Hmm? .

[00:29:09] Jake: Yeah. I mean, you know, it, there's, there's a lot to be said for just having something there for parents with their kids just to keep 'em occupied for a little while, and that seems a, it's a really good trick.

[00:29:18] Jake: From just a resident standpoint here, what would you say? I mean, we talked about some a lot of the things that people would care about, like, the transit and getting around and just the general vibes. What would you say? Just because, you know, a lot of people. When they're looking for a place to live, obviously safety is going to come up.

[00:29:35] Jake: And, you know, Chicago, if you're coming in from out of town, you're probably seeing the headlines and all that kind of stuff. Right? So what would you say? Just what speaks to just the your experience or what you hear from. Residents as to the safety level and just how what it's like to. I live here in general.

[00:29:53] Christina: I can speak on that. We are in a city. So, you know, there is, there are things that happen that maybe wouldn't happen as often in the suburbs or [00:30:00] things can be a little bit quieter. What I will say about particularly safety and Ravenswood is that the community is so fast and ready to come together on anything that happens.

[00:30:11] Christina: And that that, I think, really makes this neighborhood unique. From also a apparent standpoint what drew me to Ravenswood. Wasn't necessarily to start a family here, but I just so happened to I've really seen that in action as as we, you know, go out and playgrounds or just, you know, hear about things happening.

[00:30:32] Christina: Like, the, the community is, is really, really quick to be able to communicate to 1 another with ongoings and come to solutions together. I can speak on the, on the chamber side of it too. I know you're asking more residential, but we've had a kind of an exciting collaboration. Come into play with our organization.

[00:30:48] Christina: There is a newly formed within the last year in the 19th police district. It's called the 19th police district council, which is an elected body. There are 3 folks that serve on [00:31:00] that committee and right now they're serving as a kind of liaison between business leaders, community leaders, residents and and their goal right now is to get input from business leaders and community members to try to create some short term, short term actionable goals to present.

[00:31:18] Christina: To the police department and the 19th district. So we're, we're in the works of that right now and I'm excited to see where that where that heads. But I will say on both the business and the residential and you have a lot of people who really care about 1 another here in this neighborhood and that that sense of community is, is really important and I'm grateful for that.

[00:31:39] Jake: All right. Yeah, that works for me.

[00:31:41] Jake: Would you say the neighborhood has changed over the years?

[00:31:45] Gene: How far back do you want to go?

[00:31:47] Jake: Let's go, I mean, as far back as you, as far back as you can.

[00:31:50] Gene: So, you know, the biggest ongoing conflict in the neighborhood. Probably hasn't changed in over 100 years. [00:32:00] My guess is that 100 years ago, there were people who lived adjacent to this industrial corridor who were unhappy with the.

[00:32:08] Gene: Noise, or the smells, or the traffic that was coming from the people who were manufacturing here. And I probably have 2 complaints in my inbox related to those issues. Just in the time that we've been talking we have. This very vibrant manufacturing corridor in Ravenswood that is unique on the North side, and then it has a lot of spaces that are specifically zoned for manufacturing.

[00:32:29] Gene: And so makers of all kinds come here, especially if they're looking for space on the North side, which is increasingly dwindling. And we have very wealthy residential communities that, in some instances, share an alley with this industrial corridor. So that can be. A really natural conflict and a really natural opportunity for some community building, but it's not uncommon to see a fist shaking neighbor at a community event of set that they feel like they're being pushed out and they've lived here for over 50 years and they're feeling pushed out by an economy that predates [00:33:00] them by another 50.

[00:33:02] Gene: So, as the city continues to try to examine what it wants to do with its manufacturing corridors, especially on the North side. This neighborhood has the potential to significantly change from what it has been. There's a lot of development pressure on this part of the city right now, and not a lot of economic incentive to manufacture here.

[00:33:19] Gene: And that's historically what people have done. So, we're in the process of trying to get the city to engage with us again because the last plan this area had for development was in 2019. So, that's a pandemic in 2 administrations ago. There's a lot that has changed since then in the neighborhood and downtown.

[00:33:38] Gene: And so I think the next 5 to 10 years are going to be really informative for what the neighborhood looks like in the next. 20 to 30 you know, the, I mentioned this being a manufacturing court, or over the last 30 years, you probably had a demographic flip of 70 percent of people in the neighborhood were blue collar workers.

[00:33:55] Gene: Migrant heavy community that lived here and worked here. And we've almost [00:34:00] entirely flipped that across 30, 35 years where it is 70 percent white collar workers who are either working downtown or working from home, 30 percent minority employees who are typically more blue collar, we're still working at some of these manufacturers in the neighborhood or living elsewhere now.

[00:34:17] Gene: Same.

[00:34:17] Jake: Yeah. What would be your prediction on where things?

[00:34:23] Jake: What's what's the what's the pressure coming in? Like, what what people want?

[00:34:28] Gene: I think there's increasing demand for affordable housing, especially in this part of the city and increasing. Density and increasing the amount of residents that we can fit in is 1 way that local government is looking at lowering the cost of living here.

[00:34:40] Gene: We have this great transit network that we've talked about already. A lot of that is close to this area that could be developed out. So I think what I expect to see is the city changing. It's rather strict guidelines on development to allow for more mixed use development in the neighborhood where we may see 1st [00:35:00] floor commercial uses, hopefully still 1st floor uses for people who are willing who are interested in making things here.

[00:35:06] Gene: But then 2nd and 3rd floor residential I think that it. Probably balance the realities of the cost of doing business in this part of the city right now with. What the neighborhood also needs in terms of space for people to live.

[00:35:20] Jake: You know, this was 1 of the ADU pilot areas.

[00:35:23] Gene: Yes, it was. Yes. Okay. So there are we've got some architects in the chamber that have.

[00:35:28] Gene: Had some pretty creative designs for ADUs. I know our older predominant older. We work with the 46th, 47th and 40th boards. Alderman Martin was a huge proponent of that ordinance a couple of years ago that pilot a couple of years ago. I couldn't speak to how many there are in the neighborhood, but I'd love to get some of those numbers to that program is.

[00:35:49] Gene: Thriving or not over its first couple of years. Mm-Hmm. .

[00:35:52] Jake: I would too. Because as an, as a real estate agent, I mean that's, and I, I work a lot in the small multifamily space. That's, that's one of my [00:36:00] specialties that I like to work in. And I mean, I tell people about it, but you know, I don't know how much appetite there is to sort of open that can of worms.

[00:36:09] Jake: To the city to have people come, you know, snoop around when everybody's doing it. Anyway, you know, people are already having their garden units and their addict units and whatever. And just, you know, it's kind of going under the radar. Not that that's good or bad, or that I recommend that or any of that, but, you know, everybody knows it's thousands and thousands of those units in the city right now.

[00:36:28] Jake: But, you know, people kind of open that open that can and say, all right, let's let's legitimize this. It could. You know, I think behind the fear is that, okay, well, now, you know, there's going to be citations, there could be all kinds of code violations that I didn't even know I was doing, and now I have to do this, you know, so.

[00:36:47] Jake: I applaud the effort, but it's also Just I don't know the city also doesn't make it super, uh, welcoming in a lot of in other ways too, you know,

[00:36:57] Gene: so and the other piece of that is [00:37:00] the cost of You know from scratch building a coach house, which I think is oftentimes what people envision when they think of an adu it is it's still prohibitive in the city So if we're really looking at that as an avenue for increasing affordability You It might be worth as a city exploring whether we can incentivize the construction of new ADUs or maybe incentivize the repair and upkeep or bringing up to code mm-Hmm.

[00:37:27] Gene: of, of existing ADUs that hadn't been licensed. Yeah.

[00:37:32] Jake: Yeah. I almost feel like there should be, you know how they have the rule in place where it's like if you're, if you're at a party and there's underage drinking and somebody is. Somebody like needs to go to the hospital if you call 9 1 1, they, that you have immunity you're, nobody there is going to get like a ticket.

[00:37:48] Jake: I almost feel like it should be like that. Like, look, I'm trying to do right. I'm trying to get this, ADU or I'm trying to build this under, under all the right guidelines and everything. I'm Can we just focus on this part and, if I have a deck that [00:38:00] needs to be replaced just tell me about it, don't write me up, you know, whatever.

[00:38:04] Jake: Yeah. We can dream. Yeah.

[00:38:11] Jake: Anyway, that was fun. Thanks for indulging me on that. Christina, as, as the, as the person here who is not originally from Chicago,

[00:38:22] Jake: how would you compare what just living in Chicago versus living in Boston?

[00:38:27] Christina: I'll say, first of all, if you've ever looked at a map of the street grids in Boston, you will be so happy to be in Chicago. It is, it's all, you know, grateful for the fire. We were able to actually build a grid.

[00:38:39] Christina: Otherwise we probably would look like Boston. around the river. Yeah. No, Boston streets are, um, very famous for it's Confusing, confusing routes and hills and I don't mind hills. I think they're, you know, they serve a purpose, but I do like the landscape of Chicago and it is, it's very easy to know where you [00:39:00] are in proximity.

[00:39:00] Christina: If you have you know, the number of a block, et cetera that I love about Chicago, but I also spend a lot of time in New York and New York and Boston are comparable. They're both extremely expensive to live in. I think Boston recently has just surpassed almost surpassed New York with rent and real estate pricing.

[00:39:19] Christina: Yeah, it is very expensive, which is too bad too, because it's such a large population of students. Right, it's it, they, they just keep getting pushed further and further out of the city, making it, you know, their commutes harder. But it's, it's quite. In my experience and background. Pretty unaffordable, unfortunately.

[00:39:36] Christina: So that is one of the main reasons why I love Chicago. It is still, you know, a major city that is relatively affordable in comparison to other major cities in the country. Also what I love so much about coming from you know, artsy cities like Boston and New York is that you still get that vibrant art performing scene here in the city.

[00:39:56] Christina: And it almost feels. more collaborative. [00:40:00] And that's something that I've always really appreciated about Chicago in particular that I think makes the city stands out to other art hubs. Is that there's a sense of, okay, we're all, we're all artists here. We all have our mediums. Let's, let's see what creative things we can do together.

[00:40:14] Christina: And I, I personally am a huge fan of that. And That's why I think Chicago is, is the greatest city.

[00:40:19] Jake: Yeah, yeah, if you're comparing, if you're just comparing this cost of living and sort of, you know, versus all the other sort of major, premier American cities, I, Chicago is the best bang for the buck and I don't really think it's that close.

[00:40:33] Jake: Yeah, you know, if you're comparing like your L. A. 's and San Francisco, San Fran, you know, Seattle, like New York, Boston, apparently I didn't know Boston was that people have about Ravenswood?

[00:40:44] Jake: What's a common misconception people have about

[00:40:49] Gene: Ravenswood? That it's Lincoln square. Okay, you touched on boundaries a little bit earlier. That's always 1 of our favorite topics to bad back and [00:41:00] forth because they're ultimately pretty meaningless for how people. Interact with their neighborhoods, but. Yeah, I think, depending on, because we are not a community area.

[00:41:09] Gene: And the city uses the community area designation for its planning. Ravenswood is spread across parts of the Lakeview, Uptown, North Center, and Lincoln Square community areas. So, yes, you might Be in Lincoln square, but you might be in a part of it that really feels more like Ravenswood and that's ultimately what it comes down to.

[00:41:31] Gene: I think it's the feel of the neighborhood and where people who live in it on a regular basis to find that they are those things. I mean, you're in real estate. They can all shift. They can all be manipulated. Neighborhoods can go in and out of style for a variety of reasons. But I think that's 1 of the things that as a community, we've.

[00:41:48] Gene: Struggled with in the past, less so these days, but it still kind of came up as kind of my clearly my 1st response to that question. As a chamber. We very much want people to know or to feel like they're in Ravenswood [00:42:00] when they're here. And I think that, depending on what part of the neighborhood you're in, that can get confusing.

[00:42:06] Jake: Yeah, because those are the Lincoln square chamber. Also, isn't it like Lincoln square slash Ravenswood chamber?

[00:42:11] Gene: Yeah. So, and there is also a North center chamber of commerce. So, depending on the ribbon cutting. You might see all 3 of us, they're supporting a new business. Which is a, I think a good problem to have.

[00:42:22] Gene: It may be a little confusing from time to time for people to understand the amount of resources available to them. I can tell you, I have lived in neighborhoods where I deeply wish there were 3 chambers of commerce tripping over themselves to try to support my business corridors. And so I think that's 1 of the educational things for me after spending 10 years.

[00:42:41] Gene: In Ravenswood or Lincoln Square or North Center or Bowmanville is that I would like to see this overlap of resources in Belmont Craig and Humboldt Park.

[00:42:50] Jake: Do you guys compete for memberships when there's, when there's kind of overlapping areas like that, or is that not really?

[00:42:57] Gene: We just have big fights.

[00:42:58] Gene: We come snapping in 1 [00:43:00] direction down Lawrence Avenue and they come snapping down the other. Last man standing gets the member. No, we work pretty collaboratively with the other chambers. I'm pretty guilty of encouraging people to check out all of the organizations that work in the neighborhood. We all do so much.

[00:43:14] Gene: That's so different. And to get into the nitty gritty, many of us manage special service areas, which is an economic development tool. The city has. To redirect some property tax revenue away from the grand budget downtown. Keep it locally a commission of local property owners and business owners decide how to spend that.

[00:43:31] Gene: It's where you see a lot of support for neighborhood, litter abatement, graffiti removal, landscaping, advertising, special events, snow removal, a variety of services. Those have hard geographic boundaries and chambers typically manage those services. So if you're wondering why at Lawrence and Levitt suddenly your banners changed from the street from St.

[00:43:53] Gene: Lincoln Square to St. Ravenswood, odds are it's because that's where there's an SSA boundary. And those are really geographically specific [00:44:00] services. So there's some overlap between what we do. And then there's also some pretty clear distinction. So you're never going to see us doing a Ravenswood arts festival right down Lincoln Avenue and getting Plaza the same way that the North center chamber probably isn't going to decide to move rib fest over to Foster Avenue.

[00:44:17] Amy: Businesses can also be members of multiple chambers at once. So depending on what our chamber offers versus what another chamber might offer they can certainly be a part of multiple chambers just to get the word out even more about their business.

[00:44:34] Jake: That makes sense, especially if it's a business that is actually in different areas, you know, different locations and things, of course, are going to be all kinds of different.

[00:44:42] Gene: On some cases, it's a matter of going where your customers are. So we work with businesses in Ravenswood that are also members of the Chamber of Commerce in Andersonville or Uptown, just because that increases their reach for marketing. They're going to benefit from participating in events over there because people are coming to get their dogs groomed.

[00:44:57] Gene: You know, again neighbors typically aren't so concerned [00:45:00] with where the geographic boundaries of their neighborhood is. And I don't think when people are looking for their dog groomer, they go, well, I can't cross foster because I'd be leaving Andersonville to go into Ravenswood and supporting a non Andersonville business.

[00:45:10] Gene: So, it really works pretty symbiotically and especially with. Similar communities with forward thinking leadership around us, it's really easy to find places to collaborate.

[00:45:21] Jake: We got, we got 2 more questions here and then we can do like, what did, what did I forget to ask that you wanted to talk about kind of thing.

[00:45:30] Jake: We can get a probably get a good response from, from each of you here. What is the most surprising thing that you've learned. About Ravenswood since either, you know, living here slash working here.

[00:45:42] Amy: I can take that 1st. Certainly the most surprising thing that I learned recently was just how big the puzzling community is here in Ravenswood.

[00:45:52] Amy: Yeah, there's a lot of people who love puzzles. We recently at the end of February, we hosted a [00:46:00] first ever Ravenswood puzzle swap over at Falcon's Handcrafted Sandwiches. That's over at Lawrence and Damen. And we, you know, set up a singular six foot table. With some puzzles on top of it, we were like, we'll probably get a lot of we'll probably get a good crop of people coming out of here are coming out here to bring a couple of puzzles exchange for a couple of puzzles.

[00:46:21] Amy: We had a representative from Chicago, public library, Sulzer branch, who was sending people up for library cards. If anyone wanted to come for that, and Falcons was also offering a special on dining and to go orders in case anyone wanted to grab some food while they were there. We were not fully anticipating.

[00:46:37] Amy: I think it was 112, 115 people that we actively counted were coming through with just tote bags full of. Full bursting with puzzles ready to ready to talk to neighbors who also love puzzles ready to talk about the benefits of, like, a 1000 versus 500 and painting versus [00:47:00] a photograph and it was a really exciting thing to see.

[00:47:03] Amy: I'm in a. Very big surprise to us. So we actually ended up pulling those people who came to that event, ask them how often they would like to see Puzzle Swaps in Ravenswood. And I am currently talking with Platform 47 over on Damen, a relatively new place at Damen in Leland. They are probably going to host our next one in the spring.

[00:47:21] Amy: So it's very exciting to see a different network of people who we may not have touched previously that now we can get more involved with, see what they need, see what they could use from us to support them throughout the year.

[00:47:34] Jake: That is surprising, but also, also I can see it. It kind of makes sense when you think about a community of people who are makers and problem solvers and, you know, creative types that, you know, like to sit down and really like do hard things like that.

[00:47:49] Jake: Yeah, it makes sense. It makes sense to me in a way. That's cool.

[00:47:53] Christina: I have 1, that's probably a little bit less obvious coming coming from Boston. There was 1 particular day. It [00:48:00] was called, austin Christmas, so Austin Brighton is this neighborhood just west of Boston, where a lot of a lot of students live a lot of young folks.

[00:48:07] Christina: I equate it to like, the hip neighborhoods of wicker park or Logan square. It's a fun spot, but, on move out and move in date for the students, maybe September 1st, I think it is. That's what they deemed Austin Christmas where any items or pieces of furniture that they're not taken with them to the next spot, or they didn't have room for is just out in the front yards and people are, are snatching what they can when I came to Chicago.

[00:48:30] Christina: Ravenswood in particular, the Ravenswood Freebox group came to my attention and I had no idea that, you know, you could have such an organized group on social media helping neighborhoods reduce waste, give away things that they don't need help your neighbors. It has been like, the most incredible resource.

[00:48:48] Christina: And a little shout out to them that that group is affiliated with the Ravenswood neighbors association who every year they do a a free cycle event. So, I believe that this year, it [00:49:00] will be on June 8th, it's a Saturday. Where, you know, outside of what they organize through their Facebook group, they invite anyone who wants to participate to have a section out in their yard of free stuff, just for people to come by and take and, i, for one, have gotten a lot of great finds from not only that event, but just from the group in general. I know that a lot of neighborhoods have groups like these, but I wasn't introduced to it until I got to Ravenswood. And I will say it is a very organized group and I really appreciate them. So I guess, I guess that's my surprising thing for my own, my own self, maybe not surprising to everyone, but it was to me.

[00:49:36] Jake: I remember being surprised when I first learned about those two. Yeah, we've definitely, so a lot of our furniture has come from there. I mean, it's a great resource.

[00:49:44] Gene: I've been surprised at how many private members only clubs exist in Ravenswood. That's not something that I've had much experience with. Growing up on the northwest side of the city, I always heard rumors about key clubs. But [00:50:00] Ravenswood is the first place I've been where there are a handful of known clubs.

[00:50:05] Gene: Private members only clubs that you can join and gain access to a space in a community. There's a somewhat public well, known 1 on Damen Avenue that. Works on some community events. 1 of the few that I can speak of, it doesn't operate in any legal gray area. It's the Ravenswood golf club, which is a legitimate private members only club.

[00:50:25] Gene: That's tucked into a building that from the outside. It looks like it would just be a storage space. And you get up to their 2nd floor after, you know, saying the password at the door and they've got, I think it's 10 virtual bays set up so that you can golf courses from all over the world. And there's a bar and a pool table and a poker table and stuff.

[00:50:48] Gene: Big screen TVs to watch the game and just this incredible space that doesn't feel like it's in a warehouse building in the industrial corridor. There's a handful of surprising spaces like that, you know, art [00:51:00] galleries and studios that convert to events from time to time. Yeah. We always throw that stuff in our newsletter when it gets sent our way.

[00:51:06] Gene: So if you're trying to figure out how you can find out about things like that, we do a weekly newsletter That you can sign up for at RavenswoodChicago. org and it's got upcoming events That are happening in the neighborhood and we'll slip a couple of those in from time to time.

[00:51:18] Jake: Yeah, little little everybody loves something like that, you know being on the in crowd little speakeasy kind of things like that That's great.

[00:51:24] Jake: And we'll yeah, we'll definitely have all the relevant links to things in the show notes and cool All that, that's awesome. I think I lied a little bit. I have two, I still have two extra two more questions because I think I forgot one out of that, but that's gonna be good. This one might, you might have to, I got all of you on that last one, right?

[00:51:39] Jake: Yes. Yeah. This one you might have to ruffle, ruffle a couple feathers on this one. You might have to pick, pick some, pick some favorites of local businesses on this one, but maybe not. We'll see how you navigate it. What would you say or how would you say How would you recommend that somebody who is visiting Ravenswood [00:52:00] spend a perfect day?

[00:52:01] Jake: What's a perfect Ravenswood day?

[00:52:04] Amy: I guess I can take it first. Once again I would say I. Obviously, being the events person coming during our block is a pretty great experience. I'm starting off your day on Malt, Row, grabbing some beers, head over to any of the numerous amazing restaurants that we have that have patios cultivate by forbidden route is a group hub.

[00:52:27] Amy: That's up at a Ravenswood Lawrence. They have amazing food and beer, or you could. Grab a beer at any of the Mara breweries, you could go down to the long room which has a fantastic menu and has 3 various food pop ups throughout the week. They have chefs that have certain guest spots. That they all rotate.

[00:52:47] Amy: So there's bad Johnny's and they do pizza. There's bakery and diner and she does amazing comfort food. And then there's nice guy food. Co amazing burgers. So really anywhere that you go, you're going to get a fantastic meal and then come. [00:53:00] Maybe during our block weekend, and then walk up and down Ravenswood Avenue and pop your head into all those little speakeasy galleries and studios that we've been talking about all over the place.

[00:53:10] Amy: It just really experienced what Ravenswood is like, I think that's not only an experience that people will come to Ravenswood for, but that's also an experience that Ravenswood residents. love doing. So you're getting the resonant experience. There are any number of people who will do exactly that any given weekend.

[00:53:29] Jake: Okay. Good luck topping that.

[00:53:33] Christina: All right. I would take you on a, a boutique artsy crawl. Maybe we'd go down Montrose. We'd hit up Hazel. We'd cross the street, go over to Gigi's general store, which is plastic free and grab some Some fun dry goods. Maybe if you are on a Friday grab some fresh eggs from a farmer's pop up then I take you down Damen Ave.

[00:53:53] Christina: I got a soft spot over there. We go, we go hang out at district and go see some some cool repurposed. [00:54:00] Vintage furniture and some cool housewares. We go to Ponopause, which is my personal favorite store in the entire neighborhood. I'm biased though, I used to work there. I check out the work of Adrienne Hawthorne and be immersed with colorful vibrance and maybe there's a pop up there with another local maker that I haven't heard about.

[00:54:16] Christina: And I can check out some either new jewelry or some cool felt, felted works. I'd continue down, maybe I'd grab a coffee at Groundsville right next door go down to Bonfim and Molasses, two other amazing boutiques right down the way, and I'd, I'd end over at Winnimac Park. I'd grab my hammock and we'd hang there and have a nice picnic lunch.

[00:54:35] Christina: There you go. And that's it?

[00:54:36] Jake: All that just led to lunch? That's amazing. Okay.

[00:54:43] Gene: And these are incredibly ambitious day,

[00:54:45] Amy: like we said, it's walkable anywhere you want.

[00:54:49] Jake: Is it instantly transportable?

[00:54:51] Gene: Yeah, it's teleportable. If you want me, yeah, I, all right. So following those lines, I think. [00:55:00] What I'll emphasize is I would pick an outdoor space in the neighborhood and then find activities to do nearby.

[00:55:08] Gene: At one end of the neighborhood, we've got Graceland Cemetery which is incredible for its historic architecture is significant raves. It's also an arboretum which most people don't know and it is a hell of a visit. 365 days a year. Well, I don't know that they're open on the holidays, but any season, I suppose is what I mean.

[00:55:26] Gene: And that's an easy spot just down the street from the long room where we mentioned, which has a gorgeous back patio and some restaurants. You can grab a drink, coffee, lunch, dinner. If I was hanging out near Winnemac Park, I'd want to spend time in the nature area over there, or maybe playing pickleball or tennis, whichever you're not upset that people use the courts for.

[00:55:44] Gene: And then, you know, you can't be walking down Damen and get some, you know, provisions for a picnic from Salsa's Market. If I was interested in a day focused on the arts, I think I'd start with the Ravenswood Sculpture Garden, which is a collection of public art [00:56:00] along the Metra embankments. So Ravenswood Avenue between Irving Park and Lawrence.

[00:56:04] Gene: There's, I think, about 12 sculptures, a handful of murals, some guerrilla sculptures, and installations that get dropped in from time to time. And that path will take you close to Rojo Gustano or Farm Bar, where you can have a killer meal out on a patio, and you'll be walking right by Will Street Art Center.

[00:56:20] Gene: So, if you want to actually get your hands dirty and create, you can pop in there for a ceramics class or throw on the pottery wheel.

[00:56:27] Jake: Came ready for this one, .

[00:56:29] Gene: I mean, that's literally our job. Yeah. Yeah. If we fumbled that question, like we should have had too many answers for that one . Yeah. We can go on round two.

[00:56:37] Gene: We'll plan near Monday or Tuesday or, exactly.

[00:56:41] Jake: And then my last official question for each of you, what is one story or memory that encapsulates your experience here? The Ravenwood experience.

[00:56:52] Gene: Do you want to go in reverse order or do you want to start?

[00:56:54] Amy: Yeah, Christina, why don't you start?

[00:56:55] Christina: I got one. I do have a music background, so I will say [00:57:00] encapsulating, can you repeat the question one more time? Yeah. What is one story or memory that encapsulates your, the, your experience of Ravenswood?

[00:57:08] Christina: One story or memory I will say definitely I've spent some incredible weekends over at the Thirsty Ears Festival held by Access Contemporary Music. It's just a great time again, coming from a background of music.

[00:57:20] Jake: Right. You're an opera country singer.

[00:57:23] Christina: Yeah. So yeah, yeah. So yeah, trained in opera taken some roads along the way that has led me to be in a country Western band where sometimes I will pop out a little operatic diddy.

[00:57:33] Christina: Yeah, yeah. But that festival is incredible. I think this year it'll be September 7th and 8th. Really all ages. It's great to see. It's great to see folks coming out for that for that event.

[00:57:46] Gene: Mine's event related as well. My sort of outstanding memory from the neighborhood over the last 10 years is the first Ravenswood Art Walk that I worked on. I was here as a part time employee, just helping out with that festival at the time, and I had no idea what I [00:58:00] was doing. It wasn't great record keeping that particular year.

[00:58:03] Gene: And so, to get myself acquainted with the neighborhood and the people that might be interested in the festival, I started at Ravenswood and Grace, so just a little bit north of Addison. Started with that big block bong industrial building there and hit the buzzers until somebody let me in and then I just knocked on every door.

[00:58:18] Gene: Which in that building is got to be upwards of 50 or 60 businesses and they're just introducing myself trying to understand what people were doing. If they were making something, what they were making. Are you open to the public? Can we get you into our walk? And then I did that from roughly brace all the way to Lawrence Avenue on both sides of the tracks.

[00:58:35] Gene: And that is how I formed most of the relationships that I still have in the neighborhood. And it was, it really hit me over the course of that exercise, just how special this community was, because all I had seen, you know, when I came in for my job interview, the first couple of days was just these big hulking buildings that I assumed people were, that were filled, I assumed, with a lot of dirty machines and people making noise, and then once I got in them, it was just this incredibly connected community of [00:59:00] artisans of all backgrounds.

[00:59:01] Gene: And when I think of Ravenswood, that's what I think of it as, which is, I think, why our blog sticks out to me, because it's the one time we get to try to convince most of them to open up for the weekend and let people in. Beautiful.

[00:59:12] Amy: I got two quick things. If, in interest of time, if you need to Nick's one of them by all means.

[00:59:19] Amy: But in my personal life last weekend my husband and I decided on Saturday morning that we were hungry and we wanted to go out for a bite to eat and we found ourselves down at the long room, nice guys food co was doing their thing. And so we got some breakfast sandwiches and we were just sitting down with Some tea and a couple of drinks and it was just a lovely afternoon watching all the people come through all of the amazing clientele that are here in Ravenswood.

[00:59:46] Amy: There was someone who was taking pictures on a Polaroid camera and we offered to help them. They were trying to, you know, do a selfie with it. And we were like, well, we can help you with that. So you can't, you don't have the viewfinder flipped. And afterwards, he offered to [01:00:00] take our picture and so we have a just a cute little picture of my husband and I even lunch brunch.

[01:00:05] Amy: However, you want to phrase it. I think that's just such a quintessential Ravens with thing. It's just community really nice people all together having a great time. My work related memory is from my 1st actual art walk. So I started with the chamber at the beginning of 2021 and arc walk 2022 was particularly memorable because that is the weekend that Ravenswood got flooded.

[01:00:32] Amy: I don't know if you remember that, but all of the, the underpasses for the Metra on Ravenswood, I was up to my knees and thighs waiting through water. We had type 3 barricades. Things were just. Floating off, we were trying and we had the outdoor artists market both of those days Sunday, we ended up canceling it and we were doing our best to clean up tell all the artists that they could come and collect their things, trying to redirect traffic because no one could get underneath the viaducts [01:01:00] and it was a whole big thing.

[01:01:01] Amy: And that might sound like a bad memory, but there's a lot of good that came out of it because, you know, I saw all the people who were still out with their umbrellas going to all the indoor studios and still trying to enjoy Art Walk and enjoying Art Walk actively in the best way that they could, which was even though they can't be outside for very long, they could at least pop into all of the indoor places that were still open people who I knew were, you know, very sweet and like, running down the sidewalk to put an umbrella over my head when I'd already been out in the rain for 2 hours when I was so to the bone.

[01:01:35] Amy: I was like, I really appreciate the sentiment, but not necessarily helping. But, yeah, just that camaraderie and that love of supporting local artists was still very. Real and very active, even though people's basements were flooding. People couldn't drive anywhere. They were having to wade through water up to their shins.

[01:01:54] Amy: It was a whole big thing, but it was really sweet to see everyone still out and about actively participating in [01:02:00] what we have going on in the neighborhood.

[01:02:03] Jake: Yeah. Underpasses in Chicago during rainstorms, not just Ravenswood, but just everywhere. Yeah. Just in general, not great.

[01:02:13] Gene: But there's a photo book to be made out there of flooded underpasses.

[01:02:17] Gene: Yeah. Make a nice coffee table book.

[01:02:23] Jake: Those are all, those are all the questions that that I have there. Were there, are there anything, is there anything that you were hoping that I would ask that you came like, man, I want to talk about this. I need to be asked something about this.

[01:02:37] Gene: I feel like we covered a big part.

[01:02:44] Gene: Anything that jumps out at you?

[01:02:48] Christina: It was. Not that I can think of yet. We got into some pretty. juicy details and things going on.

[01:02:54] Jake: Yeah, great. So what would what should I say? [01:03:00] What's the best way that somebody can get a hold of you?

[01:03:04] Amy: So, we have our website is RavenswoodChicago. org. That's where you can find information about the history of Ravenswood, our events calendar, our business directory of the businesses who are within our network photos of some of the public art that we've, that we've created.

[01:03:19] Amy: Helped instigate the installation of and all sorts of fun stuff that you can find on our website. We also have our social media we're on Facebook and Instagram LinkedIn, if that's your thing. And the three of on LinkedIn though, people are on there. And the 3 of us are in and out of the office throughout the week.

[01:03:37] Amy: If you ever feel like you have any questions or anything, feel free to reach out to us. We're here to chat and we're here to help. And we're here to talk up Ravenswood.

[01:03:46] Gene: And I just encourage you to sign up for that newsletter. I know nobody necessarily needs an extra email in their inbox every week. We promise to send you just the 1 and it is packed with information about things to do in the city news in the [01:04:00] neighborhood.

[01:04:00] Gene: And I think it might be the most valuable thing we do. So if you go to our website, it should be the first thing that pops up is an invite to join that mailing list.

[01:04:09] Jake: Fantastic. And yeah, again, I'll have the links to all that in the show notes and everywhere else that I post this. And I think that does it.

[01:04:17] Jake: Amy, Christina, Gene, thank you so much for your time. And I hope this was, I hope this will prove to be valuable. Thank you for having us. Yeah,