Time Out Chicago asked me to weigh in on my favorite Logan Square neighborhood spots for a roundup article they were doing (click the link). I was honored to provide eight selections for the article. At the time of my submission, I didn’t realize they were just looking for a list, so I crafted detailed paragraphs for my choices. With the publication’s permission, I’m including my original, more long-winded list of favorite neighborhood spots.
- The Boulevards. The Boulevard system is one of the most fascinating attributes of Logan Square, and Chicago’s, history. Conceptualized by urban developer John S. Wright, the network of scenic boulevards, nicknamed the “Emerald Necklace,” offers beauty, scenery and nature. Today Logan Square is home to 2 1/2 miles of the original system—a unique feature to this wonderful community. Personally, it’s my favorite running route in the city, next to the Lakefront path.
- Culinary exploration. Being gluten free limits my culinary options, but there are plenty of options in Logan for me. For breakfast, I can stop by Cafe con Leche for their Huevos a la Mexicana and a cup of cafe con leche. For lunch, the Brown Sack has me covered with their entire sandwich menu offered up on gluten free bread options. Grab dinner at any of the amazing Mexican restaurants—tacos from L’Patron are a big fave. And you’ll find it hard to be disappointed by the cocktail options—margaritas at Parsons, mojitos at Paladar, beer at Rev Brew.
- Diversity. Recently, Logan Square has been pegged the new hipster mecca of Chicago. Although the neighborhood boasts a very artistic, expressive community—common characteristics for hipsters—one of my favorite things about Logan is the vast diversity of those who have chosen to make this ‘hood their home. From recent graduates to retirees, from artists to 9-to-5 professionals, from Latinos to Millennials, from arts nonprofits to business organizations, the people, organizations and businesses who move to Logan share a passion for living here, building here, staying here. There’s a sense of shared community that I haven’t encountered anywhere else.
- Small, long-lasting businesses. One of the things that makes the area great are the number of small businesses, and business owners, who have set up shop in the area with the intention of truly growing with the area. A number of these business owners own more than one business, and continue to choose Logan as their home base. From Shop 1021 and Fleur to Lula’s Cafe and Miko’s Italian to Liberty Bank.
- Art, art and more art. If you’re looking for art, you’ve come to the right place. Logan is home to I Am Logan Square, South Logan Arts Coalition, Any Squared, Beauty and Brawn Art Gallery and Think Space, Comfort Station, Gallerie F and more. Walk the streets and you’ll walk past graffiti art homages to Frankie Knuckles, art installations and pop up art. Frequent some of the restaurants and coffee shops and their walls feature local artists. Bars and bookstores offer their space to comedy shows, film previews and open mic. This is a community that embraces art in a big way.
Bonus item: LoganSquarist. Although probably not the most unbiased “favorite thing,” I can’t pass up an opportunity to highlight LoganSquarist—an organization that I started three years ago on a whim that has transformed into a 30-person, volunteer-staffed hyperlocal news website. In addition to news articles, the LoganSquarist staff organizes monthly neighbor events, promotes local happenings and participates in the neighborhood. I never imagined the Twitter handle and eventual blog would turn into so much more and help serve this amazing community.
What are your favorite parts of Logan Square?
Cover Photo: Katherine Leonard
Kind Words, Big Results
“Kate will be an instant asset for any company she joins. Her unique understanding of how the digital landscape and content play nicely together is second to none. Kate has the ability to jump into any conversation about digital strategy or tacos and feel at ease. I've enjoyed working with her in various roles and she creates and designs THE BEST presentations, regardless of the subject. As a team member or leader within an organization, Kate gets my highest recommendation. ”
“Kate is a wealth of knowledge who served as a tremendous mentor for all of our team members while constantly improving processes and workflows. She’s a tremendous project manager, pays great attention to detail, and is able to demand results from her team with respect. At LoganSquarist she has built and led a team of dozens of volunteer contributors committed to her vision of a community resource. I would happily work with Kate again anytime!”
“Kate was a wonderful consultant to work with on my business web site project. She had fresh ideas, laid out a detailed plan of work, stayed on time and budget and presented me with a product that looked great and more importantly, has been easy for me to manage on my own. Will definitely send more of my clients her way.”
“Kate did and excellent job with our website. We have received several compliments on how nice it looks and how easy it is to navigate. She also went above and beyond to make sure that we were able to update and the website ourselves through Wordpress. I cannot gush about how awesome she is and how happy we are with the site and her dedication to the project.”
“I had the pleasure of working with Kate for just over a year and watching her in action. Kate is an immensely talented digital marketer, account manager and processes guru who balances a keen eye for detail with an almost intuitive grasp of the big picture. Her deep wells of industry knowledge allow her to bring a depth of expertise and professionalism to almost any task she sets her mind to. During her time at IntraLink Global, she was instrumental in implementing many integral processes that set a framework for how we operate. I learned a lot from working with Kate, and her guidance and mentorship was invaluable in my professional development. ”
“Kate has an incredible amount of drive when it comes to LoganSquarist. In the six months that I’ve been involved, I’ve watched the site grow from a pet project to a respected community publication. This success can be attributed to Kate’s technical and leadership skills. From building out the site to off-hours community management and a consistent flow of content, the site improves by leaps and bounds on a weekly basis. When it comes to team management, Kate delegates tasks in an organized and efficient manner, making her an all around great and inspiring person to work with.”
“I met Kate through the Association of Women Journalists (AWJ) and immediately was impressed (and inspired) by her creativity, drive, work ethic and use of social media. Her passion for journalism, digital media and communications overall is evident in the projects she takes on, including LoganSquarist, an online news outlet that she founded that uses social media to socialize the neighborhood. What I admire about Kate is her vitality as well as her desire to keep learning and growing personally and professionally. Kate is a modern-day renaissance woman who is multitalented (ask about her travel, knitting and marathon exploits!) and who brings instant value to any team or organization.”
“For nearly two years, I had the pleasure of working alongside Kate to develop social strategies. Kate has an extraordinary knowledge of the ever-changing social and digital media landscape. She has an endless enthusiasm for taking on new projects and effortlessly provides guidance for clients across a variety of industries. She's an excellent communicator, and will be a great addition to any team!”
“One of the best things I've ever done in my career is work with Kate Hamilton. Her enthusiasm for all things editorial, not to mention her energy and passion for any project she's involved with, is contagious. In addition to being a natural born leader, she's also a creative type, a thinker, a stickler for details, and someone with incredible vision and the drive to get things done. I always marvel at how she is constantly teaching herself new things. She always seems to be ahead of the curve on anything related to social media, and she also has an eye for design. This lady rocks! And she continues to be a mentor to me and others in journalism and communications.”
“Kate is a real professional and a pleasure to work with. She is a great communicator and always put her client's (my company) interest first. She is tremendously personal and had a great understanding of our business and how she could help it. She is great and is a tremendous asset to any company.”
“I worked with Kate during my time as a community manager at Lightspan Digital while Kate was my direct manager. Kate’s communication practices really taught me how to navigate the sometimes complicated agency world. As an account manger, Kate smoothly orchestrated 10+ accounts at one time as well as help me manage and prioritize tasks in my role. Kate was a role model during my first few years in the professional world and continues to be so to this day.”
“Kate has been a fantastic resource for all things digital, whether redesigning my website on Wordpress, fine tuning my social media profiles, or understanding Google Analytics. She's an excellent communicator, and I will absolutely hire her again in the future.”
“Kate is a natural leader and I can easily say the best boss I ever had. Kate hired me as the Director of Video Production at the agency Imagination where she was the VP of Digital. On top of Video Production, she also had reports from Audio, SEO, Analytics and Web Development divisions as well. She would consistently champion people she thought needed to be seen in leadership and client meetings where they sometimes might have been overlooked. Kate takes time to listen wisely and is always buzzing with ideas on how to make things more effective. Her energy is contagious and I’d work with her again any day.”