Gold Coast Illinois Real Estate

Gold Coast
By Julie Farby

The “Gold Coast” refers to a prosperous neighborhood facing Lake Michigan on the Near North Side community area of Chicago. Consisting mostly of high-rise apartment buildings on Lake Shore Drive, this stretch of expensive lakefront property is “the second-wealthiest urban neighborhood in the United States, after the Upper East Side in New York City,” according to Wikipedia.org. The neighborhood is generally defined north to south from Oak Street up to Lincoln Park (at North Avenue) and east to west from Lake Michigan to Old Town (at Wells Street). The Gold Coast is also walking distance, or only minutes away by bus, subway or taxi to the “Loop” financial district, fabulous Navy Pier and Chicago’s world-class museums.

Chicago’s Gold Coast was an unexceptional neighborhood until 1885, when Potter Palmer, a former dry goods merchant and owner of the Palmer House hotel, built a fanciful castle on Lake Shore Drive. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, “because it was isolated from the downtown business district, only a few wealthy families, including the Cyrus McCormicks, the Potter Palmers, and the Joseph T. Ryersons, lived here before the construction of the Michigan Avenue Bridge in 1920.” Over the next few decades, Chicago's elite gradually migrated from Prairie Avenue to their new home north of the Loop. The opening of the bridge brought the development of Michigan Avenue as a luxury shopping district. And “a new architectural form, the luxury apartment building, sprang up in the area, dispelling fears that apartment dwellers had to be poor.” Some of Chicago's elite took up residence in new residential hotels such as the Drake, and the district became the heart of the upper crust of Chicago society. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, Sociologist Harvey Warren Zorbaugh, claimed the area was christened when “college boys returning from the East Coast dubbed the area the ‘Gold Coast,’ and immortalized it in the1929 book, The Gold Coast and the Slum.” The density of wealth in the Gold Coast buffered it against the deterioration that threatened other portions of the North Side in the 1950s—in particular, developer Arthur Rubloff's projects, such as the revitalization of the Magnificent Mile and Sandburg Village, sparked a new round of investment that protected the Gold Coast through the end of the twentieth century.

Besides being the premier residential area on the city's North Side, as well as the "old money" section of town the Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood is also the ideal area for out-of-town guests. According to Chicago Bed and Breakfast, “Luxury high-rises and rows of century-old mansions reside in quiet contrast to the lively stores, restaurants and nightspots of Michigan Avenue, Rush and Division Streets.” Much of the Gold Coast consists of historically significant residential buildings from the turn of the twentieth century—and historical landmarks and preservation districts mark much of the area, including the Astor Street Historic District. In fact, the "Gold Coast Historic District" was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 30, 1978. According to many Chicagoans, the “most pleasant strolling streets are Bellevue, Cedar, and Elm (running east/west south of Division Street) and Astor, State, and Dearborn (running north/south north of Division Street).” A nearby house museum that is often not included in the tourist guidebooks is the Charnley-Persky House. Located at 1365 North Astor Street at Schiller, this house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright while he was employed by Louis Sullivan, and shows the influence of two of America's most celebrated architects. Now owned by the Society of Architectural Historians, the house is open for tours Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Chicago Bed and Breakfast describes Oak Street as the Gold Coast's boutique row, and shops include “Marilyn Miglin, Ultimo, Jil Sander, Hermes, Prada, Pratesi, Judith Ripka, St. John's, Donald Pliner, Sulka and Barney's New York department store.” Right around the corner begins North Michigan Avenue—Chicago's Magnificent Mile! From Tiffany's to Filene's Basement, you will find a complete range of retailers. In addition to flagship stores for the country's best known specialty chains (Crate and Barrel, Borders Books, H&M, The Gap, Pottery Barn, Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic, Niketown, Disney, American Girl) Michigan Avenue has four vertical shopping malls with department store anchors: Water Tower Place (Marshall Field's, Lord and Taylor), 900 North Michigan (Bloomingdale's), Chicago Place (Saks Fifth Avenue), and North Bridge (Nordstrom's). The Gold Coast is also celebrated for its culinary prowess: from Biggs Mansion to Dublin's Pub and the well known Gibson's, Morton's & Carmine's, the Gold Coast neighborhood offers more than 30 restaurants within a few blocks.