UPTOWN (vs.) ANDERSONVILLE — If you're walking around Andersonville or Uptown, it's pretty easy to distinguish between the two neighborhoods, but pointing out where one 'hood begins and the other ends is a bit more difficult.
In Andersonville, banners celebrating Andersonville's 50th Anniversary on Clark Street and Matthew Hoffman's "You Are Beautiful" art installations should be a subtle reminder of where you are. Uptown is lined with similar neighborhood-specific banners, and its giant 90-year-old theater serves as a looming reminder you're in the neighborhood's beloved entertainment district.
But results from the interactive mapping tool that DNAinfo Chicago rolled out a few weeks ago, which allows users to draw where they believe their neighborhood boundaries lie, show there's a battle being fought along Foster Avenue.
Perceived borders of Uptown:
Perceived borders of Andersonville:
While most readers in Uptown firmly believe their neighborhood begins at Foster Avenue to the north, some Andersonvillians say their neighboring 'hood extends south beyond Foster — as far as Lawrence, but more popularly Winnemac, Argyle or Ainslie.
Uptown readers mostly agreed on a southern border of Irving Park Road and, of course, Lake Michigan to the east. Traveling west gets a little stickier: Though most readers cut off their 'hood at Ashland, others say the border extends as far west as Ravenswood Avenue.
In Andersonville, readers were a little up in the air on the northern border, with some electing Pearson Avenue along with Ridge Avenue and others stopping at Bryn Mawr Avenue. Broadway was clearly chosen as the eastern border and Ravenswood was the well perceived western border.
Community Map of Uptown for the City of Chicago:
While the city of Chicago doesn't have an official community map of Andersonville, it does defines Uptown's borders. According to those guys, the neighborhood extends from Irving Park Road to Foster Avenue (sorry, Andersonville). North of Montrose Avenue the western border extends to Ravenswood Avenue. And from Montrose Avenue to Irving Park Road the border extends to Clark Street.
But according to the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, their southern border is a bit south of Foster Avenue: "The neighborhood is bounded roughly by Ainslie to the south, Victoria to the north, Ravenswood to the west, and Magnolia to the east."
So, if you're walking along Foster Avenue and are wondering if you should call that person an Andersonvillian or Uptowner... you should probably just call him or her "neighbor."
Here's the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce's map:
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