Textfield=Logan Square - Bucktown

If you see the Illinois Centennial Monument, you know you're in Logan Square. OK, technically, you were in Logan Square the last time you shopped at Target on Elston Avenue, or played ball at The Windy City Fieldhouse. But that doesn't really count. 

If you truly want to experience this northwest side city village that insiders call the Log, cross the Kennedy Expressway and travel west down Logan Boulevard , the main artery of the 'hood, to its beating center at Milwaukee and Kedzie. There, in a traffic circle masquerading as a park, stands the symbol of Logan Square: Illinois Centennial Monument, a 27-foot-tall stone obelisk topped with an eagle. 

First built up by Scandinavians, Logan Square now has a Latin flavor that is most noticeable on Puerto Rican holidays, when the commercial strips become cruising lanes for revelers waving large Puerto Rican flags from their cars. Although this is largely a residential area, Logan Square is more than just spacious apartments, particularly along busy streets such as Milwaukee, Fullerton, and Western avenues. There are several fine restaurants in the area, spots for salsa and a few places to rock and bowl.

Quaint greystones mark this neighborhood.	Stately, turn-of-the-century greystones line this fashionable strip. The roomy two- and three-flats have housed such luminaries as Walt Disney and L. Frank Baum, author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

"Profile of Logan Square" By Jeffrey Steele: "borrowed from the Chicago Tribune

Imagine two snapshots of contemporary urban life. One is of a gracious old boulevard, bookended by lush parkways, emerald canopies of overspreading trees, handsome greystone two-flats and turn-of-the-century mansions. Dominating the scene is a sense of pride and prosperity, evident in everything from the well-tended lawns to the luxury vehicles parked curbside. 

The second offers an entirely different view, one of a teeming commercial thoroughfare where pushcart vendors wheel their bargain-priced wares across pothole-pocked sidewalks. Though a few of the storefronts are abandoned, and burglar bars shield the occasional liquor store, the streetscape boasts the vibrant pace of industrious, working-class citizens intent on making their community -- and their lives -- just a little bit better.

Have these scenes been captured at opposite ends of the city? No, they co-exist just blocks from one another within the fast-changing community of Logan Square.

In a city of contrasts, few communities serve up more divergent images than this near northwest side neighborhood. And therein lie the roots of a rapidly escalating war of words between long-time low- and middle-income denizens of Logan Square, and newcomers staking a claim to the elegant homes lining the area's Daniel Burnham-designed boulevards.

"Condos and lofts are coming into Logan Square, making it hard for Hispanics and middle-income people to live there," complained the Logan Square Neighborhood Association's Luis Torres. "Most development is taking place on Logan Boulevard, or around it."

Weighing in with a different view is 35th Ward alderman Vilma Colom, a native of Puerto Rico whose family moved to the neighborhood in 1956, shortly after her birth. "People who are buying are economically stable and can afford things my parents' generation couldn't afford, and why shouldn't they be able to do that?" she asked. "The reality is . . . there are many Hispanic professionals who are saying, 'What's wrong with me buying a condo for $300,000?' "

Colom points out that many of the condominiums and townhouses being sold in present-day Logan Square are being purchased by people whose families once lived in the neighborhood. "They moved to the suburbs, and now want to come back because they don't want to commute, and they want to live in a neighborhood that's more community-minded," she said.

Logan Square's quick L ride into the Loop from the Logan Square and North Avenue stops on CTA's Blue Line is among the factors behind the reappearance of one-time residents.

Another is that the community is safer than it was 10 or 15 years ago, Colom asserts. Residents are taking a greater role in the security of the neighborhood, and holding not just elected officials, but the police, fire department and city employees accountable for safety.

"Before, nobody wanted to get involved," she recalled. "Now, they're noticing that voicing their concerns is getting results."

Still, with new, upscale residential development sprouting along Armitage and Fullerton Avenues, Kedzie and Logan Boulevards and Palmer Square, and property taxes soaring, concerns about white collar displacement of long-standing residents is real, Colom admits. Rent control is one possible solution being explored by both her office and the Daley administration.

The growing debate notwithstanding, most observers are united on one point. Logan Square boasts an excellent housing stock, comprised chiefly of brick, greystone and brownstone two- and three-flats, as well as brick and frame two-story single family houses.

According to broker/owner Dominick Geraci of New Heritage Realty on Kimball Avenue, the best values are found in the western half of the community. There, two-flats range from $225,000 to $300,000, with three-flats going for $325,000 to $450,000. Brick homes command $200,000 to $300,000, with frame houses fetching prices of $160,000 to $225,000, Geraci said.

In nearby neighborhoods like East Village, Ukrainian Village and Bucktown, condos go for $250,000 to $350,000, he added. "For the same price here, you can buy a beautiful single-family home in West Logan, with a backyard and a two-car garage."

And newcomers gain some additional perks in the bargain, according to Colom. Logan Square's greatest appeal, she said, is its mix of cultures. "Your children will grow up in a community that accepts other cultures, and won't be challenged and limited when they encounter them," she said. "We have to look at the positives of what everyone brings to the table."