Ravenswood, Chicago

Ravenswood is a neighborhood located in the north side of the city of Chicago, Illinois in the Lincoln Square Community Area. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, Ravenswood was founded in 1868 as an exclusive commuter suburb by a group of real-estate speculators. These speculators formed the Ravenswood Land Company and purchased 194 acres of farmland and woods eight miles north of Chicago. The conflation of Ravenswood and Lincoln Square is a common mistake, despite what some folks think, the two are not interchangeable. The boundaries of that subdivision, drawn in 1869, were Montrose, Lawrence, Clark and Damen — that's the original Ravenswood as identified by its founders.

Back in the 1920s, the University of Chicago divided the city into 77 well-defined "community areas." Ravenswood didn't make the cut as a standalone entity, rather it was folded into Lincoln Square. In short, according to U. of C., Ravenswood is a subset of Lincoln Square.

The Ravenswood Community Council is clear on this point: "The name Ravenswood remained in popular use, even after the area was officially designated part of the Lincoln Square community area."

Ravenswood is known for its courtyard-style residential buildings. Once considered an "up and coming" neighborhood, Ravenswood has seen its real estate values skyrocket since the 1990s, making it one of the highest valued markets in the city.

The commercially zoned and historic Lincoln Square district is located near the center, while most of the neighborhood is residentially zoned except for stretches along Lawrence, Montrose, Wilson, and Damen Avenues. Ravenswood has good transportation access, with the Brown Line running through the neighborhood, bus lines on several major streets, and a Metra commuter railroad station.

Arts and cultural sites

• Lillstreet Art Center

Education

Residents in Ravenswood are zoned to the campuses of the Chicago Public Schools:

• Ravenswood Elementary School (K-8)
• Lake View High School (9-12)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ravenswood, Chicago.

• "Ravenswood Neighborhood, Chicago". maps.google.com. Google Maps. 

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