Lake Michigan (between Diversey Harbor and North Avenue Beach) serves as the east edge of the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

In the summertime, the attractive district draws many Chicagoans to its beachfront sporting events and beautiful parks. Lincoln Park is bounded by the Kennedy Expressway on the west, North Avenue on the south, and Diversey on north.

The neighborhood has three hospitals, DePaul University, award-winning schools and plentiful shopping and night life. It’s a quick commute into downtown Chicago and offers an abundance of theater and cultural opportunities, as well as its beachfront.

For families with school aged children, it doesn’t get much better than Lincoln Park High School, a magnet school that claims a diverse population.

“We are in many ways an international school,” says Bessie Karvelas, principal of LPHS. Newsweek magazine ranked the school number one in Illinois and 40th in the country. It also ranked in the top 100 best schools in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report.

LPHS students’ average entrance examination scores, 22.6 on the ACT and 1730 on the SAT, indicate that the students here start at a level above many others.

“The academic rigor, the breadth and depth of the curriculum, coupled with the superior and high-qualified teaching staff have made LPHS number one,” Karvelas added, noting that the school received 47 awards at the Chicago Public Schools awards banquet recently.

In recent years, however, residents say the neighborhood’s attractiveness has made it less affordable.

About half of the single-family homes have four bedrooms and would sell for about $1,476,457. Homes with five or more bedrooms have sold for about $2,339,853. The bulk of the condos were under two bedrooms, and of those, 288 of them averaged $366,416.

From October, 2007 through April, 2008, 469 condominiums (and 77 single-family homes) were sold.

Median age: 31.3
• 4%
• 2%
• 2%
• 4%
• 12%
• 36%
• 15%
• 10%
• 4%
• 2%
• 3%
• 2%
• 1%

• 0-4
• 5-9
• 10-14
• 15-19
• 20-24
• 25-34
• 35-44
• 45-54
• 55-59
• 60-64
• 65-74
• 75-84
• 85+

Hispanic origin (any race): 5%
• 89%
• 5%
• 4%
• 2%

• White
• Black
• Asian
• Other

Where people live
• 40%
• 60%

Vacancy rates
• 1.5%
• 2.8%

• Homes
• Rental units

• Homes
• Rental units

Number of years in home
• 34%
• 37%
• 12%
• 9%
• 5%
• 2%

• 0-1
• 2-5
• 6-9
• 10-19
• 20-29
• 30+

Age of home
• 1%
• 4%
• 4%
• 9%
• 18%
• 12%
• 14%
• 43%

• 0-1
• 2-5
• 6-9
• 10-19
• 20-29
• 30-39
• 40-59
• 60+

In thousands of dollars
• 8%
• 3%
• 6%
• 8%
• 12%
• 17%
• 11%
• 14%
• 7%
• 14%

• $0-$9
• $10-$14
• $15-$24
• $25-$34
• $35-$49
• $50-$74
• $75-$99
• $100-$149
• $150-$199
• $200+