Lincoln Square & Ravenswood

Lincoln Square is the North Side’s German-rooted neighborhood, centered on the triangle where Lincoln, Western and Lawrence avenues meet. Giddings Plaza and the pedestrian-friendly stretch of Lincoln Avenue hold the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Davis Theater, a German deli or two and the shops that make the strip feel like a small-town main street. Ravenswood, to the east along the Metra tracks, is a corridor of old brick factories that now house breweries, coffee roasters and offices, with quiet residential blocks on either side. Bowmanville sits to the north. Residents are heavily families: couples who moved up from Lakeview when the kids arrived, longtime owners in the bungalows, and enough young renters to keep the taprooms full.

Where it is

Lincoln Square is its own community area, bounded roughly by Montrose Avenue on the south, Bryn Mawr and Peterson on the north, Ravenswood Avenue on the east and the North Branch of the river on the west, and it takes in Ravenswood Gardens and Bowmanville. Ravenswood itself straddles the Metra tracks along Ravenswood Avenue, and the Malt Row breweries south of Irving Park are technically in North Center. The Brown Line stops at Montrose, Damen, Western and Rockwell, and Metra’s Union Pacific North line stops at Ravenswood at Lawrence. The 49 Western, 81 Lawrence, 11 Lincoln, 78 Montrose and 50 Damen buses cover the surface. Drivers take Western or Damen down to the Kennedy at Irving Park. The Brown Line ride to the Loop is about 30 minutes.

What to know if you’re moving here

Lincoln Square is the neighborhood North Siders move to when they want a yard, a good elementary school and a walkable main street without leaving the city.

• Housing is 1900s to 1920s Chicago bungalows, brick two-flats and a few greystones, plus condo buildings and new construction near the Western Brown Line stop; as a broad editorial estimate for September 2026, prices run from about $300,000 for a two-bedroom condo to $1.2 million and up for a rebuilt single-family house.
• Side streets near the Brown Line stops and around Giddings Plaza are in permit parking zones, and most bungalows have a garage on the alley, so parking is easier here than closer to the lake.
• Public schools fall under Chicago Public Schools, and the neighborhood elementaries, including Waters, McPherson, Budlong and Coonley, are a big reason families move here, with Amundsen the neighborhood high school and Lane Tech just south.
• Property taxes on the single-family houses have climbed with assessed values, and older bungalows often need electrical, roof and basement waterproofing work.
• Western Avenue is a six-lane arterial that cuts through the middle of the neighborhood, and crossing it on foot with kids takes patience.
• The drawback a local would mention is the Brown Line, which is slow and crowded at rush hour, and the fact that most of the nightlife closes by midnight.

What to do if you’re visiting

Visitors end up on Lincoln Avenue at Giddings Plaza or in the Malt Row taprooms, and the two are a 20-minute walk apart along quiet streets.

• Have coffee and a slice of torte at Lutz Cafe & Pastry Shop on Montrose, a German-style bakery and cafe near Western Avenue.
• Walk Malt Row on Ravenswood Avenue and drink lagers at Dovetail Brewery on Belle Plaine, Begyle Brewing on Cuyler and Demo Brewing Company on Berteau, all within a few blocks of each other.
• Go north to Bowmanville for the beer garden at Half Acre Beer Company on Balmoral, then next door to Spiteful Brewing.
• Eat a Neapolitan pizza at Spacca Napoli Pizzeria on Sunnyside, a block from the Montrose Brown Line stop.
• Catch a concert or a class at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Lincoln Avenue, then a film at the Davis Theater across the street.
• Spend an afternoon at Welles Park at Lincoln and Montrose, where the gazebo hosts free summer concerts, or at Winnemac Park for the wildflower meadow and the track.