Stereotypes

I've heard it called "Brown Town" by Indians and Pakistanis, and "Curry Town" by those what ain't. Whatever it's called. It smells fucking awful right now. Not exactly sure why but I assume it has something to do with the wetness, thawing, and weird exotic spiciness of the neighborhood.

Sarah thinks that I make up terms for things in Chicago that already have names. I don't think I do. Here's a list of things I've heard of that would look cool on some kind of hand-drawn colloquial map. Too many of them have to do with Wicker Park.

The Armpit: See also: The Crotch

The Crotch: Brian Other claims that he invented this term years ago for the North/Damen/Milwaulkee intersection, but I'd never actually heard it used until it was listed in The Vice Guide to Chicago last Summer.

Elote Island: Refers to the small park on the triangular "island" created by the intersections of Ashland, Milwaulkee, and Division, frequented year-round by foodcart vendors.

The Hipster Highway: In contrast to it's busy neighbor Western Avenue, Oakley provides a leisurely bike route from between the North and South Sides, and a very convenient route from Bucktown/Wicker/West Town to Pilsen/Bridgeport.

K-Town: There are actually three neighborhoods that layclaim to the term K-Town. Two of them use it to refer to the large cluster of streets whose names begin with the letter K (Keeler, Kostner, Kolmar, et cetera) just West of Pulaski. While this is practically the official name for a part of North Lawndale, there are a number of kids in Jefferson Park who've never heard of North Lawndale who think K-Town is theirs. For some reason there is no L-Town (that I've heard of) in Chicago, even though the streets immediately after K town all have names that start with the letter L. It also refers to Koreatown, a large strip of Lincoln Avenue populated by Korean bars, restaurants, and temples.

Liquor Park: I'm not sure if this name stems from the neighborhood's boozy bohemia that existed while I was in high school, or from the seedyglossy tourist strip it became by te time I lived there.

RoPo: An abbreviation for East Rogers Park. An abbreviation that I hate. An abbreviation that makes my brain hurt when I catch myself using it. Same thing with PostModernism

Viagra Triangle: This is another term I'd never heard before the Vice book but i must admit it's pretty perfect. There's a long triangle along Rush street that points to Division populated almost entirely by expensive restaurants and nightclubs that's very popular with tourists, particularly businessmen looking to get laid while they're in town.

That's all right now. List any you can tink of. I get a kick out of em.