Chicago's Avondale neighborhood ranked world's 16th coolest neighborhood by TimeOut
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Northwest Side's Avondale neighborhood has been ranked one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world.
This week, TimeOut Magazine gave Avondale the 16th coolest spot on a list of 51.
The magazine asked city dwellers worldwide to pick their city's neighborhoods with great dining and drinking options, and energetic street life.
Avondale is bounded by Addison Street to the north, Diversey Avenue to the south, the Chicago River's North Branch and Western Avenue to the east, and Pulaski Road and the Milwaukee District North Metra tracks to the west. Both Milwaukee Avenue, the Kennedy Expressway, and Elston Avenue all cut diagonally through the neighborhood.
Time Out Chicago editor Emma Krupp wrote that Avondale, once and still a center of Chicago's Polish community, is now "equally defined by some of the city's best Mexican food and a truly madcap array of small businesses."
Specifically, Krupp mentioned The Brewed horror-themed coffee shop, at 2843 N. Milwaukee Ave., and The Insect Asylum entomological collection at 2870 N. Milwaukee Ave. – among an assortment of others she named as stops for a "perfect day" in Avondale. She also noted that Avondale features "everything from trendy new bars and airy plant stores to decades-old sausage shops catering to the neighborhood's Polish-speaking population."
Avondale was the third highest-ranked neighborhood in a U.S. city on the list, topped by Barrio Logan in San Diego at No. 6, and Ridgewood, Queens in New York City, which came in at No. 4.
At the top of the list is Colonia Americana in Guadalajara, Mexico; followed by Cais do Sodré in Lisbon, Portugal; and Wat Bo Village in Siem Reap, Cambodia.