1000 Words: Western Avenue

1000 Words: Snowy Art Cafe

Café Selmarie

Café Selmarie is actually two destinations in one location: a bakery serving Intelligentsia coffee in the front, and a bright, bustling dining room in the back. Some might argue the always busy patio in the warmer months is a third destination. It’s hard to beat the people-watching opportunities in Giddings Plaza. Starting in 1983...

A Call For Writers!

We’ve been busy writing about all kinds of things here at CenterSquareLedger, now we’d like to invite you to join us. If you love Lincoln Square, Northcenter or Ravenswood Manor and you want to write about it, drop us a line. If you’re a writer and you think you’ve got some gritty tales of...

1000 Words: Chicago River

LM Le Restaurant

Sometimes French restaurants can get stuck in a 20th century trap of heavy food and pretentious service. Fortunately, LM Le Restaurant lives up to its philosophy of bringing fine dining in an “upscale yet welcoming environment” where you won’t be sneered at if you don’t pronounce Beef Bourguignon correctly. Fans of Tallulah won’t be...

1000 Words: Chicago snow parking

Jefferson Pumping Station Under Construction

A $3.9 million project is underway at the Jefferson Pumping Station, on the block of 2200 W. Eastwood, Chicago, Ill. The project, which is about 25 percent complete, will improve water pressure in the CenterSquare neighborhood, according to Chicago Department of Water Management spokesman Tom Laporte.  “We’re building an addition to house variable frequency...

1000 Words: A gajillion words

1000 Words: Alley Snow

Trader Joe’s to expand into vacant CB2 space

Trader Joe’s is eyeing the former space of CB2 in the 3700 block of Lincoln Ave. CB2 closed the Lincoln Avenue store January 17th after operating there for ten years. Trader Joe’s confirmed they were expanding but wouldn’t confirm how much space the store will assume. The CB2 space was closed as the chain...

1000 Words: The Montrose Water Main Break – Two Years Ago

Thanks for a great first week of photos! We’ve gotten all kinds of great pictures added to our Flickr group, but we need more. Please join our Flickr group today, add your favorites and we’ll get them up to show our readers. Update: Available now! Get this sinkhole t-shirt. h/t Gapersblock.com

Athletic club slated for old Northern Home Furnishings space

The developers of Lake View Athletic Club and Lincoln Park Athletic Club plan to begin construction “within 30 days” of a new Lincoln Square Athletic Club in the old Northern Home Furnishings space, 4662 North Lincoln Avenue. The building has been vacant since the store closed last spring. Developers Pat Cunningham of Chicago Athletic...

1000 Words: Iceman

Early voting in Lincoln Square and Northcenter short of 2008 pace

Early voting totals for the first week of early primary voting in the 47th and 40th Wards are on pace to be well short of 2008′s primary early voting totals. So far 189 40th Ward residents and 221 47th Ward residents have early voted. In the 2008 presidential primary 357 40th Ward voters had...