Rogers Park is Chicago's northern-most neighborhood. Since I first lived in Chicago on the south side, the area feels roughly analogous to Saskatchewan -- probably nice, very far away, maybe not worth the trip. Thankfully, there are enough things happening in Rogers Park that I've been there a few times and gotten more used to the long trek on the red line. Rogers Park is one of Chicago's most racially diverse neighborhoods -- although Chicago has plenty of diversity, it is intensely segregated.* Rogers Park is one of the few places where there is no obvious racial majority. It's also a family-oriented neighborhood in some places, with plenty of places that are kid-friendly. There are little parks dotted around, as well as lots of cafes and restaurants, many of which cater to the vegan/vegetarian/organic crowd. Loyola University has its undergraduate campus there, so there's a fairly large nexus of college students where Chicago meets its northern suburbs. Rogers Park has lots of tiny theaters inside it, including Lifeline Theater. Lifeline only does shows which are adaptations of other works, usually of books. The first time I went to Rogers Park was to see their production of Zorro. The theater is this absolutely tiny space where you have to politely wedge yourself into a seat and try not to breathe on the actors, and yet the company managed to put an entire swashbuckling epic onstage, complete with chase scenes and (fake) horse-riding. It was fantastic, and a good reason to head back up to Rogers Park again.
*No, seriously, extremely segregated. Check out http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer and search for Chicago; the map explains what any person riding the CTA from North to South can already tell you, but it's a good infographic.
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