Chicago Neighborhoods > Near South Side Profile

Near South Side, Chicago, IL

Near South Side Real Estate

As in most parts of Chicago, the vast majority of Near South Side homes are condos or townhomes. You can browse through the MLS listings for Near South Side homes at the links below:

Near South Side condos and townhomes for sale

Near South Side single family homes for sale

Near South Side multi-unit buildings for sale

Near South Side Housing Market

I guess the supply of 2 - 3 bedroom condos in the Near South Side could only improve from the obscene levels reached in the winter of 2009. The Near South Side of Chicago, which includes the infamous South Loop, has been a flipper's/investor's purgatory. This area has had a very large home inventory over the past 2 years, rarely dipping below a 20 month supply and recently spiking to a 6 year supply as a result of falling condo sales! Like many Chicago neighborhoods the months of supply of inventory has decreased lately, with a lot fewer condos on the market in absolute terms. Contract volume has also picked up slightly. While 15 months of supply in December is a lot it's still the lowest level of condo inventory for December that we have on record.

The market times below look pretty scary but they are largely driven by a few new buildings where the market times of all the units are currently around 2000 days (that's not a typo). Gives you some idea how long they've been trying to fill these buildings. Unfortunately, this skews the data to the point of making it useless. But it does demonstrate that it's taking forever to sell homes there.

You can find a great map showing the smaller neighborhoods within the Near South Side here

South Loop and Printer's Row

The somewhat ambiguously defined region immediately south of the Loop and (still in rough terms) north of Cermak Street is often called the "South Loop". The allusive name refers more to its proximity to the real thing than to a demographic likeness or transportation quadrangle (although the region is full of thoroughfares and rail lines). Like the rest of the Near South, the South Loop has experienced some big time redevelopment as of late,making it the fastest growing neighborhood in Chicago. What were once sweeping rail yards just south of Roosevelt Road have given way to the condo-filled development known as Dearborn Park, and warehouses in the area have experienced a wave of loft conversions, particularly in the northern enclave of Printer's Row. As the title suggests, Printer's Row was once a hub for some of the nation's most prominent printing companies (such as Rand McNally), due in part to its convenient mid-western location. Though most of the printers have since shipped out, the area is still a gold mine for all things bound, with an annual book fair in June that's advertised as one of the nation's largest as well as numerous bookstores selling everything from antique tomes to college textbooks. Reading the textbooks is a task that might fall to a student from Columbia College, DePaul, or Roosevelt University, all of which have campuses close by. In addition to bookstores and college students, however, the South Loop is home to a growing number of restaurants, bars, and shops (including a number of chains and small boutiques).

Museum Campus

Despite its rising status as a residential haven,the Near South is perhaps best known as a tourist location. The reason?Well, there are several, very large and hard to miss reasons, from the old-meets-new grandiosity of Soldier Field (home of the Chicago Bears)to the towering pillars of the Field Museum (and the towering skeleton of one T-rex called "Sue"). Along with the Field Museum, the dome-shaped Adler Planetarium and Greco-Roman Shedd Aquarium form the trio of museums off of Lake Shore Drive that comprise the aptly titled Museum Campus. A trophy goes to the soul - young or old - who can do all three and still stand on two feet.

Parks and Open Spaces

In what is perhaps a fitting compliment to the massive structures built along Lake Shore Drive, the Near South boasts some of the city's most spectacular open spaces, most notably Grant Park, a manicured expanse of green running between the Loop and the South Loop, from the adjacent leafage of millennium park all the way down to the Field Museum and Soldier Field. The scenic skylines and views towards the lake do not end there, however. Just east of Soldier Field is the manmade island known as Northerly Island. Originally,Northerly Island was supposed to serve as the southern tip of the Chicago Port according to Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan for Chicago, yet the project was never completed and the area found a new role with the construction of a single-strip airport in 1948. As of 2003, the airport no longer exists, having been replaced with walking paths and a playground. Northerly Park also hosts the Charter One Pavilion, an open-air amphitheater that seats as many as 7,500 - certainly not the 61,500 of nearby Soldier Field, but not too shabby as reflected by the reverberating concerts held there in the summer.

Chinatown

A description of the Near South would be incomplete without a nod to Chinatown. Centered on the intersection of Cermak and Wentworth Avenues, Chicago's dragon is great indeed:currently, the area is listed as the 3^rd largest Chinatown in the country. Combining an impressive array of restaurants and storefronts with condos, loft space and the occasional townhome, the area is currently experiencing a housing shortage. Residents lucky enough to call the place home appreciate the mix of urban density and Chinese culture. The culinary offerings are bold and aplenty, and the Dan Ryan Expressway/Red Line/Stevenson Expressway make for a quick getaway.

Crime Statistics

This section is still under construction.