Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY KENDALL KARMANIAN (BRYN MAWR); COURTESY OF THE CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT (MONTROSE BEACH) The neighborhood places that recharge Vargas's batteries. LAKEFRONT TRAIL Hollywood to 71st Street, 312-742-7529 "I live close to the path and enjoy riding my bicycle down to Navy Pier." WEST ARGYLE STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT Centered on Broadway and Argyle Streets "I'm a fan of the area's Asian restaurants." EDGEWATER PRODUCE 5509 N. Clark St., 773-275-3800; edgewaterproduce.com "When I go there, I see people from every walk of life." BRICOLAGE MURALS Lake Shore Drive underpass at Foster and Bryn Mawr, 312-427-2724; cpag.net "They're beautiful pieces, and they're perfectly preserved." EDGEWATER BEACH APARTMENTS 5555 N. Sheridan Road, 773-907-2130; ebachicago.com "A landmark with so much history." PEPE'S CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Governor Pat Quinn with Vargas; a poster for the 30th Chicago Latino Film Festival; volleyball players on Montrose Beach. as well as the neighborhood's great diversity. I do my shopping at the Mexican neighborhood market, and I see people from everywhere in the world—the Middle East as well as Kosovo, Armenians, a lot of Eastern Europeans, and also the gay community in Andersonville, and students from Loyola University. It's an incred- ibly vibrant community that centers around the Berwyn Red Line train station, which is open 24 hours, so there's a lot of walking in the area. Living in Edgewater is a great way to recharge my batteries. When there's no traffic, it's a 12- to 15-minute drive from my office to my apartment, where I have a spectacular view of the lake. In the morning I can see the sunrise, and the sight of the sun coming out over the lake relaxes me and allows me to focus, forget about the pressures of my job. I take it as a gift. A lot of people from the neighborhood come out to walk early in the morning, and I do that for half an hour or 40 minutes on Foster or Hollywood Beach. The neighborhood is safe, with people walking late at night. It feels like home. I'm very close to the Asian district on Argyle, and I'm a fan of those spots—I like Vietnamese food, Thai, and there's also a couple of good Chinese restaurants. The Edgewater Produce market I am a regular at. It's the quality of the fruit, the fresh meats and fish, and the great diversity— when I go there I see people from every walk of life. Two things I really like that are relatively new to the neighborhood are the murals under the passway at Foster and Bryn Mawr at Lake Shore Drive. They're beautiful pieces—students and the park district and the alderman got involved, and a couple of summers ago they were put there—and they are perfectly preserved. The Bryn Mawr mural is a historical piece and a reflection of the early days of the neighborhood. And nearby you see the pink hotel—the old Edgewater Beach Hotel, now apartments—which is a landmark and has so much history. When you look at maps of the area from the 1920s, the hotel was really the only large building there at the time. The inside is beautiful and has so much character. I particularly enjoy springtime in the neighbor- hood—the leaves and f lowers coming up. People start to go to the beach for walks, running, bicycling. The mood changes thoroughly—peo- ple suddenly have big smiles on their faces—it's a kind of optimism that comes with the warmth of spring." The Chicago Latino Film Festival runs April 3–17 at AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois St., 312-431-1330; chicagolatinofilmfestival.org MA continued from page 62 EDGEWATER 64 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM NATIVE 062-064_MA_SP_Native_Spring_14.indd 64 2/11/14 12:00 PM