Edgewater Beach
Lakefront Beaches, High-rises, Four Red Line Stops
MEDIAN: $345,000
Get to know Edgewater Beach
Edgewater Beach is the lakefront edge of Edgewater: a mile and a half of beaches, parkland and high-rises between Foster and Devon avenues, east of Broadway.
People move here for the lake. Sheridan Road's towers put the water outside your window and the sand a short walk from the lobby, without the pace of living downtown.
Behind the towers, Kenmore and Winthrop are lower and quieter, lined with vintage courtyard buildings. Four Red Line stops run the length of the neighborhood, so the Loop is one train away.
Why People Love Edgewater Beach
Residents put it simply: you get the lake, the train and a real neighborhood in one place.
The lake is the backyard. One resident says walking the lakefront or heading to the beach never gets old. Another loves living a single block from Lake Michigan.
It's calm without being far. Reviewers call the area laid-back and quiet, a way to live in Chicago without the downtown hustle. The Loop is still a short ride away.
You can skip the car. Residents point to convenient trains and buses that run nearly around the clock. One notes that the drive downtown takes about 20 minutes outside rush hour.
Errands are a walk. Reviews mention grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants and even hardware stores within walking distance.
Neighbors are friendly. People describe a warm, welcoming place where you run into friends at the beach and the coffee shop.
More is next door. Andersonville is a walk to the west, and Argyle Street's Vietnamese restaurants are just to the south.
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What to do in Edgewater Beach
Mornings belong to the Lakefront Trail, which begins here and runs along the water all the way downtown. Kathy Osterman Beach, at the foot of Hollywood Avenue, is the neighborhood's main stretch of sand, and Foster Beach is a short walk south. Farther north, Berger Park puts a playground and a cultural center in a historic mansion right at the water's edge.
Bryn Mawr Avenue is the walk-to-everything street. Its historic district packs Art Deco apartment hotels, cafes and restaurants into a few blocks between the Red Line and the lake. At the east end stands the pink Edgewater Beach Apartments, the neighborhood's best-known landmark.
Errands happen on foot. There's a Whole Foods on Broadway and a Mariano's on Sheridan, coffee at Metropolis on Granville, and the Edgewater Monday Market at Broadway and Thorndale in season.
Evenings offer choices in every direction. Storefront theaters line Broadway, Andersonville's restaurants are a walk west, and Argyle Street's Vietnamese kitchens are a few blocks south. Or stay home, because sunrise over the lake from an upper floor is hard to beat.
Housing Types & Architecture
Edgewater Beach is a condo neighborhood, and the closer you get to the lake, the taller it gets.
Sheridan Road is the high-rise row. Most of its towers went up between the late 1950s and the 1970s on the lake side of the street, and nearly all are condos today. Expect lake and skyline views, door staff, and amenities such as pools and sundecks.
Where you are on Sheridan changes the view. North of Hollywood Avenue, where DuSable Lake Shore Drive ends, the buildings sit directly on the water. South of it, the park, the beaches and the trail lie between the towers and the lake.
The landmark is the pink one. The Edgewater Beach Apartments, a 1928 co-op, is the last survivor of the Edgewater Beach Hotel resort that gave the neighborhood its name.
One and two blocks inland, Kenmore and Winthrop run lower and older. You'll find courtyard buildings and six-flats from the 1910s and 1920s, four-story apartment buildings from the 1960s, and small condo buildings from the 2000s.
In a high-rise, the monthly assessment is part of the price. Ask what it covers and what the building holds in reserve before you fall for the view.
The quick read: a strong fit if you want lake views, building amenities and the Red Line without living downtown. A harder search if you want a house and a yard. For that, look west to Edgewater Glen and Lakewood-Balmoral.
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What People Are Saying
Here's how people who live in Edgewater Beach describe it, summarized from public resident reviews: