vmaurer

N. California Ave. is located just west of Western Avenue in Chicago and runs north and south from just west of downtown all the way north into Rogers Park. Along the way, California runs through the neighborhoods of Rogers Park, Ravenswood Manor, Avondale, Logan Square, and Humboldt Park.

Depending on what part of Calfornia Ave. you are on, it can get a little dodgy. For the most part though, you can expect the residential and commercial presence on N. Calfornia Ave. to reflect very working class and middle class residents. Residential buildings are usually two or three flat apartment buildings, although further north single family homes become more common. Commercial space is typically low density, local restaurants and businesses. The makeup of the residents varies by neighborhood, but is usually younger and racially mixed.

Traffic on California is pretty heavy most of the time during the week, and really picks up on the weekends. In areas such as Logan Square, where there are a number of popular restaurants packed tightly together, parking can be very difficult. Street parking is free where you can find it, just be sure to read the signs to make sure that you can park in certain areas.

Public transit is pretty easy to get at. The CTA runs a bus route that pretty much stretches from start to finish and N. California is intersected by the Green and Blue line trains. Bike lanes appear and disappear and while biking is common, it can sometimes be difficult.

One of the nicest elements to N. California Ave. is that regardless of where you are along the avenue, you are never far from a park. These range in size from the massive Humboldt Park on the south end to smaller parks such as those up around Lawrence, Addison, and Montrose.