Clark Street: Chicago’s ‘Mecca for bars and drinking’

Out of about 40 businesses on the 3500 block of North Clark Street in Lakeview, nearly half are bars. And some long-term Lakeview residents are not happy with how the neighborhood is changing.

"Where two of the largest capacity bars are now, that was a carwash," said Sarah E. Clark, manager of the Irish Oak Pub at 3511 N. Clark St. Clark was referring to what the neighborhood looked like when the Irish Oak moved in eight years ago. "It's a little different."

"People come here for one thing: booze," said a policeman lunching at the Irish Oak, one of the only open pubs on the block in the early afternoon Thursday.

It has not always been a "Mecca for bars and drinking," as 22-year Lakeview resident Jack Meyer, 70, described it. Meyer, who lives at 938 W. Newport Ave., attributed the last decade's upsurge of watering holes on this block to the city's rising loyalty to the Cubs.

"It's become a magnet for the whole concept of drinking," Meyer said. "I think this started to happen when the Cubs started to have better teams."

This past season was not one of those years. The Cubs finished dead last in the National League with a record of 66-96. In the last 10 years, the Cubs have only had four winning seasons. But bad seasons have done nothing to deter drinkers from frequenting the bars along North Clark Street. Nor, said Clark, has business slowed during the off-season.

"It's become a destination area," Clark said, "because there are so many different businesses " within a close proximity."

The import of party spots to this stretch of North Clark Street has been met with mixed reviews from the community. Meyer expressed dismay at the change.

"It's definitely not good," Meyer said. "It deteriorates from the residential neighborhood."

But the better business has led to increased property values, said another policeman in the Irish Oak. Dennis F. Douglas, a Lakeview resident since 2001, said he sold his last property in Lakeview for nearly $750,000.

"That's what a piece of property is worth in that neighborhood," he said.

The number of bars on this block of North Clark Street may yield mixed feelings, but members of this community can agree on one thing: They hope next year's Cubs season is better than the last.