Bucktown

Located just to the north of the often synonymous (in many people's minds, at least) Wicker Park, Bucktown's "origins are rooted in the Polish working class, which first began to settle in the area in the 1830s." Bucktown got its name from the large number of goats raised in the area during this time of early settlement, and in fact, the "original Polish term for the neighborhood was Kozie Prery," which means "Goat Prairie." (Male goats are called "bucks.")

The neighborhood has seen its fair share of change since the initial wave of Polish settlers. While Poles, as well as other European immigrants, were still dominant throughout much of the 1900s, the 1960s marked the arrival of "Cuban, Puerto Rican, and later Mexican immigrants" to the area. Fast forward, then, to the 1990s when a "growing group of artists emerged in Bucktown." These new residents helped steer the neighborhood into a new direction, and because of this, "developers started converting old buildings into loft spaces and constructing new low-rise condominiums, leading to widespread gentrification and an increasing population of young working singles."