Southwest Side condos

In the 16 years since the CTA Orange Line opened on Oct. 31, 1993, connecting Chicago's Southwest Side to the downtown Loop, the neighborhoods near the elevated train line's terminus at Midway Airport have seen a proliferation of new Southwest Side condos to accommodate everyone wanting to live close to the El and the airport.

The Southwest Side was the last area of Chicago without a rapid-transit train line, and prior to the advent of the Orange Line, Southwest Side residents had to depend on buses to get downtown. Residents from other areas of Chicago, if they had even heard of neighborhoods like Garfield Ridge and Clearing, had little or no incentive to buy condos near Midway Airport.  But now, Clearing and Garfield Ridge, which lie west of Midway, and Archer Heights and West Lawn, just east of it, are among the local neighborhoods that have become magnets for people from all over the city and nearby suburbs who like the idea of living near transportation that brings them downtown in 30 minutes.  There is now a wide variety of condos on busy arterial streets such as 65th Street, 63rd Street, 55th Street and Archer Avenue. More are planned on Cicero Avenue and elsewhere as soon as the economy picks up. People who work at the many hotels and other businesses in the vicinity of Midway Airport are also moving into the area to be close to their jobs.

 The so-called  "Bungalow Belt" neighborhoods, formerly made up primarily of single-family homes, have always had a relatively low crime rate and ample parking compared to the more-congested North Side. Now with their close proximity to both public transportation and expressways such as Interstate 55, Southwest Side condos have become more sought after.  Affordable condos near Midway Airport   are also easier to find than in trendier North Side neighborhoods like Bucktown and Wicker Park.

In the past, the Southwest Side has been criticized as provincial and lacking in entertainment, shopping and restaurant choices,  but even that is changing. New coffee shops and delis, and even antique stores, have been opening along 63rd Street, which has gotten antique lighting as well, giving the area more of a North Side feel. Much of the growth has occurred since a local business group called United Business Assocation of Midway successfully got a section of 63rd Street between Central and Austin avenues designated an Illinois Main Street, the first of its kind in the city.  The goal is to make the area into more of a pedestrian-friendly shopping area, which benefits residents of the nearby Southwest Side condos, as well as visitors, who might even be enticed to consider buying Southwest condos themselves.