The Near South Side, community area 33, is the official name for most of what Chicagoans call the South Loop. Living there means a condo tower, a converted loft or a townhouse within walking distance of Roosevelt’s Red, Green and Orange line stop, with the Field Museum, Soldier Field and Northerly Island on the lakefront to the east.
Housing: towers, lofts, townhouses and a few mansions
Most homes here are condos and apartments in high-rise and mid-rise buildings, with townhouse enclaves and converted lofts mixed in. WTTW traces the housing boom to city renewal efforts in the 1980s, which brought high-rises and townhomes.
Dearborn Park is the townhouse example. It straddles Roosevelt Road, the official line between the Loop and the Near South Side, and was built on 51 acres of rail yards next to the old Dearborn Station, which George Halas gave up for redevelopment in 1977. Construction began that year with about 1,400 units; the Encyclopedia of Chicago dates the second phase to 1988, while WTTW says the early 1990s added about 480 more. Loft conversions spread from Printers Row to older buildings on Wabash, Michigan and Indiana, and Central Station development began in 1990.
Then there’s the Gilded Age. The Prairie Avenue District, a City landmark district since December 27, 1979, covers the 1800 and 1900 blocks of South Prairie, the 1800 block of South Indiana and 211–217 E. Cullerton. Many mansions came down in the mid-20th century; the ones left still give you the idea.
Getting around: Roosevelt, Cermak and the Metra Electric
The Near South Side has two L stations, and both are accessible. Roosevelt, at 1167 S. State, is the big one: Red, Green and Orange line trains all stop there, with free transfers between them and buses on Roosevelt (#12, #18, #146), State (#29, #62) and Michigan (#1, #3, #4).
Cermak-McCormick Place is the Green Line’s newer stop, opened in February 2015 near Cermak and State. It filled a 2.5-mile gap between Roosevelt and 35th/IIT that had existed since the old Cermak station was demolished in 1977. There’s an entrance on 23rd Street, and McCormick Place is about two blocks east.
The Metra Electric runs along the lakefront with stops at Museum Campus/11th Street, 18th Street and McCormick Place on its way south from Millennium Station. Drivers get Lake Shore Drive, officially Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive since a 33–15 City Council vote on June 25, 2021, plus heavy traffic on Bears Sundays.
South Loop, Prairie Avenue and Motor Row: the names on the map
Locals say South Loop; the City says Near South Side. The Park District uses both, describing the area as the Near South Side community, “locally known as the South Loop.” The City’s approximate neighborhood map labels the area Near South Side and Museum Campus.
Prairie Avenue was the city’s most fashionable street after the Fire of 1871, home to the Armour, Field, Kimball and Pullman families. Glessner House at 1800 S. Prairie, H. H. Richardson’s only remaining Chicago building, is now a house museum; the City dates it to 1886, WTTW to 1887. Clarke House at 1855 S. Indiana, built around 1836, is called the city’s oldest house. It was moved here in 1977 from the 4500 block of South Wabash, crossing the CTA tracks on the way.
Motor Row, mostly on South Michigan Avenue, became a City landmark district on December 13, 2000. The City calls it the largest intact early automobile row in the country, where up to 116 car makes were once sold.
The lakefront: Museum Campus, Soldier Field and Northerly Island
The lakefront here is the Museum Campus: the Field Museum (opened 1921), Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium (both 1930) and Soldier Field (1924). Lake Shore Drive’s northbound lanes used to run along the water until a 1990s project moved them inland.
Northerly Island, south of the Adler, was a 1933 World’s Fair site and then Meigs Field, which closed in 2003. City park data puts it at about 118 acres; the Park District’s page says 119.7. It has a prairie-and-savanna natural area, a 5-acre pond, 12th Street Beach with a non-motorized boat launch, and the Huntington Bank Pavilion, which closes paths on some show nights.
Inland, 10 Park District parks center here. Chicago Women’s Park and Gardens (about 3 acres) wraps around Clarke House, with a fieldhouse, community garden and Louise Bourgeois’s “Helping Hands” sculpture honoring Jane Addams. Fred Anderson and Coliseum parks have dog-friendly areas; Cotton Tail, Webster and Mary Richardson Jones parks fill smaller pockets. There’s no public library branch inside the community area.
Main streets: State, Wabash, Michigan and Roosevelt
The everyday spine is the north-south run of State, Wabash and Michigan, crossed by Roosevelt Road with its bus lines and L station. Michigan carries the most history: Motor Row’s former showrooms run along the 2200–2500 blocks, and at 2120 S. Michigan stands the Chess Records Office and Studio, a City landmark since 1990, where Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf and Chuck Berry recorded between 1957 and 1967, and the Rolling Stones dropped by in the mid-1960s.
South of that, McCormick Place fills the blocks along the lake and down past Cermak. The first building opened at 23rd Street in 1960, burned in 1967 and was replaced; more halls followed in 1986 and 1997. Today it’s four buildings, North, South, West and Lakeside Center, with more than 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space. Wintrust Arena, about 10,000 seats, sits in the same McCormick Square complex. When a big show is in town, you’ll notice it at the Cermak stop.
Near South Side at a glance
Near South Side is official community area 33 of Chicago’s 77. Inside its lines: 2 CTA L stations, 10 Chicago Park District parks, no public library branch and 4 Chicago Public Schools buildings. Neighborhood names on the City’s map that fall at least partly inside: Museum Campus, Near South Side.
L stations
- Cermak-McCormick Place: Green Line (accessible)
- Roosevelt: Red, Green and Orange lines (accessible)
Parks
- Northerly Island: 118 acres; beach, community center
- Park No. 540 (2401 S Federal St): 5.0 acres; playground
- Chicago Women’s Park and Gardens: 3.1 acres; playground, community center
- Cotton Tail Park: 2.4 acres; playground
- Webster Park: 1.3 acres; community center
- Mary Richardson Jones Park: 1.3 acres; playground
- Fred Anderson Park: 1.1 acres; dog-friendly area
- Coliseum Park: 0.75 acres; playground, dog-friendly area
- Smaller parks and mini-parks: Lin Park, Battle of Fort Dearborn Park
Library
No Chicago Public Library branch sits inside the community area’s lines. Find the nearest branch on the library’s site.
Public schools
These are the Chicago Public Schools buildings located inside the community area. Being near a school is not the same as being in its attendance boundary: to see which schools serve a specific address, use the CPS School Locator.
- National Teachers Elementary Academy (grades pre-K to 8), 55 W Cermak Rd
- South Loop Elementary School (grades pre-K to 8), 1601 S Dearborn St
- Perspectives – Rodney D. Joslin (grades 6-12), 1930 S Archer Ave
- Ray Graham Training Center High School, 2347 S Wabash Ave
More on the neighborhood
- Cooler by the Lake, Warmer by the Lake
- Chicago’s Apartment Vacancy Rate Is Somewhere Between 3% and 5.4%. Here’s Why.
- 77 Community Areas, 200-Plus Neighborhoods, and the Border Wars In Between
- Our sister site lists apartment buildings in the South Loop, building by building.
- All 77 community areas
Sources: Encyclopedia of Chicago: Near South Side; Encyclopedia of Chicago: Dearborn Park; WTTW: How Dearborn Park was built on former railyard land (Jan. 15, 2026); WTTW: The Story of the South Loop; WTTW Chicago by ‘L’: South Loop; City of Chicago Landmarks: Prairie Avenue District; City of Chicago Landmarks: Motor Row District; City of Chicago Landmarks: Glessner House; City of Chicago Landmarks: Clarke House; City of Chicago Landmarks: Chess Records Office and Studio; City of Chicago: The Museum Campus; The Cultural Landscape Foundation: Lake Shore Drive Museum Campus; Chicago Park District: Northerly Island Park; Chicago Park District: 12th Street Beach; Chicago Park District: Chicago Women’s Park and Gardens; CTA: Roosevelt station; CTA: Mayor Emanuel announces opening of new Cermak CTA Green Line station; Metra: Metra Electric line; WTTW: City Council votes 33-15 to create Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive (June 25, 2021); Choose Chicago: McCormick Place Convention Center; DePaul Newsline: Wintrust Arena opens to public; City of Chicago, community area boundaries; City of Chicago, neighborhood boundaries; City of Chicago, CTA ‘L’ stops; Chicago Park District parks; Chicago Public Library locations; CPS school locations, 2025–26. Lists checked October 19, 2026; park features are from Park District data last updated in 2022.