I've read that Chicago is a city of about 77 neighborhoods. Which neighborhood , aside from downtown, do you think would be most interesting to a visitor, and why?

Boy, could I answer this question, Governator- but I will not. What kind of visitor? for one thing.

All the neighborhoods that are the most interesting to me, oftentimes are the least interesting to a visitor. Plus your average Chicagoan may only really frequents 3 or 4 neighborhoods and know little or nothing about any of the rest. Totally the usual actually, especially for some age groups.

DH and I had a great time last fall in Bucktown. The bars and restaurants were good and everyone was super friendly.

Hi JJ5, As a tourist, I like neighborhoods that are historical, charming ,hip (artsy), or have a strong ethnic presence. Thanks.

I've already said Lincoln Square in the other thread(my neighborhood), but I'm pretty drawn to Lincoln Park. Take the Brown line to Armitage and walk east. You will see tons of cute stores, people watching. NICE homes, good food, bars. This area is pretty high-class (meaning expensive) although my favorite Mexican place, Zia's, is located at Armitage and Clark. It's cheap, but such a nice hole-in-the-wall. After eating you could walk to the zoo (it's free). I love the zoo and go there about 3 times a month. The Chicago History Museum isn't too far away either. If you walk south down Clark, it's about 2 blocks. It's interesting, but does call for an admission.

Take a look at the Chicago Greeter website, they list a bunch of neighborhoods and I presume they tend to be the ones that out of town visitors find interesting. They give free tours of Chicago BTW and it's a great way to see a neighborhood

http://www.chicagogreeter.com/VisitorApplication.asp

Another organization that does tours for a fee that's good is the Chicago Architecture Foundation, once again look at the tours offered and you'll get an idea of what some of the more interesting neighborhoods are

http://www.architecture.org/tours.aspx