5 MIN READ –Any true Chicagoan, or well-informed visitor, knows that to fully experience the city of Chicago, you can’t skip exploring the Loop, Chicago’s official downtown area, also known as “Everyone’s Neighborhood.”

2 MIN READ — Welcome to the Loop, Chicago’s official downtown and everyone’s neighborhood. The Loop’s neighborhood boundaries are the Chicago River (north and west), Ida B. Wells Drive (south), and Lake Michigan (east). The southern boundary goes all the way to Roosevelt Road in context of Chicago’s 77 designated Community areas and census demography, but that definition also includes the neighborhood, which locals refer to as “South Loop.” There is also an area known as “West Loop” west of the river, but neither locals or geographical maps consider that neighborhood to be formerly part of “the Loop.”