Albany Park, Chicago
What You Will Find In Albany Park Chicago
While Chicago has been known largely for its African American and Hispanic communities, there are pockets of Asian culture found in the city, including the North Central town of Albany Park. Albany Park is where you can find numerous Chinese, Cambodian and Korean restaurants and art centers. You might find a small pagoda or two in this area, and you can visit Asian museums such as the Cambodian American Heritage Museum here and learn about the culture and immigration to the area. You can also escape some of the hustle and bustle of the city down at Albany Park's Ronan Park where you'll find what's called the Healing Garden.
Albany Park was founded around 1868 as more of a rural suburb of Chicago. It was initially farm land that Richard Rusk used for raising livestock and breeding race horses. It even hosted racing events back in the late 1800s. But it soon was bought out by the city and then railroad and public transit lines ran through it, and it soon became heavily commercialized. It experienced a period of growth from eastern European immigrants and Jews in the mid 20th century, but in the latter years it started declining. But during the late 1970s and through the 1990s, Asian immigrants along with Hispanics started populating the area and it became the community it is today as a result.
In addition to having an east Asian and Middle Eastern vibe in the city, Albany Park also has entertainment hubs you can go visit. A well-known Albany Park Chicago comic book store on the east side of town is Dark Tower Comics, known for selling some traditional comic strips from Marvel and DC, but it also has some lesser-known science fiction and esoteric books. You can also find games at the Albany Park Chicago game store, Near Mint Games located more on the southwest side of town. This game store is a great place for anime enthusiasts and fans of Yu-Gi-Oh. And when you want to watch a movie, an ideal Albany Park Chicago movie theater is Regal Cinemas, a multiple screening theater with IMAX effects built into it. If you prefer a more retro movie theater experience, you might be interested in visiting Music Box Theater to watch foreign films and partake in various festivals.
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