You're walking down the street; you turn the corner; and suddenly you're transported from the ordinary in Logan Square.  You've hit on one of Logan Square's best blocks.  For me those best blocks fit right in with the historical character of the community, but there's also something that sets them apart.

2500 block of N. Bernard Street

2500 block of N. Bernard Street

The Queen Anne homes with their deep verandas and wide front lawns make city life slow down when I hit the 2500 block of N. Bernard Street.  Add a couple of American flags swaying in a gentle breeze and I'm transported to a seaside town.

The block is full of good-sized single family homes.  While mostly Queen Anne in style, there are quite a variety of column styles and roof lines and turrets to make the block interesting.  Even when there's not a soul to be seen, the wrap around porches suggest actvitiy.  The wide lawns are made to seem even wider by (for the most part) the lack of front yard fences.

2400 block of N. Albany Street

2400 block of N. Albany Street

If I'm transported to a seaside town on Bernard Street, I'm transplanted to a crooked street in Greenwich Village on the 2400 block of N. Albany Street.

The co-ops and condos and greystone flats are all pulled closer to the street with barely a front yard, creating a feel more urban than most of Logan Square.  Fences are necessary here to separate what's private from what's public.  Narrow lots with buildings close together lend themselves to a greater number of doors and windows, and along with porches and balconies with tables and chairs provide lots of opportunity for the activity and vitality of city life.  (I almost forgot:  Some residents of the block make it even more inviting by sharing their art.  Look for this "Sensory perception" over at Peopling Places.)

2500 block of N. Mozart Street

2500 block of N. Mozart Street

I'm not so much transported as elevated to the epitome of Logan Square on the 2500 block of N. Mozart Street.

Standard two- and three-flats, one after another, solidly built of common Chicago brick, are elegantly faced in limestone.  Where on Albany and Bernard Streets the variety in buildings and architectural features sets them apart, it is the similarity of the Romanesque and Neo-Classical façades that distinguishes Mozart Street.  Here the porches are within talking distance to the sidewalk, and the lack of fences feels welcoming.  Mozart Street says to me:  This is Logan Square.

What's best is relative of course, and these best blocks reflect my own experience and interaction with Logan Square.  I'm interested to know, what do you think is the best block in Logan Square?