<p>I hanged out mostly in the North Side neighborhoods like Lincoln Park or Lakeview. There are lots of good restaurants for the locals. There’s also a “New Chinatown” at the Argyle stop in the North Side. I rarely went to the downtown; it’s less compact (tons of huge commerical buildings, less concentration of restaurants, mom-and-pop stores…etc) than many of the North Side neighborhoods and I felt that it’s mostly for tourists. If you don’t know Chicago, it’s natural that you want to know about the downtown first. But in reality, the most popular and lively neighborhoods are in the North Side, not downtown.</p>
<p>For those who don’t know the Chicago social/bar scene - the best areas are in the Northern part of Chicago (closer to Evanston than Hyde Park) - by Loyola, Wrigleyville and the bars on and off Halsted in Lincoln Park.</p>
<p>The bars on Rush/Divison (which is about equidistant from both campuses) are mostly for suburbanites, tourists, out of towners and middle-aged businessmen.</p>
<p>How does Columbia College compare to Loyola/DePaul/UIC?</p>