Chicago artist creates tourism posters for city's neighborhoods

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/25/chicago-neighborhood-posters/

Comments

vogtbMar 27, 2026, 1:10 AM
This reminds me of another artist that did an isometric map of the city. I bought one and it hangs on my office wall. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1673296980/map-of-chicago-loop-...

Always fun to have someone over who knows the city. We'll spend 20 minutes pointing to all the buildings we've worked in, places we've eaten, or where The Bear or The Fugitive were filmed.

canpanMar 27, 2026, 1:59 AM
Very nice! In Tokyo we had this mural some parts were animated using screens in the wall. https://www.teamlab.art/w/skytreemural/tokyoskytree/
cozzydMar 27, 2026, 4:38 AM
I have this hanging in my living room, though most people don't seem to get the reference https://wondercitystudio.com/collections/new-product-collect...
bcravenMar 27, 2026, 7:14 AM
Looks like this is the reference, for anyone else wondering.

https://viewing.nyc/new-yorker-cover-from-1976-accurately-po...

mikeaskew4Mar 27, 2026, 2:15 AM
Don’t forget Backdraft.
tptacekMar 26, 2026, 11:59 PM
Not clear why this is hitting HN today, but these are popular enough in Chicago to be kind of a cliche. No matter how convincing the poster is, I think you'll be disappointed if you plan a trip to visit scenic Galewood.
perardiMar 27, 2026, 2:01 AM
It’s a total cliché rite of passage to buy one of these when you move to Chicago.

And I am typing that as I look at the Edgewater poster hanging right there over my desk.

nkriscMar 27, 2026, 9:49 AM
Or for Chicago natives leaving Chicago.
NoNameHaveIMar 27, 2026, 10:43 AM
Hey! I live in Galewood! OK, Mont Clare really. But you would not be wrong in either case. People see/hear about Chicago (the city, not burbs) and think it is just deep dish, The Bean, and crime. But out here in the bungalow belt, it is working class schlubs just living quiet lives. Aka, the REAL Chicago. If you want a better picture, look up "Blues Brothers Mrs. Tarantino". Yes, I know that's Cicero, but close enough. If you drove that street today, nearly 50 years later, you'd think no time has passed at all.
bombcarMar 27, 2026, 12:55 PM
Isn’t that the story of most “suburbs”? Nice place to live, wouldn’t want to visit?
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 2:45 PM
I'm just being a snooty communist from Oak Park.
60654Mar 27, 2026, 3:18 AM
Yeah the posters have been pretty well known for, let's see, maybe a decade now? But it's cool to read more about the artist.

And also, didn't realize he released a bunch of cool fonts, too: https://tomato-giraffe-jpm4.squarespace.com/fonts.

prawnMar 27, 2026, 12:16 AM
This was bait enough that I jumped into Google Maps to look at a few random Galewood streets via street view. Obviously very suburban, but looks like it'd make for a nice stroll until you tired of the cookie-cutter layout. Hugh Hefner's childhood home as a bonus.
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 12:21 AM
I live across the street from it. It's fine! It's just one of the most boring neighborhoods in Chicago. Walking distance to Johnnie's Beef, though, which is the best beef spot in the city.
NoNameHaveIMar 27, 2026, 10:46 AM
KEEP. JOHNNIE'S. SECRET. Lines are long enough as it is. We don't need tourists messing it up. Signed, -Mont Clare resident
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 4:46 PM
I'm afraid the cat is definitely out of the bag on Johnnie's.
fnord77Mar 27, 2026, 12:33 AM
The style is not novel either.
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 12:45 AM
Of Galewood itself? Yeah, no, though it's across the street from one of the most famous architectural areas in Chicagoland. But the posters? They're deliberately an homage to WPA style.
mikeaskew4Mar 27, 2026, 2:12 AM
South Shore Line ones, too…which may have also been WPA style. I should look that up…
3eb7988a1663Mar 27, 2026, 12:25 AM
For some less serious Chicago bulletins, there was SquirrelTruth[0]. A kickstarter was created to post signs in the CTA about the danger of squirrels. I am not sure how many variations there were, but the only one I ever saw was, "Statistically speaking, at least one 'person' on this train is actually 7 squirrels wearing a human suit. Don't be a victim."

[0] https://www.squirreltruth.com/

holtkam2Mar 27, 2026, 12:27 AM
Moving from SF to Chicago this week. This made me feel a little more excited. TY for the share!
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 12:33 AM
Congratulations! I did Chicago (born and raised) -> SF -> Chicago -> SF -> Chicago (detouring through Ann Arbor).

Where in Chicago are you moving? It's really an amazing city.

SoftTalkerMar 27, 2026, 3:16 AM
Parts of Chicago are nice. Vast swathes of it are best avoided.
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 4:37 AM
My personal opinion is that all of San Francisco is best avoided, so I feel comfortable with my assessment even stipulating, arguendo, what you just said. :)
vogtbMar 27, 2026, 4:00 AM
I lived in Chicago for about a decade, and around 2017 to 2023 I set a goal of biking to every one of the 76(?) neighborhoods. I made it to about 63. There are definitely neighborhoods rougher than others. But tbh every neighborhood has good food, and, you know, normal people living there. Like, in Garfield park I remember buying ribs from a guy that was just sorta cooking them outa the back of his truck. They were terrific. Pilsen has great Mexican food, and Devon has nuts Indian food (Ghareeb Narwaz is by far my favorite). Yeah, in some neighborhoods, on a couple of blocks there are guys out on the corner selling. But no one's bothering anyone. There's nowhere you can't go on a Saturday at 1PM. Basically, what I'm saying is, the Chicago you see on the news isn't the one I live in. So, you know, keep your wits about you, take care, but I think everyone in Chicago should go to a random neighborhood and get some food.
qingcharlesMar 27, 2026, 5:11 AM
I've lived in some of the roughest neighborhoods there and never felt particularly unsafe walking around at all. A couple of times people dumped bodies in my yard, but I also had that problem when I lived in a really nice area too :D A couple of other times I took to my basement while there were gang shootouts happening outside my house.

There is lots of great food in Chicago. Downtown is nice to me. You can get around the whole city on bike + El (subway).

It's still my least favorite major city, though. I have no urge to live there again.

ptsnevesMar 27, 2026, 7:49 AM
How can someone talk about a trivial experience of exploring food while acknowledging that they had bodies thrown into their yards? In both countries in Europe I lived I have never in my life seen a corpse outside of a funeral and even then. I also never heard gun shots except for hunting and never in an urban setting.

I can’t imagine having my little children suffering seeing the corpse of a dead human being and I would curse and never set foot on a land where that is normalised.

tptacekMar 27, 2026, 2:47 PM
I grew up here and have lived here for the last 20 years and I have never met anybody here who could tell either of those stories. It sounds pretty made up.

Later

I should add, I have friends who grew up in Lawndale, Gage Park, and Auburn Gresham. They don't tell these stories either. Witnessing violence, lots of property crime, being fucked with by the cops, feeling threatened by gang activity, sure. Bodies dumped on their lawns? Hiding in their basement from gun fire? Not so much.

kasey_junkMar 27, 2026, 6:47 PM
Because it’s an obvious troll.
ungreased0675Mar 27, 2026, 12:45 PM
Is your assessment based on no physical harm befalling you specifically? Because what you describe is objectively an unsafe environment.
mikeaskew4Mar 27, 2026, 2:18 AM
Good luck. The Malört is as bad as advertised.
LarrikinMar 27, 2026, 3:00 PM
It's basically Jager that is less sweet. It is very good for shots.
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 2:20 AM
Don't drink Windex. It's not a good prank.
mikeaskew4Mar 27, 2026, 2:26 AM
Nobody was surprised when Jeppsons got in on the hand sanitizer effort during COVID. Didn’t even have to change the recipe.
stavrosMar 27, 2026, 12:36 AM
> “I mean, it’s exciting any time anyone says they like my art. Obviously, people buy it, but it’s still astounding to me that people like the stuff I make.”

I love this.

jcubicMar 27, 2026, 5:30 PM
Link not available in Europe :(
binarynateMar 26, 2026, 11:41 PM
unpaywalled: https://archive.is/kkKUW

posters on artist's site: https://www.thechicagoneighborhoods.com/shop

boxedMar 27, 2026, 6:04 AM
Region blocked for me. How weird.
madaxe_againMar 27, 2026, 7:07 AM
This is only for US tourists. International visitors are not welcome - you might overstay your visa.
Freak_NLMar 27, 2026, 8:41 AM
Or just get randomly selected by an ICE goon to hit their target for their bonus and get put in some processing facility for a few weeks.

I guess this is for our own protection.

interloxiaMar 27, 2026, 6:53 AM
Tourism oxymoron "This content is not available in your region"
dominicroseMar 27, 2026, 10:00 AM
They didn't want to bother with EU's General Data Protection Regulation. Its a local newspaper.
cozzydMar 27, 2026, 1:02 AM
If only the Loop one were centered on Madison instead of Monroe so it would have my condo in it...
reg_dunlopMar 27, 2026, 12:04 AM
Thanks! Just bought 4!
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 12:21 AM
Which four? (We have Beverly, where I grew up, and Garfield Park, just because it's cool looking.)
reg_dunlopMar 27, 2026, 1:28 AM
Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square (called those 2 neighborhoods home) then Summer and Caldwell Lily Pond. I spent many a summer evening under the promenade in front of the Frank Gehry Bandshell; And the Lily Pond...those posters are stunning. Really evoked a sense of place and love for the city.
tptacekMar 27, 2026, 1:58 AM
Good picks. If you didn't already know, Ryan Duggan did a print series of iconic neighborhood pizza places. I've had Fox's in Beverly on my wall twice and both times I ended up having to give the print away to someone who was one-shot by it when they came to my house.

https://www.ryanduggan.com/

mikeaskew4Mar 27, 2026, 2:21 AM
With both Fox’s and Milano’s, I don’t know how anyone in Beverly/Morgan Park/EP doesn’t have pizza at least twice a week.
cokehedMar 27, 2026, 6:00 AM
Roseland: Come for the $10 head doctor, stay because you got express kidnapped.
poszlemMar 27, 2026, 11:23 AM
r/USdefaultism

"This content is not available in your region"

wetpawsMar 27, 2026, 1:17 AM
[dead]
claudiugMar 27, 2026, 12:55 AM
what is sad, is that you an take the article, go to any LLM, ask to read and build an system prompt, from the images + text, and then you can replicate his work
reg_dunlopMar 27, 2026, 1:39 AM
I think what's more sad is someone going out of their way to NOT support the artist.

Art is, among other things, a conversation starter. If someone sees an LLM generated thing hanging in the home or office and strikes up a conversation, it goes something like: "Yeah, i saw it online and I ended up ripping it off"...or the person lies to save face (also sad).

Or, the conversation could be "Yeah, these were purchased directly from the artist...I bought them because....". (a much more interesting conversation)

Both of these evoke an emotional reaction with an interlocutor.

mikeaskew4Mar 27, 2026, 2:24 AM
Yes, and it’d look like total crap. People eating NY slices, wearing Dolphins jerseys under palm trees in front of mountains.
jeffgrecoMar 27, 2026, 1:54 AM
Yeah, that would be a real scummy thing to do!