Lake side or flat side
Edgewater covers Foster Avenue north to Devon, between Ravenswood Avenue and Lake Michigan, about 2 miles southeast of our Western Ave storefront in a straight line. It’s the youngest of Chicago’s community areas, split off from Uptown in 1980, and Andersonville sits inside it along Clark Street.
The housing splits in two, and so does the pickup. Toward the lake, in the Edgewater Beach area, it’s high-rise apartments and condo complexes, with the pink Edgewater Beach Apartments at the north tip of Lake Shore Drive. On the west side it’s single-family houses and flats of two to four stories.
For a high-rise, it all comes down to the garage: whether management has said yes, and whether a tow truck fits under the posted clearance. If the car has to be rolled out to the ramp, tell us. For a flat it’s simpler: say whether the car is out front or behind the building, and whether the alley is open.
Andersonville and the Clark Street strip
The Andersonville commercial historic district runs along Clark from Ainslie up to Rosehill Drive, and its heart is around Clark and Berwyn. The Swedish American Museum is at 5211 N. Clark, and Midsommarfest is held on the strip. If your car is on Clark, give us the nearest cross street and mention any street festival that weekend, so the pickup doesn’t land in the middle of one.
Some street names here come from somewhere else entirely. Developer John Lewis Cochran named them after stations on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Main Line, Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, Ardmore and Thorndale among them. The Red Line has stops at Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, Thorndale and Granville, all beside Broadway, which makes them handy markers when you describe where the car is.
The winter overnight ban
From December 1 to April 1, Chicago bans parking from 3 to 7 a.m. on 107 miles of main arterial streets, whether or not it has snowed. The city’s winter parking page says the signs on those routes are permanent, and chicagoshovels.org has the map. No ban sign on your block means this rule isn’t your problem. If there is one, a car that won’t start can’t be moved out of the way at 3 a.m., and the city tows violators to a pound, fees and all.
Sheridan Road is the main north-south street to and from Lake Shore Drive here, and Broadway and Clark carry the shops. Whether any stretch near you is on the ban list, the signs will say. If the car just won’t turn over after a cold spell, our guide to a car that won’t start after winter may help you decide whether it’s worth fixing.
Older cars, and the areas around Edgewater
Plenty of junk cars are simply old, with high mileage and repair bills bigger than the car is worth. We buy those as they are; see old and high-mileage cars. A running engine isn’t required, and neither are keys.
Getting cash for junk cars in Edgewater works the same on either side of Broadway. Cross Devon and you’re in Rogers Park; cross Foster and it’s Uptown. Over Ravenswood to the west lies Lincoln Square. The full list is on our service area page.