Pilsen

Delightful Latin community make for a colorful and vibrant tour through the neighborhood. Art surrounds you from museums to murals and street vendors selling fruit are from another place.

Chicago's Mexican neighborhood is a world away from the polished Magnificent Mile, and it's a ton of fun for precisely that reason. Great, cheap Mexican food and pastries, a terrific soundtrack in all the shops and restaurants, and the terrific National Museum of Mexican Art.

Many people know Chicago but have never heard of Chicago’s Pearson community. In fact, the community has just become a “net red” in Chicago, jumping on Forbes’ newly released list of the world’s best neighborhoods. The most important reason for this list is the gorgeous galleries and colorful murals on both sides of the street. Even the founder of the well-known tourist site Intagare praised the Pearson community as one of the birthplaces of cutting-edge culture and art. The Pearson community is located on Chicago’s Lower West Side and is one of the areas with the largest Hispanic or Latino or Mexican population except Mexico. The neighborhood is on West 16th Street to the north, Dan Ryan Highway to the east, I-55 or Stevenson Highway to the south and South Ashland Avenue to the west. It is a well-trafficed neighborhood. In 2006, the Bilson Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The community is a vibrant commercial corridor where you can taste authentic Mexican cuisine. What attracted me in particular was the excellent work of street artists and muralists here, who built murals nearby with the support of the Chicago City Art Association and the National Museum of Art in Mexico, adding to the history and culture of the community, It also added a touch of color to my journey. Some of these artists are not known, some have become famous, but no matter what the reputation, their artistic creation is indeed no matter the high and low.