Old Town, as you might have guessed, is one of Chicago’s most historic neighborhoods. St. Michael’s Church survived the Great Chicago Fire, and even today some locals will tell you that you don’t live in Old Town if you can’t hear its bell ringing. It’s a neighborhood studded with vintage Victorian homes and storefronts, and it happened to fall into neglect at the perfect time to become home to Chicago’s hippie culture in the 1960s. That iconoclastic vibe still persists, even as the neighborhood has changed. Those Victorians have been remodeled, and Old Town has become a neighborhood in demand for its walkability and (comparative) affordability, with a bustling restaurant and bar scene that manages not to intrude into the residential streets. There is shopping galore, though the luxury labels are to the south and east. While a few high-rise developments tower around the edges, Old Town architecture stays mostly low to match the low-key atmosphere.