Just the name of this neighborhood tells you a lot. It’s on the waterfront, and it’s seriously gilded. Gold Coast began as a wealthy community of lakeside mansions and has never lost its place as a highbrow destination. It now hosts Chicago’s toniest restaurants and most discerning boutiques. These are tucked in along the wide streets, in the bottoms of grand architectural marvels. This is a neighborhood of stately vintage row houses and doorman buildings, featuring quite a few mid- and high-rise towers with incredible lake views. The mansions are still here as well. Simple market mechanics will tell you that this is an affluent neighborhood, an oasis in an idealized city location. Residents stroll, bike, and drive along the Gilded Age streets. The easily accessed Lakefront Trail is the exercise regimen of choice, though certainly there are some health benefits to the retail therapy shopping in the stores of posh international brands.