Bart Shore and his family have been Logan Square residents for the last 25 years. Moving into their “starter house” from Wrigleyville, they found their community and made it their permanent home for the last 25 years. Read on to learn more about Shore and how his life in radio brought so much information to his neighbors on the recently shut down EveryBlock site, where he would often post news and opinions about neighborhood happenings. [As of July 19, Everyblock shut down and is now Nextdoor, a similar platform used to connect neighbors and share news.]
What do you love most about Logan Square?
First, the location. It’s pretty convenient to everywhere—downtown, the airport, the lakefront. Although, these past several years, there is so much going on in the neighborhood that there’s less and less reason to go anywhere else. Logan Square is also a great neighborhood for dogs. We’ve always had dogs as long as we’ve lived here and walking the dog is a great way to know your neighborhood and meet your neighbors.
Do you do business in Logan Square?
I work downtown but I spend the rest of my time here in the neighborhood. When we first moved here, there were very few places to go. It was a bit of a shock, moving over from Wrigleyville. There were only a couple of restaurants; we still go to Father and Son, and we still miss Abril. However, there are so many great places to go now.
What are your favorite places around the neighborhood?
We love the Logan Square Farmers’ Market. It’s such a fixture now, and many of the younger people in the neighborhood probably don’t even realize it wasn’t always here. L’Patron was originally on the corner near our house, and we probably ate there three times a week. Now that they’ve moved farther west, it’s a bit less often, but we still love the place. Cozy Corner and Dante’s Pizza are two favorites. We like to go to The Radler and eat sitting at the bar.
We are also big fans of Temple of the Dog and Meow Lounge on Milwaukee for grooming and dog stuff—they may be moving soon but staying in the neighborhood.
Describe how you currently contribute to the community.
EveryBlock has been a big part of it for me these last several years. It’s allowed me to connect with Logan Square neighbors. Since I have access to news stories and the media, I can often get an inside story on an issue that people are talking about. It’s been a great way to share information and a way to learn about what’s going on.
What is something unique about you?
I have managed to maintain a radio career for over 40 years–and on the air in Chicago for the last 33. With all that ways that the radio has changed, many of my friends and peers have moved out of the industry. If you’ve lived in Chicago long enough, you’ve probably heard me on the air somewhere—I’ve covered every format up and down the dial. I grew up listening to WLS, and it was a real high point when I got to be on WLS radio. I think people came to count on me for traffic and information for the 17 years I was on WBBM, and I really enjoyed doing it. In fact, I was the helicopter traffic reporter for several years on WMAQ and WBBM. I got to see the city every single day from an advantage point that few people ever see—including from above the lakefront fireworks on the 4th of July.
I always think of you as the “EveryBlock guy.” How are you always the first one on the scene for all the local news?
Since I work in the Traffic Center at Total Traffic downtown, we hear everything. We hear the scanners and monitor everything from the roads to public transit, the airports, and police and fire calls. I very often hear things before they break as major stories. When something is going on, or even when I am walking around the neighborhood, I like to get pictures of the action and post them so everyone can see what’s happening.
What did you love about EveryBlock and what are you going to miss most about it?
I really liked the daily email first thing in the morning. I also liked hearing from all the neighbors that would post about things happening on their blocks. I have come to know so many people that I’ve been corresponding with on EveryBlock for years—and I’ve never met most of them. I recently met someone at a friend’s house in the suburbs who said, “Oh, I know you—from EveryBlock.” It’s hard to lose that community and the immediacy of the connections there.
Any thoughts on what neighbors can do to replace the hole of EveryBlock?
I’m not sure that other social media will fill the hole, but there is a Logan Square EveryBlock group on Facebook now. It currently has 158 members. You can find me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. I’m usually at the limit for friends on Facebook, but you can follow me to get my Time Warp Radio posts. For traffic information and things going on in the community, I am on Twitter at @BartShore.
What shameless promotion would you like to share and how can neighbors learn more about you?
I’ve got two. First, I have over 20 affiliate radio stations for my Time Warp Radio show. It’s a labor of love for me to share my knowledge about music from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s with a weekly one-hour radio show and a Song of the Day daily feature. You can hear it for yourself as a download from my website.
Second, photography has been an interest and hobby of mine since high school. I take pictures every day. Although I have never approached this as a business, I have exhibited and sold pictures—usually because people came to me. Anyone can view my pictures on Flickr.
Photo Courtesy Bart Shore
“Socializing the neighborhood” is at the core of the LoganSquarist mission, so we introduce readers to interesting and unique residents throughout Logan Square in our Know Your Neighbor column. If you know someone who would be ideal for to feature, let us know.
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