City of Waukegan

For my 500th review, I thought I should do something meaningful, and most of my favorites got used up back when Yelp wasn't blocked at my workplace, which oddly enough is in Waukegan.

I feel like somewhat of an authority on the subject having grown up here (as well as my father, and his father before him), worked here, and I tend to end up hanging around too much now that the precious baby that is my niece lives here as well.

It's really hit or miss. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a Ray Bradbury novel, and other times I feel like I'm living in a sweaty ghetto full of assholes. It really depends on the day, the weather, and the location. I'll never write this place off, much the way you can never write off your first love.

There's a lot to love and a lot to hate, I suppose, but like all my broken dolls that I won't throw away, or certain ex-companions that I refuse to hate, I'll take the crappy with the awesome.

http://www.yelp.com/list/back-in-my-old-hometown-waukegan

This is a great little undiscovered city. It sounds a little ridiculous to say it is undiscovered but what I mean is this: This is beautiful little city that is currently going through a down phase. The downtown is empty. It is a low-income area. That is exactly what I mean.

Artists traditionally come to places like this because the rents are cheap and they are beautiful. Waukegan has rolling hills, ravines, a great stock of beautiful old buildings, and is right on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Thought the North Shore was out of your price range? Think again. Come to Waukegan before it is found out and property values go through the roof.

Having lived in the area for 6 years and worked here for 15, Waukegan is hitting rock-bottom but the scary thing is I dont think it has bottomed out yet.

Yes the Genesee theatre has been renovated and some of the buildings across the street are being remodeled but the rest of the area is going out of business. The fact that 2 restaurants within walking distance of the theatre went out of business is more telling than anything. I recently read an article that even with the million dollar renovation the Genesee is vacant 80% of the time, not encouraging for neighboring businesses. There are alot of empty buildings in Waukegan, some have been empty for a long time, and really I dont know anyone who would come in to fill those stores.
The lakefront is just a disaster and the start of this whole downturn was when the seafood restaurant Maisons(?) shut down about 10 years ago.

It is to bad the mayor is an idiot and vetoed the casino bill for the area. Now that could save the lakefront area.

As a kid living in southern Illinois, my parents used to love driving to Chicago on the weekends. Spending time in Waukegan was also a part of it as well. I wish I can remember a lot more details about it but I do know that there was never a dull weekend on our trips here. Especially with the lake being right there.

Right on! i was born and raised in waukegan and it is very dear to my heart! I think that there are a lot of positive changes happening. We have so much diversity, and we are right in the middle of Milwaukee and Chicago! It's time for everyone in waukegan to develop the community, to develop waukegan pride. Many people trash the place, and say this or that, but negativity only breeds more negativity. What can Waukegan do as a community to bring people together? I know I don't live there anymore, but all of my family does. We are hardworking citizens and we want a safe and clean city. Let's work together to make this happen!

This city is not a place you want to live or visit. I grew up in Zion which is right next to Waukegan, so when I was looking for a place to rent I figured Waukegan wouldn't be too bad. This city is in bad shape. I found out the hard way about their alternate side parking regulation. It is extremely confusing, and I ended up paying over $200 in tickets in my one year stay. I also had an incident where some drunks picked up the back of my car and moved in into the street. The police did not help me, instead they gave me a ticket!

This city also has very few restaurants or entertainment choices. Whenever my family wanted to go out to a nice dinner or catch a movie we had to drive to a different town. The Genesee theatre is supposed to be a nice place, but do you really want to hire armed body guards to escort you on a nice night out?

I hope this convinces you to avoid Waukegan. There are much nicer and cheaper communities not too far away.