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The University of Chicago is located in the quiet residential neighborhood of Hyde Park, about seven miles (15 minutes by train or car) south of the Loop, as Chicago's downtown is known. Hyde Park is home to the majority of the University faculty and students, many of whom walk or bicycle to campus. Hyde Park is more than a university community, however. It is also a model for the effective renewal of an urban neighborhood and has one of the most diverse populations in the city of Chicago.
Hyde Park is bounded on the east by Lake Michigan, where there are parks, beaches, and popular running and biking trails. To the south of Hyde Park is the University of Chicago campus, running along both sides of the Midway Plaisance, a mile-long parkway created as part of the 1893 Columbian Exposition.
Hyde Park is home to some of the nation's best bookstores, including the Seminary Co-op and 57th Street Books (jointly founded and owned by students). School children and tourists come to the world-renowned Museum of Science & Industry, the University's Oriental Institute Museum, and the DuSable Museum of African-American History. Hyde Park residents and visitors flock to local restaurants, the Court Theatre, neighborhood art fairs, pubs and pizzerias, specialty stores and other attractions of the neighborhood.
Hyde Park is a blend of small
town and big city, where the intellectual atmosphere generated
by the University is balanced by a strong sense of community
spirit.