I think you will love this site: Forgotten Chicago http://forgottenchicago.com/features/chicago-sign... They have a forum and they also offer tours. Couple weeks ago I did the Pilsen Little Village Tour. Haven't had a chance to blog about it as I'm midway through an intensive Hollywood Park project. Elm trees died in the sixties, I think early part. Every tree on Central Park must have been a elm. There really was a leafy canopy hanging over the sidewalk and while the "new" trees planted in the 1970s have grown, they haven't reached the size of the old elms. Our old neighborhood had a lot of open space for a city neighborhood.

You definitely came up with the better title for my blogpost. Thanks for linking. Have you written about the old neighborhood?