Where to Rent if You're a Cubs, Bears, or Fire Superfan

TL;DR If your calendar runs on game days, live near your team. Cubs fans want Wrigleyville and Lakeview, steps from the park on the Red Line. Bears and Fire fans want the South Loop, near Soldier Field via the Roosevelt stop, and the Chicago Fire's future stadium is rising at The 78 in the South Loop for 2028. Here is the superfan map.

For a real superfan, game day is the whole weekend, and living near your team turns every home game into a walk down the street instead of a trek across the city. Here is where to rent for each of Chicago's big fanbases.

Cubs fans: Wrigleyville and Lakeview

There is no contest here. Wrigleyville, the part of Lakeview wrapped around Wrigley Field, is the dream address for a Cubs fan. You can live within a few blocks of the second-oldest ballpark in baseball.

The neighborhood is built for it. Gallagher Way, the plaza beside the park, runs free programming year-round, from farmers markets to away-game watch parties on the big screen. The bars are legendary: Murphy's Bleachers across from the bleacher entrance, the Cubby Bear right at the Clark and Addison marquee, and Sluggers with its upstairs batting cages. The Red Line's Addison stop drops you right at the gates, the only L line that stops at the ballpark.

It is wall-to-wall sports bars and game-day energy, exactly what a superfan wants.

Bears fans: the South Loop

Soldier Field sits on the Museum Campus along the lakefront, and the closest places to call home are the South Loop and Printer's Row, just to the north and west.

Getting to games is easy: the Roosevelt stop on the Red, Green, and Orange Lines is the nearest rail, then a walk east through the campus, with the game-day Soldier Field Express buses running from the downtown Metra stations. The lakefront parking lots are the heart of the pregame tailgate.

One note for the long term: the Bears have been exploring a future stadium, with talk of an enclosed venue in the suburbs, but no move is finalized and Soldier Field remains the team's home in 2026. For now, the South Loop is the Bears-fan pick.

Chicago Fire fans: the South Loop, now and later

Soccer fans, the South Loop is your spot too, and the timing is exciting. In 2026 the Chicago Fire play at Soldier Field, reachable via that same Roosevelt stop.

Even better for the future: the Fire broke ground in 2026 on a new soccer-specific stadium at The 78, the big new development along the river in the South Loop, expected to open for the 2028 season. It will be Chicago's first major new pro stadium in decades. Living in the South Loop puts you walking distance from both the current home and the future one.

The superfan map

Team	Live here	Get to games
Cubs	Wrigleyville / Lakeview	Red Line, Addison
Bears	South Loop / Printer's Row	Roosevelt (Red/Green/Orange)
Chicago Fire	South Loop	Roosevelt, walk to The 78

How to choose

It is simple: follow your team. If you bleed Cubbie blue, Wrigleyville and Lakeview let you live the baseball life all summer. If you are a Bears or Fire fan, the South Loop puts you next to the Museum Campus now and the new Fire stadium soon, with a lakefront, transit-rich neighborhood in between game days.

For more on these areas, see our guides to Lakeview and Wrigleyville and the South Loop, and for getting to games car-free, our best buildings for CTA commuters. Then browse current openings near your team and book a tour.

Hero image: Photo by Francisco Sanchez on Pexels