Umm...I'm back to writing more Chicago Park reviews now. I used to review some of city parks when "Pokemon Go" was at its peak seven years ago. Guess what? I'm still playing this mobile game, but nowadays I have my bundle of joy hanging out (two-year old and a two-month old) with me. Whenever we get a chance, we take the two-year old to the playground. "Independence Park" has a relatively new playground that was built during the COVID restriction period. It gets busy after school is let out. However, the floor is cushioned at the playground area and the facility appears clean and well-maintained. "Snix Snacks" food truck is there during the spring, summer, and early autumn seasons. Puerto Rican food is cooked-to-order. They have the American fast-food classics as well, such as hot dogs, mozzarella sticks, fries, and etc. By the way, their coconut shaved ice is a must try! Visitor parking is available behind the park, which makes easier for us since we have to carry two strollers for the kids. A small-scale farmers Market goes on from June to October. I would recommend the Portage Park Farmers Market though. They happen on a different Sunday, yet there are more vendors coming in on the latter one. Overall, a solid park to utilize for your daily walks and runs. I'm not a fan of driving on Irving Park Road, but I do come here with the family during non-rush hours to get some exercise. read more

The pool is cool. It programs its pool to be kind to elderly people. It has a lot of Adult swim hours that are open swims for adults only. The problem here - as it is in many Chicago pools - is the experience is often ruined by aggressive white lap swimmers who come here to use this particular pool during the open adult swim so they don't have to pay the $15 monthly fee required for lap swimming at other Chicago pools. Lap swimming is *extensively programmed all day long* at every other pool in Chicago. These selfish people ruin this pool for everyone who goes to the pool to relax or do something else besides lap swimming. Which guess what - is a lot of people! These rude swimmers are *always* white women and men. They act like they own every pool they are in. They look like they have money and used to be on swim teams. White people. I'm white. I can say it. I dislike the way my people act. Greedy. Entitled. These white aggressors - both men and women - show up a lot at this pool. I try to swim around them, but sometimes, there are too many of the aggressive white lap swimmers. So I am going to speak to the pool about it, but if they don't help (usually white people get their way - we are so good at that!), I'm just going to stop swimming around the aggressive lap swimmers and they will have to run into me. And then I am going to tell them very loudly that they are in an open swim and they have so, so many other pools they can go to to lap swim. I will confront each and every one of them. Slow them down. Make them think. Take responsibility. They don't like that. Fortunately, I am quite brave at confronting people like this. I suffered decades of sexual and emotional abuse from people like this. I am not afraid to confront a few jerks at the pool anymore. They are just cheap, selfish, lazy, and very, very entitled. White. Sick of it. read more

Warrior Pose 1 & 2: - Stretches the chest and lungs, shoulders and neck, belly, groins (psoas) - Strengthens the shoulders and arms, and the muscles of the back - Strengthens and stretches the thighs, calves, and ankles Article Source: YJ Editors, Yoga Journal, April. 12th, 2017 Have a great week everyone! read more

Independence Park - Warrior Pose 2 - Parks Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Well, this is not really a park, it is a field :). There's a nice playground and indoor swimming pool. A few trees and benches. Farmers market on weekends and during summer time a Puerto Rican food truck. read more

We were in the area and decided to stop by. The park has benches around the park so it's easy to keep track of your child. However, there are no gates or fences to block off the section. This park earns a three- star simply because the equipment is rather low-lying so it wasn't that challenging/interesting for my older child at 5. Once children his age showed up, it was the kids that made it interesting. There was an infant/early toddler section that would be great for little ones. There are regular swings and bucket swings as well as a small sand pit that must fill up quickly on the weekends. It also has a grassy section for running around. It seems very dog friendly as long as they're on a leash. Yeah for the pooches! As a parent, really the best part is Foodstuffs is right across the street. Ohhh. Foodstuffs. read more

Independence Park - View of park - Parks Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Much bigger than athletic field park on Central Park. Someone mentioned that they have an outside track - I don't see it, but that would've been perfect!!!! There's a playground that's currently still blocked off. A seemingly safe park without the youths and hoodlums. Was here at 11pm and still felt relatively safe. also, tons of parking space and grass to run around with kids. Great place to run around to cure your icky hangover (albeit no track course). Love it. PLEASE ADD RUNNING TRACK!!! WAIT HOLDDDUUPPPPP... There's a food truck here?!?! The hangover gods have spoken--THANK YOUUUU read more

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Nice neighborhood park with a newly renovated playground and a historic old park building. It's small but peaceful and a good place to sit on a bench and decompress. read more

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I love Indy!! And I love it for many reasons, but mostly for the SPORTS!!! For all you parents who are sick and tired of seeing your neighbors trying to mold their kid into an MLB pitcher at age 8... For all you AYSO parents who spend every Saturday trying to get their kids to 3 different games at three different parks... For all you parents who just think that kids sports have become way too competetive... And... For all you parents who just want to get your kid oustide and away from the XBox... INDEPENDENCE PARK IS FOR YOU!! Indy has Non-Competetive Sports! At least there's no official ranking. I think a better term would be "Laid Back, Reasonably Competeteive Sports"! Yes, they all get trophies. Yes, all the trophies say the same thing. But everyone keeps score. Everyone knows which team came in first in the season and it's announced at the pizza party. In general, no one takes things too seriously. Win or lose, the kids have fun. The park offers Spring/Summer Baseball, Fall Soccer and Winter Basketball for kids from about 5 to 18 (depending on the sport). Prices are reasonable ($50 to $60) and the kids get a T-shirt and shorts/pants (and socks for soccer). The seasons are only a few months long with practices only 1x a week (2x at the most, and that's only if you have the rare gung-ho coach). Be prepared for one game a week, and never ever ever on a Saturday. OH - and if your kid has never played before, that's okay, no matter what age he or she is. The leagues are for teaching and playing. read more

Independence Park is a little spot of heaven just two blocks from my apartment. My dog Jack thinks so too. The huge field is full of his friends every morning for him to play with, or to just chase his soccer ball or his chew toy around with me after work. The gym and pool in the field house are available to use for a fee of less than $30 a quarter, or just $2 a day. Absolutely perfect if you want nothing to do with the gym scene. Although if you live in Old Irving, I can't imagine why you'd want to go to someplace like Cheetah or LPAC. The best part of Indy, however, is the Boy Scout Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser in April, the GIPNA Pancake Breakfast in August, and of course, the every-other-week Farmer's Market. I have never lived in such a tight knit neighborhood since moving to Chicago where everyone seems to know each other and say hi. I can't help but think Independence Park has a bit to do with that. read more

This review is for the pool only. I came here during open swim one weekday afternoon. I was surprised to see how small the pool actually was - it's definitely more of a lap pool. I didn't feel like swimming laps, but most others did, so I always felt like I was in the way. Also, the pool was way chlorinated. My skin was left feeling like all the moisture was sucked completely out of it. I wasn't impressed with the locker room area either. It was small, with only two bathroom stalls. It didn't look very clean either. It's a park district pool, that I used for free, so I can't complain too much. Next time, I'll try another pool though. read more

Careful at night - shady people tend to "group" or "gang" up. I think the cops clear the park out late from time to time. Doesn't really stop them. Movies in the Park in summer - sweet, I can walk there Open space - lots of it, and it's pretty. Too bad a storm a few years ago wiped out about half of the trees, big and small, but the open space is nice. Could probably even fly a kite. Dog friendly - watch for off leash morons. There are leash laws in Chicago. I had a dog slam in to my dog while we stopped for a water break. Idiots Hot dog stand in summer - an actual stand, not just a bunch of guys hanging out. Good hot dogs, give em a try. Sports games, I think I have seen baseball, softball, and soccer. read more

Very nice atmosphere. Safe after school classes. Kevin runs very good athletic classes too. Can't wait for the pool to open!

I like this park so much, not just because it's my neighborhood park, but because it's huge, it's clean and they have so many activities. It's also surrounded by a nice quiet neigborhood in Old Irving Park. I love checking out the farmers market during the summer months and checking out Movies in the Park. The only thing that's missing from this park is a doggie park. That would make it just perfect. read more

We live a little east of this park, but we come here regularly for various activities (I wrote a separate review for the Farmer's Market in the summer). This is a great park in a nice friendly neighborhood with some cool architectural features to boot. I do want to issue a warning to parents: the bathrooms are disgusting. At least the men's. The upstairs one in the field house never seems to work right, and seems to have been used by people with both vision impairments and severe digestive disorders. I try to discourage my sons from going on trees, but that seems cleaner and more sanitary than the fieldhouse. Last time out, we used the locker room bathroom, which was only marginally better. However, in both cases, the urinals are mounted too high for my kids to use. This may seem like a small detail to write a review about, but if you have small boys, places for them to go are critical. Other than that, it is of course a great park with an involved neighborhood that sponsors all sorts of great activities in the park, including a 4th of July Parade. I'm so glad to live near it. read more

I absolutely love this park and am here with my dog 2-4 times per day. There are always good people from the neighborhood around with their dogs. The bi-weekly farmer's market during the summer is great, albeit a little expensive. Movies in the park were way better when they were more frequent, but these things happen. I have gone to lap swim a few times and the facility is nice. Where did the hot dog stand go? Used to be here every summer. read more

As a long-time resident of the area, Independence Park remains my favorite Spring and Summer spot The park maintains an impressive space in the neighborhood, complete with a hot dog stand, ice cream vendors, baseball/softball diamonds, 4 tennis courts, kid's playground, plenty of room for soccer/football and indoor room in the field house for swimming, basketball, arts/crafts and space for birthday parties. Plenty of jogging room and kids wil love the water sprinkler, too! The park's population reflects the area - ethnically diverse and steady traffic of people. Equal parts children, teenagers, young adult, adults and senior citizens. Great haven for dogs, people watching, sunbathing and the annual Farmers Market. The park is also home to the Latino Street Softball League, who play every Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. You can see me support "The Drunks" every Sunday. read more

The facility is old and a bit run down. For example, the light fixtures outside on the porch are broken with exposed wires. The gym and other rooms are tiny and there aren't enough toilets. It's better than some field houses in the city, but that's not saying much. They do have some interesting programs but while the staff is nice, they're aren't really all that competent with their coaching and administering of programs. But like many city employees, they're just showing up to collect the check and not really work all that hard. I could give some very specific examples but considering how the "city" uh... "works", I don't want to say anything that could cause them to single me out. So... check this park out but don't expect to be impressed. read more

It's a nice park. Several amenities. Nice walking paths. Two main complaints, it's not a dog park and they don't enforce leash laws, and they do not shovel the sidewalk along the perimeter of the park - no one does - and it gets treacherous in the winter time. I'd over look the dog thing if would keep the perimeter sidewalk cleared during the winter. read more

This park is probably on my top list of places to go just to hang get some sun and relax or to come and kick around the soccer ball. Great open space with a kid park and two diamonds to play on. Parking can be a bit difficult to do around the park but the lot is usually open but it's perfect to ride your bike there or hop on the Irving park bus. probably the only draw back to this place is the lack of an outdoor pool and there indoor pool is pretty tiny. But it gets the job done and I usually go here during the weekend or sometime during the week for adult swim. Also not to many people turn out for it either. Come and enjoy yourself at this park especially for movie in the park. Careful though there are a lot of rambunctious kids running around. read more

I give this park a thumbs up for their swimming program. My child has also taken dodge ball, art and tumbling here. It is a small park environment and small close knit community. If you live in the neighborhood you will see people you know here. I give it 4 stars because the down side is the playground could stand to be improved it is older than old. Also in the winter the heat inside is at times unbearable! My child quit dodge ball and tumbling because he simply could not take the heat. But for swimming he is okay with the heat because of the pool water being kinda cold. Outside is also a running track and tennis courts. There is also a resident program here for down syndrome teens and adults. I do not know much about this program. I have also heard really good things about the baseball program here but we have not checked that out yet. read more

Yes, Love this park! Spend a lot of time here with my pooches when I want to do a little work and maybe run into some other fun dog people. I understand there is a nice little doggy group that meets early mornings here as well. read more

My favorite park. I use it mostly to run and play Frisbee. I also work out in the tiny gym they have in the field house. This place really enhances the whole neighborhood. It includes playground, 4 tennis courts, 2 baseball diamonds, a concrete fountain area for kids to play in, lots of great trees to climb (that's where you'll find me), a field house with indoor pool, basketball court, a big party room, locker rooms and like I said a tiny gym. The coolest thing is that they have a projector and will play movies in the park every once in a while but even better they use that same projector to show all Bears night games at the park so the whole community can come together and watch the game outside picnic style. The daytime crowd is usually moms and kids and sometimes some cuties on break from the Pivot Point beauty school next door. I love this park, I feel it makes my neighborhood very special. read more

Took my kids to the pool and the life guards where on there phones the whole time. They where letting people dive in the pool mind you it's about 9 feet deep. We where in there for only like 30 min and I took my kids and left. The pool locker rooms need an major update big time. This park is nice outside but not inside and the play ground needs an update not coming back. This was my 1st time coming here never again read more