The stretch of Belmont Avenue in Lakeview between Sheffield and Halsted has been Chicago's centre for punk, goth, and alternative subculture since the 1980s — record shops, vintage clothing stores, tattoo parlours, head shops, and the kind of youth retail that has survived the neighbourhood's gentrification around it. The density of alternative retail on this block is unusual and worth seeing even if the specific shops change.
Reckless Records' original location, now carrying used rock and punk vinyl, anchors the musical identity of the block. The adjacent Berlin nightclub (primarily electronic and gay-friendly) has been operating since 1983. The crowd on Belmont is the most visually diverse in Lakeview, mixing generations of subcultural participation from teenagers to middle-aged regulars. L Red Line to Belmont.