What event marked the first nail in Wicker Park’s gentrified coffin?

a) Being showcased as an idyllic Gen X theme park in the 2000 John Cusack/Jack Black film High Fidelity
b) Becoming the protest-inspiring setting for the 11th season of MTV’s The Real World in 2001
c) Playing host to a Starbucks at the fabled “crotch” intersection of Milwaukee, North and Damen avenues that same year
d) Losing Chicago native and erstwhile blow-job queen Liz Phair to the pop charts with the release of her eponymous, critically dismissed 2003 album

Scroll down for the answer.

Answer: a. Although The Real World incursion proved a headline-grabbing flashpoint in the gentrification war, Cusack helped hipster wannabes feel good about forking over big bucks for slices of the Bohemian dream.

NEXT>>