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Your Chicago: Old Town

(CBS) -- It is one of Chicago's favorite neighborhoods, partly because of its proximity to the downtown and partly because it has been a center of creativity and comedy for decades.

CBS 2's Kate Sullivan takes us on a tour of Old Town.

The bells of St. Michael's Catholic Church ring on a spring day -- one of the constants in a neighborhood forever changing. First, the Germans and then the Irish – and then the hippies. Old Town has seen it all.

"You don't have to wonder what this place looked like 100 years ago; just look at it now," says neighborhood expert Shirley Baugher.

Baugher has written the book on Old Town. Actually, she's written four.

She knows Old Town like David Dattalo knows chocolate. His father started The Fudge Pot in 1963, and he took it over from him.

"I've seen generations of people -- girls I used to flirt with back in the 60s -- now they're coming in and they're grandmothers," he says.

Old Town is home to comedy -- Second City and Zanies -- restaurants like Twin Anchors, where Frank Sinatra went for ribs – and unique shops like The Fudge Shop.

For many, Old Town, with all its changes, always feels like home.

"Every one has a story and every one is just filled with character and history," Baugher says.

The Old Town Art Fair and the Wells Street Festival take place next week and help to showcase that part of the city.

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