Bucktown is primarily residential, with a mix of older single family homes, new builds with edgy architecture, and converted industrial loft spaces. The neighborhood's origins are rooted in the Polish working class, which first began to settle in the area in the 1830s[4]. A large influx of Germans began in 1848 and in 1854 led to the establishment of the town of Holstein, which was eventually annexed into Chicago in 1863. In the 1890s and 1900s, immigration from Poland, the annexation of Jefferson Township into Chicago and the completion of the Logan Square Branch of the Metropolitan Elevated Lines contributed to the rapid increase in Bucktown's population density. Three of the city's most opulent churches designed in the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style'- St. Hedwig's, the former Cathedral of All Saints and St. Mary of the Angels date from this era.

There are many bars and restaurants in the vicinity and there has been a large number of "teardowns" of the older housing stock - replacing them with new and large residential buildings.