Locksmith in Uptown, Edgewater, Rogers Park and the Far North Side

West of the lake the housing changes: bungalows, two-flats and small apartment buildings around Lincoln Square's Western Avenue and Albany Park's Kedzie Avenue. Many families here own two-flats and rent out one floor, which means planning who has which key.

West Ridge, around Devon Avenue, has busy shops and restaurants with roll-down gates and back doors on the alley. Padlocks, gate locks and rear deadbolts make up most commercial calls.

Up by Rogers Park, Loyola students often call about lockouts. Campus buildings go through the university, not an outside locksmith.

Argyle Street's Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants and the shops under the Red Line tracks keep early and late hours. Owners there often ask for a rekey after a manager leaves and for sturdier padlocks on rear doors that face the alley. On the residential side, Andersonville's frame houses and two-flats near Clark Street have gangway gates and back porch doors that deserve the same attention as the front.