Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends – A project of The Chicago Community Trust WEST SIDE Housing and history set promise of revival for city’s ‘best side’ “The West Side is the Best Side,” say residents of this vast collection of neighborhoods, comparing their home to the South Side communities where African Americans have also lived for many years. The West Side, indeed, has just as storied a history, hosting one of the city’s first African-American communities back in the 1850s, along Lake and Kinzie Streets, and it remains an important and politically powerful part of Chicago and the region. Today’s West Side is home to 229,000 people in five distinct neighborhoods, from East and West Garfield Park to North Lawndale, Austin, and Humboldt Park. The planning district is predominantly African American except for a few diverse enclaves in Austin and the Latino portions of Humboldt Park. Well located along transit lines and railroads, the West Side was built up early in Chicago’s history, with developers erecting thousands of cottages, two-flats, and large apartment buildings to house workers from nearby factories and downtown businesses. Massive job centers, including metal fabricators, candy companies, appliance makers, and the 10,000-job Sears Roebuck complex, provided paychecks for generations of families, who in turn supported busy shopping districts on Madison Source: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using 2010 Decennial Census.
Transcript
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends – A project of The Chicago Community Trust
WEST SIDE Housing and history set promise of revival for city’s ‘best side’
“The West Side is the Best Side,” say
residents of this vast collection of
neighborhoods, comparing their home to
the South Side communities where
African Americans have also lived for
many years. The West Side, indeed, has
just as storied a history, hosting one of the
city’s first African-American communities
back in the 1850s, along Lake and Kinzie
Streets, and it remains an important and
politically powerful part of Chicago and
the region.
Today’s West Side is home to 229,000
people in five distinct neighborhoods,
from East and West Garfield Park to
North Lawndale, Austin, and Humboldt
Park. The planning district is predominantly African American except for a few diverse enclaves in
Austin and the Latino portions of Humboldt Park.
Well located along transit lines and railroads, the West Side was built up early in Chicago’s history,
with developers erecting thousands of cottages, two-flats, and large apartment buildings to house
workers from nearby factories and downtown businesses. Massive job centers, including metal
fabricators, candy companies, appliance makers, and the 10,000-job Sears Roebuck complex, provided
paychecks for generations of families, who in turn supported busy shopping districts on Madison
Source: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using 2010 Decennial Census.
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – West Side – February 2015 – Page 2
Street, Chicago Avenue, North Avenue, Roosevelt Road, and Ogden Avenue. The West Side was never
a rich community – though it had pockets of larger, fancier homes – but it was a solid, working-class
area, four miles deep and four wide, that was home after World War II to more than 400,000
Chicagoans.
Economic and racial change
Those post-war years marked the beginning of a major shift on the West Side as industrial companies
began moving to the suburbs or out of state, making low-skill employment less available. After decades
of hard use, the housing stock was deteriorating, and larger units were cut into “kitchenettes” to
provide additional low-cost housing. In the 1950s, construction of the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290)
cut a block-wide ditch across the West Side, displacing thousands and separating neighborhoods. Then,
starting in the 1950s, the destructive pattern of white flight further transformed the neighborhoods.
The black West Side was created by a mass exodus of white
households, moving east to west, block by block, as real estate
brokers fanned the flames – “panic peddling” – so that departing
families would sell at a low price. As African-Americans moved
in, paying inflated prices, the blocks became 100 percent black,
and the selling moved on. In the Jewish community of North
Lawndale in the 1950s, the African American population grew
from 13,000 to 113,000. East Garfield Park started turning in the
mid-1950s and was 98 percent African American by 1970. West
Garfield Park shifted from 84 percent white to 97 percent black in
the 1970s. Austin and Humboldt Park changed last, the wave moving west and north despite vigorous
efforts by community groups and churches to create stable, mixed neighborhoods.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 5, 1968, two years after King lived briefly in
North Lawndale to protest housing discrimination, the West Side reacted with riots and fires,
destroying much of the 16th Street retail strip where King had lived and many buildings on Roosevelt
Road and Madison Street. The emptiness and poverty of today’s West Side is often attributed to the
WEST SIDE OVER TIME 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Population 395,501 335,696 277,073 269,031 229,317
Share of population in poverty 20.5% 31.7% 34.8% 31% 33.4%
Sources: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data (top sectors) and 2012 Five-Year American Community Survey (unemployment).
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – West Side – February 2015 – Page 5
Source: Chicago Transit Authority Annual Ridership Reports.
These core assets have supported new investments such as George Westinghouse College Prep, a $69
million selective enrollment high school on Franklin Boulevard; Breakthrough Urban Ministries’ new
$20 million Multiplex, at 3211 W. Carroll, which includes a preschool, gymnasium, health clinic, and
café; Lawndale Christian Health Center’s new Health and Fitness Center on Ogden Avenue, which
includes medical facilities, a conference center, and restaurant; and the Galewood Yards conversion of
former rail land to a 14-screen AMC Showplace theater complex.
The neighborhoods
Each neighborhood has its own history and characteristics, so they are described separately here,
followed by discussion of shared challenges and opportunities.
Austin remains the strongest of the West Side neighborhoods with hundreds of blocks of intact,
well-maintained housing. Brick bungalows, two-flats, and large apartment buildings make Austin a
desirable place to live for both owners and renters; the community’s 34 percent homeownership
rate is the highest in the district. Unique areas include the far-west section called Galewood, which
has strong housing values alongside suburban Oak Park; Austin Village around West Midway
Park, where mansions and Victorian houses have attracted a diverse community; and The Island on
the far southwest corner, isolated by Columbus Park and industrial properties. The landmark 1870
Austin Town Hall buildings, 5610 W. Lake Street, now house park district dance and music
programs and a branch library.
Austin is Chicago’s most populous community area with 88,514 residents and a strong commercial
area along Madison Street near Austin Boulevard. Its three main industrial corridors have evolved
into mixed industrial-commercial centers. Roosevelt Road has larger buildings that have been
repurposed as multi-tenant facilities; the Cicero Avenue corridor includes manufacturing and
distribution facilities plus the former Brach Candy factory, which was demolished in 2014 for
redevelopment by owners ML Realty; and the Armitage Industrial Corridor includes the M&M
Mars candy factory at Oak Park Avenue and smaller factories to the east. A big-box shopping
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – West Side – February 2015 – Page 6
center at North and Cicero is anchored by Planet Fitness and Food 4 Less.
North Lawndale was densely built to house workers at huge factories including the McCormick
Reaper plant; Western Electric telephone plant in Cicero, which employed 45,000; and the Sears
headquarters and catalog fulfillment center at Homan and Arthington. Several times North
Lawndale became severely overcrowded, peaking at 125,000 residents in 1960, but today after
sustained housing loss, it is home to 36,912 people. Redevelopment efforts, including those of
Lawndale Christian Development Corporation and the 23-company Lawndale Restoration project,
have improved thousands of units, while private owners have maintained solid blocks of
greystones, bungalows, and other housing styles on side streets and in the so-called K-Town area.
North Lawndale was the initial focus of the Chicago Historic Greystone Initiative, a now-citywide
effort by Neighborhood Housing Services.
On 16th Street at Hamlin, where Martin Luther King, Jr. lived, Lawndale Christian Development
Corporation developed the $18 million, 45-unit Dr. King Legacy Apartments and the MLK Fair
Housing Exhibit Center. Private and public efforts have transformed the once-vacant Sears complex
into a residential community that now includes 350 units of mixed-income rental and ownership
housing. The area includes the Homan Square community center and Henry Ford Academy
Charter School; in 2015, Mercy Housing Lakefront plans redevelopment of the vacant printing and
product-testing building into 161 units of affordable housing. Phase VI of the Homan Square
housing development will add 52 additional units in 2015, and the original Sears Tower is being
rehabbed for nonprofit and training uses. Nearby at Fillmore and Independence, UCAN is building
a $34 million campus to provide programming for at-risk youth.
West Garfield Park is the smallest of the West Side community areas with just 18,000 residents.
The Madison and Pulaski area was once the West Side’s commercial center and continues to be a
major retail node. The community has the West Side’s largest skyscrapers, the 14-story Midwest
Athletic Center at 6 N. Hamlin, whose 276 units were rehabilitated by Holsten Development, and
the 10-story, Guyon Hotel at 4000 W. Washington Boulevard, now vacant. Both are on the National
Register of Historic Places. The rest of the neighborhood is residential except for the industrial
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – West Side – February 2015 – Page 7
corridor along Lake Street and Kinzie Avenue, which includes metal fabricators and a CTA rail
maintenance facility.
East Garfield Park is separated from its western neighbor by the Garfield Park Conservatory and
adjoining Garfield Park, both of which are regional attractions. Home to 20,567 residents, East
Garfield has attracted reinvestment in both housing and commercial corridors, driven in part by its
proximity to the Near West Side and downtown. Lake Street and the eastern ends of Fulton,
Carroll, and Kinzie have active industrial and commercial businesses including specialized
manufacturers, recycling companies, and landscape-supply businesses. The Garfield Park
Community Council has targeted Kedzie Avenue with greening improvements, business
development, and public events including a farmers’ market. About 75 artists work out of the West
Carroll Art Studios, 3200 W. Carroll, and the Switching Station Artists Lofts at 15 S. Homan house
24 work-live spaces.
Humboldt Park is a larger neighborhood with 56,323 residents on and around the east-west
corridors of Chicago Avenue, Division Street, and North Avenue. Large newer developments
include the Menard’s and Walmart stores on North Avenue east of Cicero; a $24 million, 80-unit
senior building at North and Pulaski, built in 2014 by Hispanic Housing Development Corporation;
and the West Chicago Avenue Rebuild Initiative, led by the Chicago Community Loan Fund and
West Humboldt Park Development Council. That effort has brought the Turkey Chop restaurant to
3506 W. Chicago Avenue and created a new Special Service Area taxing district to advance further
improvements, including a marketing campaign.
Humboldt Park’s housing was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis but has seen renewed investment in
recent years. The City of Chicago Micro Market Recovery Program has reoccupied 154 units in a
target area centered around Homan Avenue, and the nonprofit Bickerdike Redevelopment
Corporation continues to build and manage affordable housing in the area. Latin United
Community Housing Association is advancing the 42-unit Tierra Linda development on 10
scattered sites near the western end of the Bloomingdale Trail, which will open in 2015 and has
already attracted private-sector housing and retail development to the east. The eastern part of the
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – West Side – February 2015 – Page 8
neighborhood is seeing housing price increases as buyers move west from Wicker Park and
Bucktown.
Despite relatively low incomes – about 40 percent of all households earn less than $28,000 per year –
the West Side’s population density supports substantial retail districts that include more than 1,500
small businesses. All of the major corridors show some areas of strength and recent reinvestment, but
all also struggle with vacancies; some blocks, even along major arteries like Madison Street, have few or
no businesses.
Challenges and opportunities
The West Side’s primary challenge in coming decades is to rebuild its residential and economic base,
which in turn will support stabilization and growth along the retail corridors. Having lost more than
204,000 residents since its peak in 1960, there is plenty of room for growth.
Source: Easy Analytic Software, Inc., updated January 2014, as displayed on Woodstock Institute Data Portal.
But with the population still falling across most areas of the West Side, there is little short-term
likelihood for substantial new housing development. Three quality-of-life plans created in 2005 as part
of LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program all emphasized the need to cluster new development
around strong nodes of existing activity, and to help residents improve education and employment
skills. The plans for East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, and Humboldt Park recommended interim
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – West Side – February 2015 – Page 9
use of vacant land for community gardens, side yards, and recreation space, along with improvements
at major intersections on the retail corridors.
Some of these goals have been accomplished. Community gardens and urban farms have expanded
across the West Side, with strong networks of gardeners in East and West Garfield Park, a new
production garden at 16th and Ridgeway in North Lawndale, and a 2.6-acre farm at 407 N. Kedzie
operated by Heartland Human Care Services. The city’s Large Lots program attracted more than 280
applications from neighbors interested in buying vacant city-owned parcels in East Garfield Park, and
residents of Austin became eligible to apply starting December 1, 2014.
Commercial space has also seen demand for agriculture uses. Metropolitan Farms has erected three
greenhouses for hydroponic farming on formerly vacant land at 4250 W. Chicago Avenue, and Urban
Till employs 25 people growing hydroponic herbs and greens for restaurants in a 30,000-square-foot
space in the former Sunbeam factory, 5420 W. Roosevelt Road.
Further industrial development shows promise as prices and demand have risen in the Kinzie and
Pilsen corridors closer to the Loop. Metal fabricators, a cabinet maker, window factories, set designers,
and granite supply houses are among those investing in West Side facilities. Freedman Seating in West
Humboldt Park recently expanded into two adjacent buildings, employing more than 500 to make seats
for transit vehicles including CTA buses. Freedman and dozens of other manufacturers work with
Austin Polytech high school to prepare students for careers in modern factories. Several nonprofits also
help residents gain job skills, including North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN), which serves
the formerly incarcerated and other hard-to-employ populations. NLEN trainees raise bees in North
Lawndale and sell the resulting honey and beauty products under the beeloveTM brand.
A challenge shared by all West Side neighborhoods is a shortage of high-quality local schools. There
are some top-rated public schools and a few options for selective-enrollment or private schools,
including Providence St. Mel’s, but the vast majority of local schools are Level 2 or Level 3, and quality
high school options are limited. Because of sustained population decline, Chicago Public Schools closed
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – West Side – February 2015 – Page 10
13 West Side schools in 2013, creating empty buildings and sidewalks as students shifted to other
schools.
Creating a stable, high-performance educational system on the West Side, and improving safety and
perceptions about the neighborhoods, will be major long-term challenges as the district rebuilds
around its areas of strength.
Examples of development opportunities
Place Location Status Notes
Industrial corridors Numerous areas have available space and open land.
Existing buildings range from modern to obsolete.
Demand for industrial and distribution space has been growing; there is market activity in most West Side industrial areas.
Vacant land on retail corridors
Numerous locations on most major arteries.
Mixed-use buildings with housing above retail could help increase population, demand for retail.
Vacant residential lots and properties
Numerous locations. Uses other than housing may be most appropriate except in strongest market areas.
City’s Large Lots program is likely to convey hundreds of lots to neighbors in East Garfield Park and Austin.
Lake Street corridor Under CTA Green Line from California to Laramie.
Many vacant lots and underutilized buildings, but also substantial recent investments.
Inspiration Café runs restaurant and training facility at 3504 W. Lake Street; Illinois State University Teacher Education Pipeline has offices at 2934 W. Lake. Industrial and landscaping supply firms continue to invest in the corridor.
Kedzie at CTA Green Line station
Kedzie Avenue and Lake Street
The southeast and southwest corners include about 10 acres of vacant land.
A conceptual plans was developed as part of the 2014 Kedzie Corridor Preliminary Study.
Armstrong School (closed 2013)
5345 W. Congress Pkwy. 1.34-acre site; no major repair needs.
Post-WWII building in South Austin is not a priority for historic preservation.
Calhoun School (closed 2013)
2833 W. Adams St. 3.62-acre site; mechanical repairs needed.
East Garfield Park building is not a priority for historic preservation.
Dodge School (closed 2013)
2651 W. Washington Blvd. 2.85-acre site; needs no major repairs.
Three-story building in East Garfield Park is not a priority for historic preservation.
Emmet School (closed 2013)
5500 W. Madison St. 3.58-acre site; building-envelope repairs needed.
Decorative brick building may be eligible for National Register of Historic Places; redevelopment could have a positive impact on nearby South Austin area.
Goldblatt School (closed 2013)
4257 W. Adams St. 2.07-acre site; building needs mechanical and envelope repairs.
West Garfield Park building is not a priority for historic preservation.
Hensen School (closed 2013)
1326 S. Avers Ave. 2.44-acre site; building envelope repairs needed.
Building is not a priority for historic preservation.
Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – West Side – February 2015 – Page 11
Key School (closed 2013)
517 N. Parkside Ave. 2.13-acre site; building needs envelope repairs.
Dwight Perkins-designed structure, built in 1907, is adjacent to Austin Town Hall and may be eligible for National Register; rehabilitation could contribute to local area. Building identified by Preservation Chicago as one of seven most threatened in 2014.
Leland School (closed 2013)
5221 W. Congress Pkwy. .95-acre site; no major repairs needed.
One-story South Austin building not a priority for historic preservation.
Marconi School (closed 2013)
230 N. Kolmar Ave. 2.46-acre site; no major repairs needed.
Three-story structure in West Garfield Park is not a priority for historic preservation.
Melody School (closed 2013)
412 S. Keeler Ave. 1.92-acre site; building needs mechanical and envelope repairs.
West Garfield Park school is not a priority for historic preservation.
Paderewski School (closed 2013)
2221 S. Lawndale Ave. 1.67-acre site; needs mechanical repair.
School served populations from both North Lawndale and adjacent South Lawndale (Little Village); was one of few bridges between neighborhoods. Includes recent Knowledge Is Power mural on exterior. Not a priority for historic preservation.
Pope School (closed 2013)
1852 S. Albany Ave. 1.67-acre site; no major repairs needed.
Next to Douglas Park in North Lawndale, building has been proposed to National Register of Historic Places as part of Boulevards submission.
Ward School (closed 2013)
410 N. Monticello Ave. 1.58-acre site; needs mechanical and envelope repairs.
East Garfield Park building is not a priority for historic preservation.
Data note: Demographic and other data is compiled by Chicago Community Area, which may differ slightly from the boundaries of the CN2015 Planning Districts. Community Areas included in this profile are Austin, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, and North Lawndale.
Research support for Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends was provided by a team convened by The Chicago Community Trust. The summary of assets for this planning district was created by LISC Chicago and Teska Associates with materials from Metropolitan Planning Council, Place Consulting, Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, and many other sources. Author: Patrick Barry. Learn more about the West Side and Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 at cct.org/CN2015/WestSide. Learn more about data and sources at cct.org/CN2015/DataSources.
W. Humboldt Park Dev. Corp.Chicago Avenue Corridor
Westside Health Authority
Children's Garden of Hope
C. Park's Farmer's Market
Garfield Park Comm CouncilGarfield Park Conservatory
Community Production Garden
Former N. Lawndale College Prep.
Chicago WS Christian School
Westside Holistic Fam Srvcs
Austin Satellite Senior Ctr.
Lawndale Christian Dev. Corp.
Christ the King HS
Salvation Army's Freedom Center
Mars Chocolate North America
Douglas Park Comm &Cultural Center
Bobby E. Wright Mental Health
Lawndale Christian Health Ctr
Switching Station Artist Lofts
Lawndale Christian Health Cntr.
YMCA
Original Sears Hdqrts
BUILD
Walmart
Menards
Urban Till
Greenhouses
W. Humboldt Park MMRP
City Escape
By the Hand
Pioneer Bank
Homan Square
Douglas Park
Midwest Fence
Rutherford Sayre Park
Columbus Park
Garfield Park
Senior Housing
Former Pope ES
Eyes on Austin
Salvation Army
Heartland Farm
Bethel New Life
Bethel New Life
Power House High
Former Henson ES
Former Key SchoolFormer Ward School
Former Guyon Hotel
Former Lawndale ES
Planned Parenthood
Former Emmet School
Inspiration Kitchen
Former Goldblatt ES
Former Excel HSChicago Commons (CWF)
St. Angela's School
Chicago Kedzie Plaza
ProvidenceSt. Mel's
Central Park Theater
Austin Health Center
Former Marconi School
Laramie Bank Building
ATC's Farmer's Market
Advocate Health Center
Midwest Athletic Center
West Carroll Art Studios
K-Town Historic DistrictChristy Webber Landscapes
Former Brach's Candy Factory
Hay ES
Orr HS
May ES
Howe ES
Nash ES
Raby HS
Kipp ES
Penn ES
Voise HS
Sayre ES
Lewis ESYoung ES
Nobel ES
Locke ES
Clark ES
Learn ES
Herzl ES
Mason ES
Crown ES
Lovett ES
Mcnair ES
Austin HSTilton ES Cather ES
Delano ES
Jensen ES
Sumner ES
Dvorak ES
Piccolo ESBrunson ES
Beidler ES
Spencer ES
Faraday ES
Ericson ES
Gregory ES
N. Lawndale Emp. Network (CWF)Webster ES
Frazier ESChalmers ES
Collins HS
Johnson ES
CCA Academy
Hefferan ES Marshall HSDepriest ES
Hughes C ES
Catalyst ES
Camelot Safe
West Park ES
Ellington ES
Banner West HS
North-Grand HS
Frazier Charter
North Lawndale HS
Kipp Charter Ascend
YCCS Charter Austin
Learn Charter School
Kipp Create College Prep
Legler
North Austin
West Chicago Avenue NorthwestIndustrial Corridor
Roosevelt/CiceroIndustrial Corridor
Austin
Douglass
North Pulaski
Daley - West Humboldt Library
Lawndale Mental Health Center
South Austin STISpecialty Clinic15TH
11TH
10TH
Bethany
Hartgrove
Mount Sinai
Sacred Heart
Loretto
Harrison Street Corridor
290
290
Chicago Avenue Corridor
16th Street Corridor
NHS - W. Humboldt Park
Austin Wellness Center
Primecare Comm. Health NW
Douglas Park
W. Chicago Ave.
E. Garfield Park MMRP
HUMBOLDT PARK
NORTH LAWNDALE
EAST GARFIELD PARK
WEST GARFIELD PARK
AUSTIN
DATE | 01.16.2015
WEST SIDE PLANNING DISTRICT ASSET MAPCHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS 2015
Cicero
Oak Park
Berwyn
SSA#63
29th Ward
28th Ward
24th Ward
37th Ward
27th Ward
36th Ward
26th Ward
22nd Ward
PULA
SKI
CENTR
AL
EISENHOWER
CERMAK
HARRISON
NORTH
CHICAGO
DIVISION
LAKE
MADISON
18TH
CICE
RO
KEDZ
IE
Midwest
Ogden/Pulaski
Northwest Industrial Corridor
Kinzie Industrial Corridor
Chicago/Central Park
Madison/Austin
Roosevelt-Cicero Ind. Corridor
Austin Commercial
North/Cicero
Galewood/Armitage
Western/Ogden Ind. Corridor
Homan ArthingtonRoosevelt/Homan
Pulaski Industrial Corridor
Division/Homan
Harrison/Central
Austin Chamber of CommerceLawndale Business & Local Development Corp.
Garfield Park Community Council
West Humboldt Park Development Council
West Garfield Park Renaissance Corportation
West Central Business Association
Northwest Connection Chamber of Commerce
West Town Concerned Citizens Coalition
See Northwest SidePlanning District
See Milwaukee AvenuePlanning District
See Pilsen Little VillagePlanning District
Cicero
Oak Park
DATE | 01.16.2015
*This planning area is located within the Greater Northwest Chicago Development Corp., Lake Kedzie Industrial Leadership Council, and Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (LIRI)
WEST SIDE PLANNING DISTRICT WARD/TIF/SSA MAPCHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS 2015
(NBDC) serves this district but main o�ce may be located o� the map
