Chicago Neighborhoods and Neighborhood Visits

Neighborhoods: In small groups, your assignment is to visit at least two of the neighborhoods described below (or others approved by me in advance). This is over and above the ones we all visit. All are accessible by bus or by the CTA trains. If you are outgoing, and have a chance to talk to people in these neighborhoods, by all means do so. Sometimes the bus or train gives you an opportunity for conversation, and some drivers are very helpful. Please do your exploration in small groups (but including at least three for safety). Include a description of these neighborhoods in your journal or paper.

In general, notice the following aspects of the neighborhoods you visit:

A. Physical Aspects. Is it residential/commerical/industrial or some combination of these? What are the buildings like (how old, how large, what syle, what condition)? Waht about the streets and parks? Are they clean, littered, covered with glass? What can you tell from the street signs and the names of businesses and buildings? Are there signs of more than one ethnic group (maybe over time)? What kinds of automobiles do you see? Do people seem concerned about security with their cars, houses, or businesses?

B. Institutions. What kinds of businesses, churches, synagogues, mosques, school, restaurants, bars do you see? For the churches, what about size and denomination? You may be able to enter and explore religious buildings, or they may be locked up (that tells you something too). Go into some of the commercial establishments too; maybe eat a meal and notice the other customers?

C. People. Describe the people you see in this neighborhood, including age, gender, race and ethnicity. do you hear languages other than English being spoken? What about the way people dress? Does anyone approach you? Challenge you? Offer you help?

D. Miscellaneous. What are the maor activities in this neighborhood? Do you see it as a neighborhood in transition? Deteriorating? Fixing itself up (gentrifying?) What can you conclude about the history of this neighborhood, and what would you predict for its future? Did you feel safe in this neighborhood? Welcome? Why or why not? What abbout the people who live there: are they signs that they feel the neighborhood is dangerous? Do you think it is a high-crime area? How would you feel about living in this neighborhood.

E. Other. Would you recommend this neighborhood to members of future field trips as a good/interesting neighborhood to visit? Is there anything they should particularly look for? A restaurant where they should eat?

You are doing a version of qualitative (field) research, and this means that you yourself are one of the instruments of research. Pay close attention to your own feelings, reactions, intuitions. They certainly aren't the last word; you could feel nervous in what would turn out on closer examination to be a very safe neighborhood. But your reactions are important to notice and a good starting point. Also be guided by your own comfort level in initiating conversation with the people you meet. People on this field trip in the past have often noted the general level of friendliness and helpfulness among Chicagoans, and I endorse that. Bus drivers, for example, are sometimes a gold mine of information. . If several of you are going somewhere on the CTA, you might try splitting up where you sit, rather than sitting together. If you initiate conversation, perhaps mention that you're in Chicago for a week with a class, and ask for suggestions of places to visit and things to see and do. Or ask whether they live in Chicago, how long they've lived here, how they like it, what they like best (and perhaps worst).

Bucktown/Wicker Park: This is a formerly Jewish/Polish neighborhood (it's where Public Defender Fred Friedman grew up) and then a Puerto Rican neighborhood --now becoming a center for young hip artists and professionals. Pick up the Blue Line at Congress and LaSalle (west from the hostel a block or two); take the train going north, marked O'Hare, and take the Damen Exit (the next one after Division). This puts you at the intersection of Damen, North, and Milwaukee. Look for signs of gentrification, but also for the continuing Puerto Rican presence. When you are through exploring this neighborhood, if you also want to explore the Logan Park neighborhood, you can get back on the Blue Line and go north three more stops (get off at Logan Park) Or you can take the bus northeast on Milwaukee. See Logan Park/Jackowo below.

Chinatown. Take the Red Line South to the Cermak/Chinatown exit. This is a relatively small community in geographic terms including just eight square blocks, so that you can explore it thoroughly. Notice the mix of ages, the number of people speaking Chinese, the goods available in stores. Be sure to see the On Leong Merchants Association Building at 2216 S. Wentworth. You might also stop in at the Chinatown branch of the Chicago public library, on the south end of Wentworth; this library has the largest circulation of any branch library in Chicago and almost half of its circulation is Chinese language books and cassettes. We may go here the first night we arrive in town, and if so, we'll break into groups.

Hyde Park. Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago (and the first American graduate department of sociology) is one of the few Chicago neighborhoods where Black folks and white folks live together, if not always in harmony, at least in dialogue. The University is historically a gentrifying force and is sometimes viewed as trying to insulate and isolate Hyde Park from the surrounding communities, which are mostly Black. Take a Cottage Grove bus (#4) south to 56th, which is the boundary between Hyde Park and the University of Chicago campus (I think the #3 bus south on Michigan Avenue also works; check with the driver). The Museum of Science and Industry, the DuSable Museum, the Oriental Institute, and many great bookstores can also be found in Hyde Park. You may want to visit the campus itself. The University of Chicago was established in the 1890s with money from the Rockefeller family, who wanted it to offer a midwestern competitor to the Ivy League universities, with more emphasis on science and the practical world of business. Its sociology department was the greatest in the country for at least thirty years, and it is still (with Wisconsin) one of the top two graduate departments in the country. It's address is 1126 E. 59th St, near the south end of the campus; while you're there, be sure to also visit the nearby Rockefeller Memorial Chapel (1156 E. 59th Street).

Lakeview/Wrigleyview/ "Boystown" Take the Red Line north to Belmont. Begin with Boystown, the first officially designated gay district in the country. Head east along Belmont to Broadway and then turn north. Explore some of the side streets to the east a little bit (be sure to take Hawthorne Place east to see the mansions along that street) but continue to make your way up Broadway to the intersection with Grace and Halsted; make your way south on Halsted. Consider eating at HB (stands for Hearty Boys), 3404 N. Halsted ($14-19), or at Ann Sather's Restaurant, 929 West Belmont(great cinnamon rolls and reasonably priced food). If you aren't going to the Cubs game on Thursday, maybe take a detour west on W. Waveland or W. Addison to the environs of Wrigley field and explore there. The follow Halsted back to Belmont. Turn west a block to the corner of Belmont and Clark. Notice the City Suites Hotel, 933 West Belmont, which is one of three gay-popular boutique hotels marketed as "Neighborhood Inns of Chicago."Follow Clark south to Diversey, again with some short side trips to get off the main business streets. Another the the "Neighborhood Inns" hotels is Willows Hotel at Diversey & Broadway From Diversey, take the Red Line South to get back to the hostel, exiting at Harrison.

Logan Park/ Jackowo. A one-time center of Scandinavian settlement which incorproates influences of the Puerto Rican and Mexican communities to the south and the Polish enclave(Jackowo).. Take the Blue Line North (see Bucktown/Wicker Park above) to the Logan Square Exit. Or take the bus north on Milwaukee from Bucktown. If you take the bus, you will probably hear people speaking Polish, and as you explore the neighborhood around Diversey, you will continue to find Polish nearly as common as English. Be sure to see St. Hyacinth's Roman Catholic Church at 6336 W. Wolfram Street, where services are still held in Polish and over 8000 people attend mass weekly. It might be open. Poles are the largest white ethnic group in Chicago, numbering more than one million, and there's been a lot of new migration from Poland since the Iron Curtain came down in Eastern Europe.

Little Village. As of the 2000 census, Latinos in Chicago numbered more than 750,000. The majority were Mexican-American and this is the oldest and most developed Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago. this neighborhood is readily accessible the day we visit the Cook County jail, which is directly across from the archway gate to Pueblo Pequeno on 26th. Compared with Pilsen(see below), this is a relatively more prosperous community, and the stores along 26th are doing well. Notice murals at 26th and Homan; 25th and St. Louis; 25th and Pulaski; in back of Los Camales Restaurant at 26th and Kedzie.

West Rogers Park: Take the CTA Brown Line north at Adams and Wabash and get off at Western. Take the bus north to Devon and West Rogers Park (Bus 49B), and explore to the West along Devon. It takes nearly an hour from the time you leave the downtown, so be prepared for the time commitment. I explored this area in 2004, and an idea that struck me at the time was that you'd probably have an interesting experience getting your hair done here (I went by a shop that seemd to be serving mostly the Indian community.) Of course, that's not a strategy that would work for me. It takes almost an hour jjust to get there. This was at one time a mostly orthodox Jewish community, but recently there has been a large influx of Indian and Pakistani immigrants, who have opened many shops between California and Leavitt. About 40% white, 25% black, 20% Latino, and 10% Asian.

You can also talk to people you meet in Chicago--on the hostel, on the bus, on the streets, about other neighborhoods that would be fun and interesting to visit. If you visit a neighborhood not on this list, give me the scoop when you get back, so I can add it to my list.

EXPLORATION BY BUS OR ELEVATED TRAIN: :

CTA Red Line(Dan Ryan) South. Catch the red line south and take it to the end of the line at 95th, through the historic south side of Chicago (one of the largest African-American ghettos in the U.S.). As you leave the downtown area, your fellow passengers will be African American, as will the neighborhood on 95th. Explore a few blocks along 95th going east, but don't exceed your comfort level. If you are white, pay attention to your own reactions to being dramatically in the minority. Don't be surprised if you're asked why you're here or people suggest that you must be lost. You may want to visit the campus of Chicago State University, at 9501 S. Martin Luther King Drive, which is just a few blocks east on 95th from the CTA stop. As college students, a campus if a familiar setting, yet here is a campus with a most minority student population, so see if you notice any differences.

Division Street Bus. Catch a bus on LaSalle Street going north to Division Street, and then take the bus all the way to the end of Division Street. At the end of the line, you will have to get off and catch another bus back. You will pass through a wide variety of ethnic neighborhoods and social classes, including Puerto Rican, African American, and Polish. Notice Roberto Clemente High School, a high rise high school attended by a mostly minority population. The time we took this route with our whole group, the bus driver advised us not to get off the bus in some of the rougher neighborhoods.

Western Avenue bus tour of Chicago north to south.Take the CTA Brown Line north at Adams and Wabash and get off at Western. Instead of going north (as for West Rogers Park above), take the bus south on Western Avenue and pay close attention to the changing scene as you travel all the way south to the beginning of the suburbs. USA Today describes this street, which is the longest in Chicago, as a "sociologist's dream." Some of the neighborhoods along the way are described in a Chicago Tribune article: "One Chicago Street Tells Census Story" . You can sample all the neighborhoods in passing, from the bus, in which case you should go all the way south to 111th and then come back north. Or you can stop at one of the neighborhoods along the way and explore it in depth. .

Bucktown/Wicker Park (Western and North). Mostly Latino, rapidly gentrifying, center for urban professionals and young artists (not far from Association House).

Ukrainian Village (Western and Chicago). Center of Ukrainian life but again, a gentrifying neighborhood. Check out Ann's Bakery on Chicago Avenue.

Rockwell Gardens (Western and Jackson). One of the city's most troubled high rise housing projects, with several of the brick towers already demolished and the rest slated for demolition in the next 5 years. I wouldn't suggest stopping in this neighborhood. A group planning to stop here in 2004 was headed off by the bus driver, who'd grown up there, and who had a lot of interesting observations to share.

Pilsen (Western and Cermak). See above description.

McKinley Park (Western and Pershing). Working class neighborhood where Latinos are replacing Poles and other East Europeans.

Beverly/Morgan Park (Western and 111th). Upper-middle class neighborhoods, nearly suburban in feel. Beverly is mostly Irish-American; Morgan-Park is about 60% black.