South Chicago: Retropect In Revitalization, A Century In The Making

South Chicago Will Rise Again

Chicago is called "the city of neighborhoods."
South Chicago, formerly known as Ainsworth, located on the southeast side of the city, is counted as the 46th of the 77 official community areas of Chicago, Illinois, It is arguably the oldest to form outside of the old city limits, but within the vast Hyde Park Township. It is 14th out of Chicago's 15 lakefront neighborhoods.

The chevron shaped community is bordered on the north by E. 79th St., South Chicago Avenue (Chicago Skyway) to the west by southwest, a portion of E. 95th St. to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, and the Calumet River runs south by southeast. Once a separate city from Chicago, the community was formed to provide a local labor force for the Joseph H Brown Mill, founded in 1875. It became U.S. Steel Southworks in 1901, continuing to attract immigrants from Ireland, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Italy. South Chicago was incorporated in 1883, and at it's zenith, made Chicago the leading producer of steel products in the nation. The Sears Tower and the Hancock Building were built from South Chicago steel.

While South Chicago has a sizable African American population, other existing ethnic groups, continue to have strong ties to the community as well. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the oldest Mexican parish in the City of Chicago serving a sizable Mexican residency that stretches into East Side and Hegewisch. For over 80 years, Immaculate Conception and Saint Bronislava have served generations of South Chicago's Polish residents, whose relationships and community activism also extend into the neighborhoods of East Side, Hegewisch and Deering, which, together with South Chicago, are not merely the South Side, but truly and uniquely the Southeast Side, located even farther east of State Street than any other lakefront neighborhoods.
Off the grid from the rest of the city's major avenues, Southeast Side neighborhoods share their own list of distinctive streets, which link together the whole with South Chicago; Saginaw, Marquette, Manistee, Burham, Muskegon, Escanaba, Exchange, Commercial, Houston, Coles, Baltimore, Baker, Bond, Brandon, Burley, Mackinaw, Green Bay, Harbor Drive, and Ewing. There are, of course, the Lettered streets as well, starting with Avenue A thru O, for which South Chicago only shares Avenue O with the rest of its more eastern Southeast neighbors. This is due, however, to the, as yet, undeveloped Southworks site.
Much of the business and shopping is done "uptown" along S. Commercial Avenue. Several privately owned businesses such as clothing stores, furniture and retail, beauty salons and barber shops, a Polish deli, and many restaurants from Nigerian to Italian cuisine, are found in South Chicago. New businesses are up all along Commercial from around E. 83rd St. south. I love to walk "uptown" and see the sights. It's always clean. Maya's and Cocula, are favorite stops. I love Saturday morning breakfast at C&G Restaurant. They have the best pancakes in town, and the ham is off the bone.

Every summer there's a big sidewalk sale along the strip. You can buy ethnic cuisine from vendors and shop the stores for bargains. We even have a yearly carnival with rides with all the amusement park-style faire.
Despite the low economy and lack of services compared to the business glutted northside, "Mom and Pop" stores flourish throughout South Chicago's residential areas, more than any other neighborhood. If you need something quick, like personal items, eggs, milk or butter you can just run to the corner. You can also find seasonal fruit and vegetables.

The intersection of E. 92nd St. and South Commercial Avenue has attracted many corporations and banks, like LaSalle, Charter One and Chase, into the community, while new businesses are growing from East 83rd Street south along the revitalized Commercial Avenue.
Bessemer Park is one of the first planned parks in the city, designed by renown landscape architect Frederick Laws Olmstead of Central Park and World's Columbian Exposition fame. Connections to the The Burnham Greenway Route also wind through the community.

Like most Chicago neighborhoods, South Chicago also has its sub-communities within, which were in fact separate communities from South Chicago in the 1890s, and not as commonly recognized today like Bucktown or Little Italy. Cheltenham's eastern edge was once a Native American village, and Millgate; the place where each subsequent immigrant group settled first, which is the oldest, located south between E. 87th St., E. 95th St., and the Bush neighborhood, between E.79th St., and E. 87th St..
Closest to the lake, South Shore Drive and S. Commercial Av. are the western boundaries of these latter two sub-neighborhoods.

Today Bush and Millgate communities are ear marked for major revitalization,
with Lake Shore Drive slated for extention through the Southworks area
along the lakefront. Since the de-industrialization of South Chicago's once inaccessible shoreline in the late 1970s, E. 87th St., the main thoroughfare through the heart of South Chicago, is consider an important asset, and a proposed greenway through the community. It has been extented and widened east of S. Mackinaw Av. to 4 lanes as it approaches the shore of Lake Michigan. The former Southworks site brownfield, the largest in the nation; a cleared and remediated table of slag and concrete, is currently being transformed into Chicago's newest lakefront park with development plans underway from notable developers McCaffery, Sasaki and Owens. Avenue O (South Chicago's most eastern roadway) is also extended south to Harbor Drive, with a beautifully landscaped midian of native grasses, shrubs and trees. With a park and grocery store planned, the vacant land surrounding it is prime realestate for building. With clear views of every lakefront neighborhood to the north and the downtown skyline, the project will certainly make "Ainsworth" one of the most desired places to live in Chicago, now at the center of the city's largest (albeit unheralded) lakefront redevelopment efforts in the 21st Century.

areas, South Chicago Neighborhood's Metra Electric District South Chicago Branch has 4 newly built stations,Located as far as 3300 east of the CTA Red Line in some which teminate in the heart of the business district, between E. 92nd St. and E. 93rd St. along S. Baltimore Av.. This Metra Branch is the community's primary commuter service to downtown Chicago. CTA routes are few, and there are constant discrepancies over the amount of service provided to points outside of the community. Considered a suburban commuter rail service, the Metra South Chicago Branch is the only outbound terminus within the city limits.

The ride to downtown Chicago is a truly luxurious one, hearkening back to the days when the South Chicago Branch was called "private Row." I like to sit on the upper deck of the electric powered streamliners. If you live at least 2800 east, you're within a comfortable walking distance from a station, but anyone living on East 79th Street, west of Jeffery Avenue will find the E. 79th St. Main Line Station in Avalon Park much closer than E. 79th St. Cheltenham. The trains aren't like the "El", having the sound of steel wheels rolling over nuts and bolts, but quiet, like the sound of a breeze, with the tonal ding of an old fashioned bellstop.

If you travel the length of the route, you'll see that you may access all of Chicago's Lakefront Attractions, starting with Rainbow Beach Park and reaching Millennium Park (the northern end of Metra Electric District Main Line) in 20 minutes. With multiple stops, including, FIELD MUSEUM, the University of Chicago at Midway Plaisance, the Museum of Science and Industry among many southside museums just steps from the stations, I'm let off, virtually at the steps of THE CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER. A train ride to Jackson Park Habor Restaurant, or to a Hyde Park cafe is a unique and romantic excursion. You can even take your bike.

I'm a pedestrian by nature. Although I have private transportation I think I'll stay healthier keeping the car in the garage as much as possible. I've left my house where a CTA bus line is only steps away, road to the train station in less than 5 minutes, and traveled Metra to Shed Aquarium, or to McCormick Place for the Auto Show, where I never step outside - because the stop is under the building. With just an extra bus ride from Millennium Station downtown, I've attended the Chicago Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier within minutes from home. I love to go to Hyde Park where I have coffee and browse my favorite books at Border Books, just steps away from the station, or do my volunteer work at Nichols Park. It's easier and more pleasant to go there than to the Border Books in West Chatham, because of the congestion, and when I return home from downtown I can take a nap without worrying about missing my stop since my neighborhood is the end of the line. I live parkside next to Bessemer Park and stroll through it to South Chicago Avenue, catch the CTA No. 30 and am dropped right in front of Jewel Osco in East Side. Jewel Osco on E. 95th St. is closer, however, the CTA connections to get there are unduly involved. If I go to South Shore there's a large grocery store right next to the station, and as a commuter, there's hardly anything more convenient, albeit East Side's Jewel is the cleanest, best stocked Jewel I've been to, and very nice to shop at. I have no reason to go west for anything. These are just a few of the conveniences I enjoy living in South Chicago.

posted by Calumetman @ 9:52 PM