Near North Side, Chicago

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Near North Side (Chicago, Illinois)

Community Area 08 - Near North Side Streetmap
Location within the city of Chicago
Latitude Longitude	41°54′N 87°37.8′W / 41.9°N 87.63°W / 41.9; -87.63
Neighborhoods	Cabrini Green Dearborn Parkway Gold Coast Goose Island Magnificent Mile Near North Side Old Town River North State Parkway Streeterville
ZIP Code	60611 and parts of 60610, 60622
Area	7.04 km² (2.72 mi²)
Population (2000) Density	72,811 (up 15.86% from 1990) 10,335.5 /km²
Demographics	White Black Hispanic Asian Other	69.2% 19.1% 3.85% 6.09% 1.77%
Median income	$67,065
Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services

The Near North Side is one of 77 well defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located north of the Chicago River and the downtown central business district (the Loop). With the exception of Cabrini-Green, the Near North Side is known for its extreme amount of affluence.

Contents 1 Neighborhoods 1.1 Cabrini-Green 1.2 Gold Coast 1.3 Old Town 1.4 Goose Island 1.5 River North 1.6 Streeterville 1.7 Magnificent Mile 1.8 Washington Square 1.9 Connors Park 2 Economy 3 Diplomatic missions 4 Education 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Neighborhoods

[edit] Cabrini-Green

Cabrini-Green was a notorious public housing project. It is located in Chicago's Northside, near the North/Clybourn Red Line stop along with the Chicago and Sedgwick Brown Line stops. It is made up primarily of mid- and high-rise apartment buildings, many with exterior corridors so that residents enter their apartments like a motel room. The corridors were later covered with chain link fencing to prevent people from jumping or being pushed from them, or from throwing garbage over the side. Though Chicago has many housing projects with crime problems, this one is the most noticeable because it is surrounded by wealthy neighborhoods, notably the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park just blocks away.

The apartment buildings opened in 1958 (the "reds") and 1962 (the "whites"), while the rowhouses (called the Frances Cabrini Homes) opened in 1943. Cabrini-Green stands on top of what used to be an Italian neighborhood called "Little Sicily".

As gentrification began to take hold of the city in the early 1990s, the land on which Cabrini-Green sat became extremely valuable, and one by one, the buildings have begun to meet the wrecking ball to make way for new development. Destruction of the "reds" began in 1995, and were all completely demolished by 2002. Only 3 of the "white" towers remain standing today, with plans to demolish them before the turn of the decade.

Low to midrise condominium buildings and rowhouses are being constructed, as the Chicago street grid is slowly rebuilt through the area. The redevelopment is riddled with controversy, as the residents are forced out of the complex to make way for the wealthy. Although 20% of the new units must be built as public housing, there is not enough supply to meet the demand for housing, and former residents of Cabrini-Green find themselves forced to less expensive areas of the city or to the suburbs.

[edit] Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is the wealthiest neighborhood in Chicago.

The Gold Coast consists mostly of high-rise apartment buildings on Lake Shore Drive, facing Lake Michigan, but also includes low-rise residential blocks inland. As with many neighborhoods, its exact borders are subject to dispute, but generally extend from North Ave. south to Division St. and west to Clark St. and also includes the areas east of State St. south to Oak St. and east of Michigan Ave. south to Walton St.

The Gold Coast was an unexceptional neighborhood until 1885, when Potter Palmer, former dry goods merchant and owner of the Palmer House hotel, built a fanciful castle on Lake Shore Drive. Over the next few decades, Chicago's elite gradually migrated from Prairie Avenue to their new homes north of the Loop.

Along almost every boulevard of the Gold Coast, upscale boutiques and shops have opened up. Chanel, Hermès, Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Cartier SA, Van Cleef & Arpels, Yves Saint Laurent, Harry Winston, Kate Spade, Tory Burch, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Stuart Weitzman, Rolex, Max Mara, Vera Wang, Jimmy Choo, Versace, Paul Stuart, Betsey Johnson, and Lilly Pulitzer are just a few of the dozens of designers that have locations in the exclusive neighborhood. Also, Lamborghini and Porsche have dealership locations in the Gold Coast.

The "Gold Coast Historic District" was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 30, 1978.

Gold Coast is zoned to the following Chicago Public Schools schools: Ogden School, O.A. Thorp Scholastic Academy (a magnet school) and Lincoln Park High School.

[edit] Old Town

Old Town is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, bounded by Armitage Avenue on the north, Division Street on the south, Larrabee Street on the west, Clybourn Avenue on the southwest and Clark and LaSalle Streets on the east.[2] It sits inside the community areas of Lincoln Park and the Near North Side, and is part of Chicago's 43rd ward. The area of Old Town north of North Avenue is part of the Lincoln Park Community Area, which includes the Old Town Triangle Historic District. The area of Old Town south of North Avenue is considered part of the Near North Community Area.

Old Town is today considered an affluent and historic neighborhood, home to many of Chicago's older, Victorian-era buildings.In the 1950s,the majority of this area was an enclave to the first Puerto Ricans to emigrate to Chicago.They referred to this area as part of "La Clark" until commercialization decorated late 1960s shop signs with the name of Old Town. The neighborhood is home to St. Michael's Church, originally a Bavarian-built church, and one of 7 to survive the path of the Great Chicago Fire[4]. St. Michael's, Holy Name Cathedral, Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph's catered also to Latinos with Spanish speaking masses.

The neighborhood is also home to the famed Second City improvisational comedy troupe. Many of the streets and alleys, particularly in the Old Town Triangle section, predate the Great Chicago Fire and do not all adhere to a typical Chicago grid pattern. In 1927, sculptors Sol Kogen and Edgar Miller purchased and subsequently rehabilited a house on Burton Place, near Wells Street, into the Carl Street Studios. Through the 1930s, an art colony emerged in the neighborhood as artists moved from the "Towertown" neighborhood near Washington Square Park.

Old Town was also home to many gays & lesbians from the 1950s through the 1980s. There were numerous gay bars lining Wells Street (all of them closed now). This was the first "gay ghetto" in Chicago, predating the current Lake View neighborhood (which is the current epicentre of gay life). As the area gentrified, the gays moved further north to Lincoln Park and then Lake View neighborhoods.

Old Town has one Brown-Purple Line El station at 1536-40 North Sedgwick Avenue. It is one of the oldest standing stations on the 'L'.

[edit] Goose Island

Goose Island is the only island on the Chicago River. It is separated from the mainland by the North Branch of the Chicago River on the west and the North Branch Canal on the east. The canal was dug in 1853 by former Chicago mayor William B. Ogden for industrial purposes, thus forming the island. Because he formed the island, at times, it has been known as William B. Ogden Island. After Irish immigrants moved to the island, it took on the name Goose Island as well as Kilgubbin, which was the immigrants' original home in Ireland. The Goose Island Brewery makes Kilgubbin Red Ale, in honor of this name.^[1]

The large facility on the north end of the island (visible from North Avenue, but only reachable from the south: Division Street to North Branch to 1132 W. Blackhawk) is the Wrigley Global Innovation Center, a 193,000-square-foot (17,900 m²) facility, which opened in September 2005 and was designed by Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum.

On the south end of the island is Kendall College's Riverworks campus.

[edit] River North

River North is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. It is bound by Michigan Avenue to the east, Chicago Avenue to the north, and the Chicago River to the south and west. This neighborhood, home of The River North Gallery District, has the largest concentration of art galleries in the United States outside of Manhattan.^[2] Along with hundreds of art galleries, the area holds many bars, dance clubs, popular restaurants, and entertainment venues. Subsections of River North include:

• the gallery district, primarily along Superior and Huron streets between Wells and Orleans;
• a theme-restaurant area with many tourist-oriented restaurants, surrounding Clark and Ontario;
• "the Cathedral District," an area with many new residential skyscapers surrounding Holy Name Cathedral (Catholic) and St. James Cathedral (Episcopal), located near State and Superior, and Huron and Wabash, respectively;
• a design district, with shops and showrooms selling commercial and luxury interior furnishings, in the blocks north of the Merchandise Mart; and
• Kingsbury Park, an area of newly built residential high-rises surrounding Erie Park, at Erie Street and the Chicago River.

According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, the River North area has been experiencing explosive population growth. An estimated 25,000 new residents, occupying some 10,000 new condominiums, have moved into the neighborhood since 2000.^[3] If these estimates hold true, the Near North neighborhoods population is nearing 100,000 residents at 97,811, a 34.3% increase from 2000.

[edit] Streeterville

Streeterville is a neighborhood in Chicago, north of the Chicago River. It is bounded by the river on the south, Michigan Avenue on the west, and Lake Michigan on the north and east. Legend says the reclaimed land on which the neighborhood is built owes its existence, solely, to George Streeter. In the late 1880s, George 'Cap' Streeter claimed his boat hit a sandbar just off the shoreline during a storm and there it stayed; he and his wife made this their new home. The Streeters encouraged dumping in this area and, after several years, the debris built up and became solid land. George claimed this 'new land' as an independent territory in respect to an 1821 government survey that declared Chicago, and Illinois, property lines terminated at the shoreline. Under his homesteading rights as a Civil War Veteran, he declared the new land to be the District of Lake Michigan. Naturally, the powers that be eventually got around to seizing this land by force, and it is now home to some of the most expensive real estate in Chicago.^[4]

Streeterville houses some of Chicago's tallest skyscrapers and most upscale stores, hotels, restaurants and theaters, as well as Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, School of Continuing Studies, Kellogg School of Management's downtown campus and School of Law. The Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue is part of Streeterville, as is the number one tourist attraction in Chicago, Navy Pier. In 2007, construction started on Chicago's new tallest skyscraper, the Chicago Spire. It is located in the extreme southeastern corner of the neighborhood, next to Lake Shore Drive, and is currently on hold pending a more favorable credit market environment.

[edit] Magnificent Mile

The Magnificent Mile is a stretch of North Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Oak Street in Streeterville. Although actually about three-quarters of a mile, the name "Magnificent Mile" has stuck.

Along this street is a mixture of high-class stores, restaurants, office buildings and hotels. The area has a high concentration of the city's major media firms and advertising agencies, including the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

It is the home of Chicago's famous Water Tower landmark, Water Tower Park with its historic clock, and the eight-level Water Tower Place shopping center which grew up next door to, and overshadowed, the comparatively diminutive landmark. The shopping center is anchored by Macy's North Michigan store. North of the shopping center can be found the famous John Hancock Center, the art deco Palmolive Building and the lavish Drake Hotel.

[edit] Washington Square

Washington Square is a public square bounded by Dearborn, Clark, Delaware, and Walton streets. It was long known as "Bughouse Square," as orators of varying abilities often used its central platform for speeches. It is fronted on the north by the Newberry Library and partially bounded by the Washington Square landmark district. Immediately west of LaSalle Boulevard, separating this area from Cabrini-Green, is the Moody Bible Institute, and immediately east is Connors Park.

Census tract 811, a four-block (0.04 sq mi.) area located between State, Dearborn, Chicago, and Division and straddling Washington Square and the Gold Coast, had 3,718 residents in 2000, giving it a population density of 90,614.2 people per square mile — the highest in Chicago.

[edit] Connors Park

Named after a small, triangular park bounded by Rush, Wabash, Chestnut, and Delaware, this small part of the Magnificent Mile district (west of Michigan, north of Chicago, east of State, and south of Oak) has recently gained attention due to new development spilling over from Michigan Avenue. Much of the Loyola University Chicago Water Tower campus lies in this area.

[edit] Economy

Google's Chicago offices are in the Near North Side.^[5]

[edit] Diplomatic missions

Several consulates reside in the Near North Side. The main building and visa office of the Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China are in the Near North Side;^[6][7] other countries with missions in the Near North Side include Austria,^[8] Bosnia and Herzegovina,^[9] Brazil,^[10] Bulgaria,^[11] Chile,^[12] Colombia,^[13] Denmark,^[14] Egypt,^[15] Germany,^[16] Greece,^[17] India,^[18] Republic of Ireland,^[19] Italy,^[20] Japan,^[21] South Korea,^[22] Lithuania,^[23] Poland,^[24] Serbia,^[25] Switzerland,^[26] Thailand,^[27] the United Kingdom,^[28] and Ukraine.^[29]

Three trade missions have offices at 500 North Michigan Avenue; the Austrian Trade Commission is located in Suite 1950,^[30] the Trade Commission of Spain and the Italian-American Chamber of Commerce Midwest is located in Suite 506.^[31]

[edit] Education

Argosy University's classroom space was located in 350 North Orleans Street in the Near North Side. On June 30, 2008 the classroom space moved to Michigan Plaza in the Chicago Loop.^[32]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official City of Chicago Near North Side Community Map

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Near North Side, Chicago

• Streeterville Chamber of Commerce
• Downtown Chicago's Comprehensive Website
• Gold Coast Neighbors Association
• Chicago Landmarks Commission map of landmarks and landmark districts on the near north side
• Chicago Park District:
  • Connors Park
  • Washington Square Park
• Navy Pier
• Travel Essay on River North by Max Grinnell
• La Clark neighborhood and Young Lords origins

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