University Village, Chicago

University Village is a renamed urban area of west Chicago consisting of newly constructed residential and retail properties. The University Village/Little Italy community cherishes its rich past as one of the first neighborhoods of Chicago. The community is made up of diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds as a result of immigration, urban renewal, gentrification and the growth of the resident student and faculty population of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Location

The village consists of major new residential developments over old, known, Chicago neighborhoods. One such development is the Ivy Hall development, over the area once known as the Maxwell Street neighborhood. This development took one of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago and made it into a middle- to upper- income area. There is a wide variety of housing options, from starter lofts for first time homebuyers to million dollar family homes.

The University Commons development and University Station were created from the defunct South Water Market, historically known as the distribution point for Chicago's produce and agriculture market. The Roosevelt Square development was created over the remains of the now demolished public housing area that was under the auspices of the Chicago Housing Authority called the ABLA homes.

The village also includes the established neighborhood of Little Italy, with a rich history of its own.

University Village surrounds the University of Illinois at Chicago, located south and west of the campus. The Illinois Medical District borders the area on the west. The Pilsen community borders the south, the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-94) borders the area on the east.

Politically, University Village is currently served by the 25th Ward Alderman, Daniel Solis, and the 2nd Ward Alderman, Bob Fioretti, for the City of Chicago. The neighborhood is also served by the Illinois 7th Congressional District seat in the U.S. congress, currently filled by democrat Danny K. Davis.

University Village history

University Village is a late 1990s and early 2000s housing redevelopment created by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Historically, the neighborhood encompassed the old Maxwell Street neighborhood. From the late 19th century until the 1920s, the Maxwell Street neighborhood was an important Jewish neighborhood for many Jews who had escaped government organized pogroms in their countries of origin. They established an outdoor market both to replicate many of the traditional markets from their countries of origin, but also as a way to make a living when starting out in the United States with very little.

Once the Great Migration of African Americans from the South began in 1919, the neighborhood became increasingly African American though many of the businesses remained in Jewish hands. It is at this time that the music known as Chicago Blues originated and was performed on Maxwell Street, (orange marker on the map). Maxwell Street is widely recognized as the birthplace of the modern blues and artists such as Bo Diddley, Junior Wells and Little Walter were once regulars at the market, playing for tips in the street. This rich history is detailed in the documentary film, Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street by documentary filmmaker, Phil Ranstrom.

The name "Cheat You Fair" came from the famous store at the corner of Maxwell and Halsted Streets, which exemplified the spirit of bargaining, with both the buyer and vendor trying to "cheat" the other "fair". Nate's Deli, which was previously Lyon's Deli, was an important landmark in the neighborhood and an example of the many partnerships between blacks and Jews at Maxwell Street. Opened by Ben Lyon, a Jewish man in the neighborhood, in the 1920s, he eventually sold the deli to his devoted employee, Nate Duncan, an African American child of the Great Migration. Nate kept all of the original recipes until the deli was taken over and destroyed by the University Village development in the 1990s. The famous scene from the Blues Brothers where Aretha Franklin sings Think was filmed in Nate's Deli.

It was at Maxwell Street where Abe "Fluky" Drexler first began to sell the Chicago style hot dog in 1929, and where Jim Stefanovic created the Maxwell Street Polish at Jim's Hot Dog Stand. The Original Jim's was torn down around 2002 and relocated to nearby Union Street, just off the Roosevelt Road on-ramp to the 90/94 expressway, still in the neighborhood. The Maxwell street market continues today on Des Plaines Avenue between Harrison and Roosevelt streets, east of University Village. It is largely a Mexican street market today, and is still a popular place to find bargains and unique merchandise.

The retail heart of University Village today is still Maxwell Street and Halsted, but many of the old buildings have been razed to make way for new construction. Several buildings have been saved and rehabilitated in order to retain some of the neighborhood's original character. Restaurants and upscale services that cater to middle to high income residents and college students now stand there. The fight to save Maxwell Street from being destroyed by UIC is also highlighted in the film, Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street. Sadly, there are few traces of this important, historic market today, except for a few statues and kiosks on Maxwell Street, just east of Halsted.

Little Italy history

Main article: Little Italy, Chicago

Exterior view (in 1909) of the storefront office of P. Schiavone & Son, bankers and steamship agents, located at 925 South Halsted Street.

Little Italy is located in the Near West Side community area of the city of Chicago. It encompasses a 12 block stretch of Taylor Street east of Ashland Avenue and the streets to the north and south for several blocks in each direction. The neighborhood lies between the Illinois Medical District to the west and the University of Illinois at Chicago to the east. It is a neighborhood of strongly Italian influence.

Little Italy never had a concentration of Italian-Americans that constituted a majority.

Other ethnicities have always been present in the area known as "Little Italy."

Italian agency C. 1902.

Nonetheless, the neighborhood was given its name due to the strong influence of Italians and Italian culture on the neighborhood throughout the 19th and 20th century.

Though the Italian population declined throughout the late 20th century, many Italian restaurants and groceries remain in the formerly prominent Taylor Street corridor. The neighborhood also hosts the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame as well as the historic Roman Catholic churches Our Lady of Pompeii and Holy Guardian Angel.

Florence Scala, a social activist who lived in Little Italy, was famous for stopping the incursion of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) into her neighborhood, from the time they landed there in the early 1960s.

Recent gentrification

Rents in the area have risen in the past few decades due to an influx of condominiums, townhouses, and the proximity of Little Italy to UIC and the Loop. An example of this gentrification: in the 1990 census, no homes in the Little Italy sample area were reported to be worth more than $400,000. By contrast, according to the 2000 census, 62 homes were reportedly worth more than $500,000, and 13 of those were worth at least $1 million.

Landmarks

Two of the more significant landmarks of Little Italy were the Catholic churches of Our Lady of Pompeii and Holy Guardian Angel founded by Mother Cabrini. Holy Guardian Angel was the first Italian congregation in Chicago. The parish was established in 1898, and the church was built on Arthington Street in 1899. Due to the burgeoning population, a second major Italian church, Our Lady of Pompeii, was founded in 1911. The Holy Guardian Angel Church was razed for the construction of the expressway system. The Our Lady of Pompeii Church is now a the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii.

Hull House, Jane Addams' settlement house known for its social and educational programs was also located within the Little Italy area. In recent years, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (founded in 1977 in Elmwood Park, Illinois) was relocated to a new building in Little Italy.

University Commons history

Near Maxwell and Halsted, University Commons stands on the area of five city blocks that for 78 years were the home of Chicago's South Water Market. Originally, South Water Market sprawled along the Chicago River on South Water Street. It stretched westward from what is now Michigan Ave. It was fairly accessible to the rail yards; and most of all, it was backed up to the docks where incoming vessels could bring fruits and vegetables from the states located around the Great Lakes. Michigan was a big supplier during the warm months. Cherries, celery, apples, plums and other fresh commodities were put on boats in Benton Harbor, St. Joe, Ludington, Traverse City and other Michigan port cities and shipped to the South Water Market.

Around 1925, the City of Chicago began the construction of new streets parallel to the Chicago River and the market was in the way. As a result, the market was moved to the location that is University Commons today. The displacement of the market was hailed as a good move since the market was now close to modernizing transportation infrastructure such as trucks and railroads. To make room for the new South Water Market, deteriorated existing houses were bulldosed in this high crime neighborhood, then called The Village. In 1925, the cost for the approximate 13 acres of land and buildings was around 17 million dollars.

On July 10, 2003, The Chicago Planning Commission granted their approval on the sale of the 78 year old produce market for a cost of approximately 36 million dollars to Enterprise Companies of Chicago. Enterprise turned the South Water Market's six buildings of 4 levels into 824, one, two and three bedroom loft apartments with 4,500 sq ft (420 m²). of retail property. The cost of this redevelopment was in the range of 200 million dollars in August/September 2003.

The market was auctioned off to a few other interested developers taking in all intentions of the 5 highest bidders, Enterprise Companies, was offered the deal because of their inttio not to tear down the 78 year old units. Other bidders had intentions of demolition rather than saving and restoring the terra cotta facades, as Chicago University Commons plans to do.

The three-story buildings were originally designed by the architects Fugard & Knapp. They were adorned with intricately carved terra-cotta façades reminiscent of the acclaimed Wrigley Building, which dates to the same era. Terra-cotta carvings and floral ornaments were cleaned, repaired or replaced by the firm Pappageorge/Haymes Ltd., a leading urban residential architecture firm.

Roosevelt Square history

On May 16, 2005, boosted by recent approval of $9.7 million in funds from the Roosevelt/Racine Tax Increment Financing District, LR Development Company, along with partner Quest Development, broke ground on Phase I townhomes and condominiums in the new Roosevelt Square mixed-income community on Chicago's Near West Side.

ABLA was home to about 12,000 residents. It is now gone for Roosevelt Square. This was fueled by the resurgent Little Italy neighborhood. The large and vibrant neighborhood was poor and hence obsolete by most upscale standards, and the tenants of the "ol' vill" where scattered to the furthest corners of the city and county.

ABLA was a public housing development made up of different public housing projects in Chicago, operated by the Chicago Housing Authority. The name "ABLA" was an acronym for four different housing developments that together constitute one large site. Those four developments were: the Jane Addams Homes, Grace Abbott Homes, Robert Brooks Homes, Robert Brooks Extension, and Loomis Courts. It spanned from Cabrini Street on the north to 14th Street on the south; and from Blue Island on the east to Ashland avenue on the west. Most of ABLA has been razed for the Roosevelt Square mixed-income community development.

External links

• University Village / Ivy Hall
• University Village Development
• University Commons
• Roosevelt Square
• University Station
• Cheat You Fair website