Evergreen Park, Illinois

Template:Chicagoland municipality Evergreen Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 20,821 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Evergreen Park is located at 41°43′12″N 87°42′9″W (41.719933, -87.702499)Template:GR. The suburb is surrounded by the city of Chicago on three of its sides, while Oak Lawn and Hometown border it on the west. Chicago's Ashburn community is to its north, Beverly is to its east, and Mount Greenwood is to its south.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.2 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2007, there were 25,044 people, 8,010 households, and 8,059 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,536.0/km² (6,560.0/mi²). There were 9,917 housing units at an average density of 927.7/km² (2,399.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 83.41% White, 13.59% African American, 0.14% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.24% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.37% of the population.

There were 7,471 households out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the village the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $53,514, and the median income for a family was $64,766. Males had a median income of $46,691 versus $31,552 for females. The per capita income for the village was $23,038. About 2.4% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Evergreen Park is in Illinois' 1st congressional district, and its congressman is Democrat Bobby Rush. The village backed Illinois favorite son, now President Barack Obama, by a margin of 61.25% to 37.40% over John McCain in 2008. Evergreen Park leans moderately Democratic as John Kerry beat George W. Bush here 55.77% to 43.40% in 2004. This is slightly more Democratic than in 2000 when Bush lost to Al Gore 51.13% to 45.60% in the village. The most Republican area of the village is the Southwest quadrant which went for Bush both years (in 2000 Bush won 51.29% to 45.24%, and in 2004, Bush won 49.91% to 49.31%.) Evergreen Park has had a history of supporting moderate to conservative Democrats and many Evergreen Parkers are also considered Reagan Democrats.

Notable people

• Kevin Kelly, Illinois DUI Commercial, Extra in Public Enemies (The movie not the 1980s rap group)
• Bil Dwyer, comedian and game show host
• Wayne Huizenga, former CEO of Blockbuster; founder of AutoNation, the Florida Marlins, and the Florida Panthers; owner of the Miami Dolphins and LandShark Stadium; born and raised in Evergreen Park
• Tom Gorzelanny, pitcher for the Chicago Cubs went to Marist
• Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, graduated from Evergreen Park High School
• Kevin Sullivan, White House Communications Director, was born and raised in Evergreen Park
• Donn Pall, former Major League pitcher (1988-98, White Sox and more) was raised in Evergreen Park
• Ed Farmer, former Major League pitcher (1971-83) and current White Sox radio announcer, was born and raised in Evergreen Park
• Chris Chelios, professional hockey player, currently plays for the Chicago Wolves
• Brad Guzan, soccer player with Aston Villa and U.S. international.
• Jenny McCarthy, playboy model/actress, born in Evergreen Park
• George Wendt, actor (Norm from "Cheers"), born in Evergreen Park
• Dave Steen, MVP for the Denver Broncos, Who Wants to be a Millionaire season 4 champion.
• Mike Wengren, drummer for metal band Disturbed
• Paul Costello, former spokesman for First Lady Rosalynn Carter and Mrs. Kitty Dukakis, was born and raised in Evergreen Park

• Perry Danos, singer, went to Southeast, Central, and EPCHS. now lives in Nashville, and records for Grand Vista Music. Album: "Swingin on the Moon"

Schools

• Queen of Martyrs
• Most Holy Redeemer
• St. Bernadette
• Northeast Elementary
• Northwest Elementary
• Southeast Elementary
• Southwest Elementary
• Central Junior High
• Evergreen Park Community High School

References

Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating. Christine Brennan. Anchor Books, 1997.

External links

Village of Evergreen Park Homepage[1]