There were 178 official neighborhoods in 1993 in Chicago, although the current list contains more than 240 due to the ever changing complexities of the cities neighborhoods names and identities that evolve due to real estate development and changing culture. Chicago is also divided into 77 community areas which were drawn by University of Chicago researchers in the late 1920s to track demographics. Chicago's community areas are well-defined, generally contain multiple neighborhoods, and depending on the neighborhood, less commonly used by residents.
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In this Dossier
Neighborhoods of Chicago in the context of West Loop, Chicago
The Near West Side is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, United States. It is on the West Side, west of the Chicago River and adjacent to the Loop. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 started on the Near West Side. Waves of immigration shaped the history of the Near West Side of Chicago, including the founding of Hull House, a prominent settlement house. The near west side comprises several neighborhoods. In the 19th century railroads became prominent features. In the mid-20th century, the area saw the development of freeways centered in the Jane Byrne Interchange.
The area is home to the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Chicago-Kent College of Law, and City Colleges' Malcolm X College. the United Center, the Illinois Medical District, Union Station, Ogilvie Station, and the Jane Byrne Interchange are also located in the community area.
Neighborhoods of Chicago in the context of Midway Plaisance
The Midway Plaisance, known locally as the Midway, is a public park on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is one mile long by 220 yards wide and extends along 59th and 60th streets, joining Washington Park at its west end and Jackson Park at its east end. It divides the Hyde Park community area to the north from the Woodlawn community area to the south. Near Lake Michigan, the Midway is about 6 miles (10 km) south of the downtown "Loop". The University of Chicago had been established just north of the park, and university buildings now front the Midway to the south, as well.
Intended as part of the Chicago boulevard system, the park came to prominence when the Midway was laid out to host popular amusements at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, which hosted the world's first Ferris Wheel, later lending its name, "midway", to areas at county and state fairs and amusement parks with sideshows. The park is also featured as one of the main settings in the book The Devil in the White City written by Erik Larson. Landscaped with long vistas and avenues of trees at the start of the 20th century, the Midway in part followed the vision of its designer Frederick Law Olmsted, one of the creators of New York City's Central Park, but without his proposed feature of a Venetian canal down the Midway's center linking the lagoon systems of Jackson and Washington parks. Instead, the Midway is landscaped with a fosse, lawn covered depression, where the canal would have been, although in the winter parts of the grounds are turned over for ice skating. The Midway Plaisance has a variety of different elements for visitors to explore, including lakes, trails, bridges, and fields. Today, the park hosts many different programs, including: concerts, ice skating lessons, movie nights, and many other events.