Pilsen Historic District | |
Location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
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Coordinates | 41°51′14″N87°39′28″W / 41.85389°N 87.65778°W |
NRHP reference No. | 10240018 [1] |
Added to NRHP | February 1, 2006 |
The Pilsen Historic District is a historic district located in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. Pilsen is a neighborhood made up of the residential sections of the Lower West Side community area of Chicago. It is recognized as one of the few neighborhoods in Chicago that still has buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. [2] Pilsen was formally founded in 1878 making the neighborhood a factor in the political and economic change planned in Chicago. [2] In the late 19th century Pilsen was inhabited by Czech immigrants who named the district after Pilsen, the fourth largest city in Czechia. The population also included in smaller numbers other ethnic groups from the Austro-Hungarian Empire including Slovaks, Slovenes, Croats and Austrians, as well as immigrants of Polish and Lithuanian heritage. In 1934 majority of Poles, Croatians, Lithuanians, and Italians sustained Pilsen, making it an ethnic working-class neighborhood. [2]
During the year 1945, the Committee on Minority Groups established a Subcommittee on Social Services for Mexican Migratory Workers due to the increasing migration of Mexican migrant contract workers (braceros). [3] The Czechs had replaced the Germans, who had settled there first with the Irish in the mid-19th century. Although there was a growing Mexican American presence in the late 1950s, it was not until 1962-63 when there was a significant increase in the numbers of Mexican Americans in Pilsen due to the destruction of the neighborhood west of Halsted Street between Roosevelt and Taylor Streets to create room for the construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago. The destruction closed nearby factories where Mexican migrants worked. Other contributing factors to the increasing numbers include the state-sponsored mass labor importation programs in the United States of majority Mexican and Puerto Rican migrants. [3]
Although this area was predominantly Italian American, it was also an important entry point for Mexican immigrants for several decades. Latinos became the majority in 1970 when they surpassed the Slavic population. The neighborhood continued to serve as port of entry for immigrants, both documented and undocumented, mostly from Mexico. In a 2003 case study, Mexican residents remember the early experience of living in early Pilsen. [4] Signs that read ‘No dogs or Mexicans’ were put up all around businesses from the 1950s to 1960s, during the major influx of Mexican immigrants. [4] Other experiences included banks refusing to give mortgages because Pilsen had the largest population of Mexican immigrants. [4]
Since 2000, the Mexican population in Pilsen had decreased. [5] Still, the 2003 case study, addressed that Pilsen was 93% Mexican-American leading to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce identifying Pilsen as "an authentically Mexican neighborhood'' and “a true Chicago Barrio''. [2]
On February 1, 2006, Pilsen became a National Historic Register District. [6]
PIlsen is home to Chicago's largest migrant shelter, located between Cermak Road and the southern branch of the Chicago River, opened in fall 2023. People living at the shelter have described it as having "harsh shelter conditions, including cramped living quarters, mistreatment from workers, freezing temperatures, and unsanitary bathrooms," with an analysis by Borderless magazine concluding that the shelter "fails to meet the basic standards for emergency shelter laid out by the U.N. Refugee Agency." [7] In December 2023, several children staying at the shelter became ill, with one of them dying. [8]
As early as 1985, Pilsen's proximity to the downtown area and its low-value property became an ideal neighborhood for gentrification. [2] Pilsen residents and community institutions mobilized against two major redevelopments Chicago 21 Plan (the mid-1970s) and Chicago 1992 World's Fair (early to mid-1980s). [2] The neighborhood's long-lasting defense is prompted by its alliance of local developers, Pilsen homeowners, and the city. [2] As of 2014 growing community activists like The Pilsen Alliance, an organization from 1998 that mobilized against the expansion of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in Pilsen, continued to display an extensive stronghold against developer and city plans. [5]
In 2016 a recent uprise of Pilsen as a neighborhood experiencing gentrification led to the displacement of residents, the shutting down of businesses, and a cultural change in the historically Mexican neighborhood. [2] According to the Chicago Sun-Times as of 2023 Pilsen community organizations are protesting the increasing property taxes that continue to force residents out of their homes. [9] [10]
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been used to describe a wide array of phenomena, usually in a pejorative connotation.
Humboldt Park, one of 77 designated community areas, is on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The Humboldt Park neighborhood is known for its dynamic social and ethnic demographic change over the years. The Puerto Rican community has identified strongly with the area since the 1970s. Humboldt Park is also the name of a 207-acre (0.8 km2) park adjacent to the community area.
Logan Square is an official community area, historical neighborhood, and public square on the northwest side of the City of Chicago. The Logan Square community area is one of the 77 city-designated community areas established for planning purposes. The Logan Square neighborhood, located within the Logan Square community area, is centered on the public square that serves as its namesake, located at the three-way intersection of Milwaukee Avenue, Logan Boulevard and Kedzie Boulevard.
West Town, northwest of the Loop on Chicago's West Side, is one of the city's officially designated community areas. Much of this area was historically part of Polish Downtown, along Western Avenue, which was then the city's western boundary. West Town was a collection of several distinct neighborhoods and the most populous community area until it was surpassed by Near West Side in the 1960s. The boundaries of the community area are the Chicago River to the east, the Union Pacific railroad tracks to the south, the former railroad tracks on Bloomingdale Avenue to the North, and an irregular western border to the west that includes the city park called Humboldt Park. Humboldt Park is also the name of the community area to West Town's west, Logan Square is to the north, Near North Side to the east, and Near West Side to the south. The collection of neighborhoods in West Town along with the neighborhoods of Bucktown and the eastern portion of Logan Square have been referred to by some media as the "Near Northwest Side".
South Lawndale is a community area on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. Over 80% of the residents are of Mexican descent and the community is home to the largest foreign-born Mexican population in Chicago.
Lower West Side is a community area on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is three miles southwest of the Chicago Loop and its main neighborhood is Pilsen. The Heart of Chicago is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the Lower West Side.
Little Italy, sometimes combined with University Village into one neighborhood, is on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The current boundaries of Little Italy are Ashland Avenue on the west and Interstate 90/94 on the east, the Eisenhower Expressway on the north and Roosevelt to the south. It lies between the east side of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus in the Illinois Medical District and the west side of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. The community was once predominantly Italian immigrants but now 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 (UIC). Its Italian-American heritage is primarily evident in the Italian-American restaurants that once lined Taylor Street. The neighborhood is home to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame as well as the historic Roman Catholic churches Our Lady of Pompeii, Notre Dame de Chicago, and Holy Family.
Chinatown, Boston is a neighborhood located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the only surviving historic ethnic Chinese enclave in New England since the demise of the Chinatowns in Providence, Rhode Island and Portland, Maine after the 1950s. Because of the high population of Asians and Asian Americans living in this area of Boston, there is an abundance of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants located in Chinatown. It is one of the most densely populated residential areas in Boston and serves as the largest center of its East Asian and Southeast Asian cultural life.
In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any undeveloped land that is not on the urban margin. The slightly broader term "land recycling" is sometimes used instead. Infill has been promoted as an economical use of existing infrastructure and a remedy for urban sprawl. Detractors view increased urban density as overloading urban services, including increased traffic congestion and pollution, and decreasing urban green-space. Many also dislike it for social and historical reasons, partly due to its unproven effects and its similarity with gentrification.
Wicker Park is a neighborhood in the West Town community area of the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, west of the Kennedy Expressway, east of Humboldt Park, and south of the Bloomingdale Trail, known for its hipster culture, art community, nightlife, and food scene.
Middle East is a neighborhood in the heart of East Baltimore, Maryland.
Two Bridges is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, nestled at the southern end of the Lower East Side and Chinatown on the East River waterfront, near the footings of Brooklyn Bridge and of Manhattan Bridge. The neighborhood has been considered to be a part of the Lower East Side for much of its history. Two Bridges has traditionally been an immigrant neighborhood, previously populated by immigrants from Europe, and more recently from Latin America and China. The Two Bridges Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in September 2003.
The Chicago 21 Plan was a comprehensive development plan released in 1973 intended to revitalize the areas surrounding the Chicago Loop, Chicago's central business district. The 125-page document, subtitled "A Plan for the Central Area Communities" was published by the Chicago 21 Corporation, which was made up of members of the Chicago Central Area Committee (CCAC), founded by some of Chicago's most influential business and civic leaders.
Puerto Ricans in Chicago are individuals residing in Chicago with ancestral ties to the island of Puerto Rico. Over more than seventy years, they have made significant contributions to the economic, social, and cultural fabric of the city. This is known as the city of multiple cultures.
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) is a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that mobilizes the Jewish community of the region to advance racial and economic justice. JCUA partners with diverse community groups across the city and state to combat racism, antisemitism, poverty and other forms of systemic oppression, through grassroots community organizing, youth education programs, and community development.
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Gentrification, the process of altering the demographic and socioeconomic composition of a neighborhood usually by decreasing the percentage of low-income minority residents and increasing the percentage higher-income residents, has been an issue between the residents of minority neighborhoods in Chicago who believe the influx of new residents destabilizes their communities, and the gentrifiers who see it as a process that economically improves a neighborhood. Researchers have debated the significance of its effects on the neighborhoods and whether or not it leads to the displacement of residents.
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