South Shore, Chicago
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
South Shore is a largely African-American neighborhood, which is growing in diversity, on the south side of Chicago. Along with a few nearby neighborhoods, it is a relatively stable and gentr ifying neighborhood that has generally been long neglected. It features a balance of middle-class and lower-class African-Americans, is home to Rainbow Beach (one of the more popular beach spots in Chicago), and has one of few retail districts on the sou th side which, thanks to urban renewal, is in many areas a residential desert.
Community Area 43 - South Shore Location within the city of Chicago |
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| ZIP Code | 60649 and parts of 60619, 60637 | |
| Area | 7.69 km² (2.97 mi²) | |
| Population (2000) Density |
61,556 (up 0.06% from 1990) 8,002.3 /km² |
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| Demographics | White Black Hispanic Asian Other |
1.14% 95.5% 1.03% 0.14% 1.18% |
| Median income | $27,748 | |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | ||
In 2004, a Starbucks store opened at 71st Street and Stony Island Avenue.[1] While the company's stores have often been emblematic of gentrification, many in the South Shore community are optimistic that Starbucks' presence is a harbinger of further economic growth in the area, particularly the develop ment of additional retail facilities. The South Shore Starbucks location is one of several in Chicago developed by Urban Coffee Opportunities, a joint venture between Starbucks and Magic Johnson Enterprises.
South Shore has become a more diverse neig hborhood with many whites moving into the area because of its prime location.
Mentioned in the South Side Irish song.
Before the 1960s, South Shore had a heavily Jewish population.
[edit] Neighborhoods
[edit] Jackson Park Highlands
Jackson Park is a 500 acre (2 km²) park on Chicago's South Side, bordering Lake Michigan and the neighborhoods of Hyde Park and Woodlawn.
The land for Jackson Park and its sister Washington Park was set aside in the 1870's. The area was originally a "rough, tangled stretch of bog and dune" until it was transformed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect of New York City's Central Park.
Jackson Park's moment in the sun was the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. For this event, hundreds of acres of undeveloped park was turned into the spectacular, but temporary, Beaux-Arts "White City."
Everything from the World's Columbian Exposition has been demolished except the old Palace of Fine Arts, which is now the Museum of Science and Industry and the Japanese garden on the Wooded Isle.
Sites worth visiting are the pleasant Osaka Garden, the Jackson Park Golf Course, the gilded Daniel Chester French statue Republic (a replica of a much larger statue built for the Columbian Exposition), and several lagoons, one of which features the Wooded Isle.
Jackson Park is connecte d by the Midway Plaisance to Washington Park. In accordance with a canal that Olmsted wanted built between the two parks, a long excavation was made on the Midway; but water has never been allowed in.
Jackson Park Highlands, the neighborhood that goes along with the illustrious park, is one of the few diversified neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. Its homes were built in the early 20th century by some of the most notable architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright. Home prices range from $300,000 to a staggering $1.8 million. Many of the home are tri-level and have anywhere from two bedrooms to seven. Some of the more "modern" features of the neighborhood at the time where to exclude alleys and set the homes further back from the sidewalk. Als o one of the attempts of the neighborhood was to portray home styles from around the world which explains the different types of houses seen on various streets. On a typical Wednesday, you'll see the streets lined with the City of Chicago garbage cans. So me of the notable Chicagoans that have resided in the Highlands include James Montgomery, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley and Rev. Jesse Jackson, with Jude Greg Mathis expected to move soon.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://chaotrope.blogspot.com/2004/07/starbucks-opens-on-7 2nd-and-stony.html
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