East Side | |
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| Community Area 52[1] - East Side | |
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 Location within the city of Chicago | |
| Coordinates:41°42.0′N87°33.6′W / 41.7000°N 87.5600°W /41.7000; -87.5600 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Cook |
| City | Chicago |
| Neighborhoods | list
|
| Area | |
• Total | 2.80 sq mi (7.25 km2) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 21,724 |
| • Density | 7,760/sq mi (3,000/km2) |
| Demographics 2020[2] | |
| • White | 12.9% |
| • Black | 1.8% |
| • Hispanic | 84.9% |
| • Asian | 0.3% |
| • Other | 0.2% |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP Codes | parts of 60617 |
| Median income | $43,421[2] |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | |
East Side is one of the 77official community areas ofChicago, Illinois. It is on the far south side of the city, between theCalumet River and theIllinois-Indiana state line, 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown Chicago. The neighborhood has a park onLake Michigan,Calumet Park, and a forest, Eggers Grove Forest Preserve. The forest preserve has hiking/walking trails, picnic grounds and birdwatching. It is served byU.S. Highway 12,U.S. Highway 20, andU.S. Highway 41.
East Side, until recently, was socially and economically dominated by the Calumet River and the jobs it supported. In fact, the community got its name from its location on the east side of the Calumet River, not because the neighborhood is located on the eastern side of the city.[3] A cluster of riverside docks and slips allowed materials to be loaded and unloaded onto adjacentrailroad lines, and the river itself was lined withsteel mills.Republic Steel began operations along the river in 1901. The Republic mill was the site of frequent union unrest, culminating in theMemorial Day Massacre of 1937 and the successful drive by theUnited Steelworkers to organize the Chicago mills. The State Line Generating Plant was built in 1929 in bordering Hammond, Indiana, and closed in 2014.
Many of the neighborhood's residents in this period were families of Slovenian,Croatian andSerbian heritage, who had emigrated from Europe to work in the steel mills and take related jobs. Especially after unionization, the neighborhood became a stronghold of the Chicago Democratic Party machine of MayorRichard J. Daley. The neighborhood's longtimealderman,Edward Vrdolyak, became a noted Chicago "power broker" after the senior Daley's death. Today, the area is largelyHispanic.
In the 1950s, East Side was divided in two by theChicago Skyway. The riverside steel mills and heavy industries went into serious decline between the 1970s and the 2000s, and are no longer the mainstay of the neighborhood.[4]
Much of East Side's homes are the Chicago-stylebungalow, and the southeast portion of East Side contains many newer homes built after 1980. Most of the neighborhood was built north of 108th Street by the 1930s, with expansion to the south occurring in the 1940s and 1950s as new industries opened up along the nearby Calumet River. There are proposed plans to expand East Side's Calumet Park and Beach, and to extend the existing lakefront bicycle path to new lakefront parklands in adjacent South Chicago, connecting Calumet Park to Rainbow Beach, the South Shore Cultural Center, and Jackson Park.
East Side is bounded by Calumet River to the North and West, State Line Road (4100 E) to the East, and 126th street (12600 S) to the South.
There are approximately 1,560 jobs in the East Side community area.[5] East Side has a "hardship index" of 53.9 based on its levels of unemployment, education, per capita income level, poverty, crowded housing and dependency. This ranks in the middle of Chicago community areas.[6] Poverty is roughly on-par with the Chicago citywide average, but crime is somewhat higher than average. The headquarters for thePort of Chicago, which operatesForeign Trade Zone #22, is located at 3600 East 95th Street.
The East Side community area has voted overwhelmingly for theDemocratic Party in recent presidential elections. In the2016 presidential election, East Side cast 4,818 votes forHillary Clinton and cast 982 votes forDonald Trump.[7] In the2012 presidential election, East Side cast 4,417 votes forBarack Obama and cast 1,028 votes forMitt Romney.[8]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | 16,839 | — | |
| 1940 | 16,513 | −1.9% | |
| 1950 | 21,619 | 30.9% | |
| 1960 | 23,214 | 7.4% | |
| 1970 | 24,649 | 6.2% | |
| 1980 | 21,331 | −13.5% | |
| 1990 | 20,450 | −4.1% | |
| 2000 | 23,688 | 15.8% | |
| 2010 | 26,608 | 12.3% | |
| 2020 | 21,724 | −18.4% | |
| [2][9] | |||
East Side is served by both Catholic andChicago Public Schools. Sadlowski Elementary, Taylor Elementary, Gallistel Elementary, Jane Addams Elementary and Washington Elementary are among the public elementary schools.George Washington High School is the neighborhood public high school. Annunciata Grammar School is the neighborhood's Catholic, private school andSt. Francis De Sales is the neighborhood's Catholic, private high school. Many students of the East Side are enrolled in schools outside of the neighborhood. These may includeBishop Noll Institute in borderingHammond, Indiana,De La Salle Institute inChicago,Marian Catholic High School inChicago Heights, Illinois,Mount Carmel High School andMother McAuley High School.
George Washington High School is the neighborhood school for the East Side,Hegewisch, andSouth Deering neighborhoods. However, many residents from the East Side actually sent their children toselective enrollment high schools inChicago, Illinois, due in part to gang violence the school faced, but in recent years, the reputation of George Washington High School has gradually risen due to theInternational Baccalaureate academic program.
East Side isMetra territory, as the nearestChicago Transit Authority train station is the95th/Dan Ryan terminal on theRed Line, 7 miles (11 km) northwest of the neighborhood. Residents utilize93rd Street station on theMetra Electric District's South Chicago branch andHegewisch station on theSouth Shore Line. The Burnham Greenway Trail travels under theChicago Skyway, and then southward into the south suburban communities of Burnham and Calumet City.
East Side is also served by threeCTA bus routes:
Places adjacent to East Side, Chicago | |
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