Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Chicago/America

Interesting article from about six months ago.  WalletPop, a personal finance website, listed the 25 most dangerous neighborhoods in America for 2010.  The data comes from Neighborhood Scout which, according to the accolades on its website, and the information offered, seems pretty reputable.

So, why discuss this article?  Well, the reasons are twofold: because two Chicago "neighborhoods" are listed in the top 25, and because one of these two is apparently the most dangerous "neighborhood" in the entire United States.  Now, we use neighborhood in quotes because this study seems to create boundaries based upon data, rather than using geographically-designated neighborhoods or community areas.  For example, the most dangerous neighborhood in America is a small northwest section of the much-larger Near West Side community area.

This blog is intended to have mostly a positive focus on Chicago.  While this may not seem like the most positive topic, it's a topic that's certainly worth pointing out, and more importantly, worth discussing.

Lincoln Square/Ravenswood

The Breakdown

The south entrance to Lincoln Square.  Seriously though, DO enter.

The boundaries: The community area of Lincoln Square is bounded by Montrose Avenue to the south, Ravenswood Avenue to the east, and the North Shore Channel (that leads into the Chicago River) to the west.  The western half of the northern boundary is Bryn Mawr Avenue, between the North Shore Channel and Western Avenue.  From there, Rosehill Cemetery makes up the northeastern portion of the community area, extending along Peterson Avenue from Western to Ravenswood.

The neighborhood of Ravenswood is located mostly within the Lincoln Square community area.  There doesn’t seem to be definitive consensus on the boundaries, but according to the (now defunct?) Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce, it’s Leavitt Street to the west, Clark Street to the east, Foster Avenue to the north, and Montrose Avenue to the south.

Population make-up: At the 2000 Census there were 44,574 residents living in Lincoln Square.  This has dropped to 39,493 in the 2010 Census, an 11.4% decrease.  In 2000, the ethnic make-up was 67% white, 26.5% Hispanic, and 13.5% Asian.  According to the Chicago Tribune’s Census analysis, the White and Black populations have increased while the Hispanic and Asian populations have decreased in the past ten years.  German was the largest population of ancestry in 2000, with over 5,600 Lincoln Square residents being of German descent.

 

"Free society is not, 
and shall not be, a failure."
-Abraham Lincoln, Chicago (12/10/1856)

A brief history: If you had to guess the largest ancestry population in Chicago, you’d think it’d be Polish, right?  Wrong.  How about Irish?  Try again.  Italian?  Nope, it’s actually German and Lincoln Square is Chicago’s Little Munich.  As in many Chicago neighborhoods, it began as an agricultural area.  Meanwhile, Ravenswood established itself after the Civil War as an exclusive suburb.  With the construction of the elevated train system, the area reaped further benefits in the early 1900s.  An industrial corridor along Ravenswood Avenue soon came to be, and much of the street still is still home to light industrial companies.  Post-World War II saw Lincoln Square being to develop itself as a commercial destination.

Some gentrification, along with great access to public transit, has made Lincoln Square an attractive neighborhood for families and young professionals.  Still, one-fifth of the community area has been designated a historic preservation district, meaning that even with future development, much of the historic character of the neighborhood will be maintained.  The public square (Lincoln Square) for which the community area takes its name is located at the intersection of Lawrence, Western, and Lincoln Avenues.  It contains numerous unique bars, shops, and restaurants, two of which will be covered in this entry.

Getting there: If you can get to the Brown Line, it’s a piece of cake.  There are Lincoln Square stops at Rockwell, Western, Damen, and Montrose in Lincoln Square (the latter two stop in the Ravenswood neighborhood).  To get to the eponymous square for which the community area is named, get off at Western.  You can also take the Metra (Union Pacific/North Line) to the Ravenswood station.

By bus going east-west, you can take Foster (92), Lawrence (81), and Montrose (78).  The Peterson Bus (84) also runs the northern border of Lincoln Square.  Running north-south your Lincoln Square options are: California (93), two Western buses (49 and 49B), and Damen (50).  Another option for Ravenswood is the Clark Bus (22).  Going northwest-southeast, you can take the Lincoln Bus (11).

Bucktown

The Breakdown

Modern mixed with old-school in Bucktown.

The boundaries: Bucktown is a neighborhood within the community area of Logan Square.  Although Bucktown is seemingly always connected with Wicker Park (they share a Chamber of Commerce as well), Wicker Park is actually located within the West Town community area.  The unofficial but commonly accepted triangular boundaries of Bucktown are Western Avenue to the west, Bloomingdale Avenue to the south, and the Chicago River to the northeast.  Some say the northern boundary ends at Fullerton Avenue, instead of where Western and the Chicago River meet.

Population make-up: Hard to say officially.  As of the 2000 Census, the Logan Square community area was 26.3% white alone and 65.1% Hispanic.  However, Bucktown makes up less than half the geographic area of Logan Square (the eastern portion), and is bordered by mostly the majority-white community areas of Lincoln Park and North Center.  Also its equally trendy cousin, Wicker Park, borders it to the south.  Meanwhile, the remainder of Logan Square is bordered by the community areas of Hermosa, Avondale, and Humboldt Park, which are predominantly Hispanic in population.

Despite recently becoming a popular area for young professionals, Logan Square’s population dropped 12% from 2000 to 2010, from 82,715 to 72,791.

A brief history: Bucktown became a part of Chicago in 1837 and the land was purchased in 1870, along with a soon-to-be appropriately named land just south of it, by Charles and Joel Wicker.  The neighborhood grew to be an eclectic mix of nationalities: Germans, Eastern Europeans, Scandanavians, and Africans.  Its odd name supposedly comes from the numerous goats (a buck is a male goat) that were raised by early Polish settlers of the area.  Today it has become a very popular neighborhood for young professionals and hipsters alike.

Getting there: Rail won’t get you to the heart of Bucktown (basically Damen and Armitage), but it’ll put you within walking distance.  You can take the Blue Line to Western, but remember there are TWO Western stops on the Blue Line.  Make sure to get off at the one on the O’Hare branch and not the Forest Park branch.  The Western-O’Hare Blue Line stop will put you on the western edge of the neighborhood.  You’ll only be about two blocks south of Armitage.  You can also take the Metra to Clybourn.  Two Metra lines stop here, the Union Pacific North and the Union Pacific Northwest.  This stop will put you on the east side of Bucktown about one block south of Armitage.

Of course, bus is always an option too.  Going north-south, the Damen bus (50) runs through the center of the neighborhood.  Also going north-south is the Western bus (49) and there are a couple stops on the Ashland bus (9).  Going east-west the Armitage bus (73) runs through the heart of Bucktown.  Also, there are the buses along Fullerton (74) and Diversey (76 – assuming you’re considering that stretch of Diversey a part of Bucktown).  There is also a northwest/southeast bus along Milwaukee Avenue (56).