Chicago holds its status among the top three cities in the United States. Chicago has an estimated population of 2.7 million and a variety of 77 community areas to live in. Lincoln Park is one of the greatest communities in the Chicago land area and is popular among tourists and residents. Lincoln Park is an extremely developed neighborhood that is both residential and business orientated. At the heart of Lincoln Park, on Fullerton Ave, is the location of the mass transit lines including: Red, Brown and Purple. The easy access to public transportation attracts residents to the area. The neighborhood is only 7.3 miles from the Loop and walking distance to Wrigleyville, for all you baseball fans. The boundaries of the community area include Schubert Avenue to the North, Lakeshore Drive to the East, Concord North to the South, and the North Branch Chicago River to the West. In 1865, it gained its name after Lincoln Park, a 1,208 acre of land, in honor of Abraham Lincoln. Although the park is now located in the Lakeview neighborhood, Lincoln Park keeps its name.
I chose this Chicago neighborhood because I am intrigued by the dynamic development of the area. The vast amount of restaurants, bars, upscale shops, impressive schools, theatres, scenic pleasures and housing amazes me. Lincoln Park is the epitome of the neighborhood I want to live in. It has everything that I need in my neighborhood: developed businesses, variety of housing, safe streets, entertainment and more. In order to gain further knowledge on the current Lincoln Park neighborhood, we first need to understand the early history.
During the early 1800’s, Lincoln Park consisted of stretches of grassland and forest. Containing great flatland for farming, the early years of Lincoln Park was a dedicated area to truck farmers: mainly Germans, Irish and Scottish. The steady growth was destroyed by the Chicago fire of 1871. The devastation of the Chicago fire burned all the way from Fullerton Ave to Clark St. Post-fire reconstruction had to be made with fireproof material (stone and brick). The construction of residential and industrial buildings flourished causing Lincoln Park to have a population increase of over 10,000 people in 1890. During the 1920’s and the 1940’s, the neighborhood experienced its peak of construction of industrial areas, which were commonly located towards the West of Lincoln Park and near the Chicago River. Moving into the 1950’s, there was some development of commercial streets near Halsted, Clark and Fullerton (though they were still not flourished to the Lincoln Park we know today).
In the 1960’s, Lincoln Park had a population of 88,836 residents. The population was predominantly White, followed by other races that consisted dominantly of Germans, Irish and Polish, as well a small percentage of Puerto Rican (less than 3%). About 1.5% of the population comprised of African Americans. The population of Lincoln Park has changed throughout the 19th century. From 1960 to 1990, the population decreased from 88,836 to 61,092. This dramatic change in population is most likely due to the fact that in the 1960’s many of the residential apartments were over crowded. 10.5% were living with more than one person per room and in 1990 that dropped to only 2% living with more than one person per room. Despite the significant decrease, there was an increase in population from 1980 to 1990, which strongly resulted from the new development of housing. The total housing increased from 35,315 to 37,750. While majority of Lincoln Park residents rent houses (67%) the number of residents to own houses increased by 12%. Lincoln Park has seen a continuous upward trend in the median family income, from an average of $24,509 in 1980, to $75,113 in 1990. The percentage of median family income has increased from 41% earning more than $30,000 a year, to 67% earning more than $50,000 a year. With the growth in median income, there is only a mere 6% living below the poverty line. This upward trend in median family income is a result of the price it costs to live in Lincoln Park. In 1960, the land was inexpensive costing only $78 per rental unit. Now in 1990, the average cost has drastically increased to $649 per rental unit. Since the early 1940’s, Lincoln Park has shown a larger amount of similar demographic trends rather than any extreme changes.
Contemporary Fact Sheet of Lincoln Park:
Population: More recently, in the 2000’s, the Whites continued to dominate the area making up 84.5% of the population. African Americans make up 5.2%, Hispanics 5.1%, and Asians 3.6%. The small 1.7% of the population is composed of other, non-Latino races.
U.S. versus Foreign Born: The dominance of Whites correlates to the amount of U.S born citizens in the area. About 92% of the population is U.S born while only about 8% of the population is Foreign born.
Language: In relation to the amount of U.S. born citizens, majority of the neighborhood (86%) speak English only. While less than 14% speak English as well as other languages. The residents that don’t speak English are a measly 0.2% of the population.
Housing: In 2000, the total available housing units were 60,956. The residents that rent houses remains higher (at about 55%) than the residents that own their houses (at about 45%).
Median rent: The median rental cost of housing has seen an increase in the neighborhood. In just ten years, it has jumped from $649 per rental unit in 1990, to $931 per rental unit in 2000.
Household Income: It’s no surprise that this upscale neighborhoods average household income continues to increase. More than 35% of the families are earning more than $100,000 a year. 28.6% of families are making 50,000 to 99,999 per year. 19.5% of families are earning 25,000 to 49,000 a year. 8.2% of families are earning 10,000 to 24,999 per year. Only a minute 7% of the neighborhoods families are considered living below the poverty line (earning under $10,000 a year).
Educational Attainment: The educational attainments of the residents strongly support the household income statistics. The amount of residents that have earned a bachelor’s degree or graduates degrees makes up majority of the population. About 44% have earned a bachelor’s degree and about 34% have earned a graduates degree. About 11% have earned an associate’s degree or some college education. That leaves less than 12% of the population to have received a high school education or less.
Crime: For the most part, I find Lincoln Park to be a very secure town. Regardless, like all areas in Chicago there is crime. The recent statistics below took place within a two week period, from Feb 2011 to March 2011. The criminal acts in Lincoln Park tend to consist of: larceny, burglary, vehicle theft, robbery, and minor cases in drug abuse. I found the most significant amount of the crime displayed in Lincoln Park to be Larceny, 59 cases. Larceny is the unlawful taking of property belonging to another that deprives the rightful owner. There have been cases of larceny in parking garages, on the street, in restaurants, as well as inside residential apartments. Over the same time span, the next largest crime was 14 cases of burglary. Burglary is the unlawful breaking and entering any structure with the intent to commit a crime. The cases of burglary in Lincoln Park commonly took place in residential areas. There were also 7 cases of motor vehicle theft, which is the illegal act of stealing or attempting to steal a car. All of the cases took place on the street, which is why I would recommend taking advantage of the public transportation (CTA, Trolley or transit lines) or parking garage permits for the residents of the area (at Children’s Memorial Hospital and DePaul University). In the same two week period there were 6 cases of robbery, which is the illegal act of taking or attempting to take a personal value by force or threat. Only 1/3 of these cases were threatened with the use of weapons. There seems to be minor cases of drug abuse in the area, only five cases during this time. 80% of the drug related cases were the possession of cannabis while one case was more serious, with the possession of crack. Relative to other areas in Chicago, Lincoln Park is considered among the safest. Lincoln Park has its very own Police Department that is located on 34 Chapel Hill Rd. The department has been around since 1922. Their goal is to protect, aid the endangered and enhance the quality of life of the citizens in the Lincoln Park community.
Wards: Lincoln Park has two Aldermen for the area:
1. Alderman Vi Daley is the 43rd ward for the Chicago land area. She is the ward for Lincoln Park as well as some North side community areas. The next election is in May of 2011 and she is not seeking re-election.
Location of the Ward Office:
735 W. Wrightwood
Chicago IL,60614
Contact the Ward:
Email: ward43@cityofchicago.org
Phone: (773) 327-9111
2. Alderman Scott Waguespack is the 32nd ward for Chicago. He is the ward for West Lincoln Park as well as Roscoe Village, Ukraine Village and Bucktown. This is his second re-election on the city council.
Location of Ward Office:
2657 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60614
Contact the Ward:
Email: ward32@cityofchicago.org
(773) 248-1330
Chicago is such a large city that it can be extremely difficult to decide which places to go. I rank Lincoln Park as one of the highest neighborhoods in Chicago. My goal was to give the audience insight on the area and persuade them that Lincoln Park is one of the greatest areas in the city. Relaying information to you about the early history to present day Lincoln Park will not do justice to demonstrate what Lincoln Park truly has to offer. Therefore, with the help of this visual tour I will give you the top eight places to bar and grill, as well as the top four must sees! Since Lincoln Park has an immense amount of options, the visual tour will give you insight and help you decipher where to go. The significance of this project is for the audience to learn that the amazing city of Chicago has two century’s worth of history behind it. This project exemplifies how communities are continuously changing, whether big or small. I hope this project leaves you wanting more information about Chicago. I hope it compels you to go out and see what other intriguing things Chicago has to offer!
