Englewood "City on the Hill"

 When I first moved to the Hyde Park area, I was shocked to discover how dismal and decayed the neighboring areas are due to poverty. The south and west side of Hyde Park reminds of a war zone; buildings are falling down with broken windows and faded, cracked bricks, trash is everywhere, the streets are pocked with pot holes.  This shocking scene raises in me questions as to what caused this.  Looking at the style of architecture and the community parks it is apparent that these were once prosperous and vibrant areas.  A little bit to the south and east of Hyde Park is the neighborhood of Englewood (community area 68), south of Garfield Boulevard, north of 76^th Street, west of the Dan Ryan and east of Racine Avenue. When I first went through this area I was especially shocked by the level of deterioration and poverty of this area.  The contrast between what is now, and what it appeared to be one was seemed the greatest to me.  I wondered how a neighborhood could have fallen into decay this far, with empty stretches of land without any structure, and yet some of the most buildings in the city of Chicago, particularly the churches still there.  The reason for looking closely at Englewood is to identify how a neighborhood could transform, within a short period of time, from an idyllic community to a destitute wasteland.  This paper will examine what the causes were that created this communal seismic shift.

In 1852 the first steam engine rolled into what would be known as Englewood. The area, comprised of wooded swamp lands, was founded only a short time earlier in the 1840’s by the first white settlers.  The time between founding and a railroad being built by the Michigan, Southern, and Northern Indiana Railroad is characteristic of the quick changes that Englewood would go through.  In the same year the Wabash Railroad and the Rock Island Line laid tracks, and within two years the Fort Wayne Railroad did the same.  The area quickly took on the names Chicago Junction (63^rd and LaSalle) and Junction Grove (63^rd Street from Halsted to Indiana) due to its railroad origins.  The first inhabitants of the area were Irish and Germans, brought to the area in support of the railroad.  By 1860 the residents of the area sought to develop the area in a similar manner as the area of Douglas to the East near the lake which had developed in gentrified manner due to the University of Chicago.  Eight years later the Cook County Normal School was founded on 10 acres of land donated by real-estate developer L.W. Beck.  The school brought professionals and business men to the suburb of Chicago. (Pacyga, 492) 
 At this point the city sought its first shift in demographics when the original railroad workers were replaced by the wealthy and better educated white collar class.  In the same year as part of the transition to move beyond the railroad origins of the community the name of the community was changed to Englewood.  In 1889 that it would officially become apart of Chicago as apart of the city’s bid win the right to host the World’s Fair of 1893 (Columbian Exposition).  By 1896 the electrified street car was extended to Englewood.  By 1907 the Englewood “L” station opened in 1907.  The commercial district at 63^rd and Halstead was a sign of Englewood’s continued economic growth; by the 1930’s (during the great depression) it was the second largest in the city of Chicago, next to the commercial district downtown in the loop.  Englewood was able to in many ways thrive during the worst times in the nation. (Roberts and Stam, 55)

From the 1930 to the 1940 census a change started happening in Englewood.  The major ethnic groups whites and blacks which had relatively stayed the same began to change.  In 1930  the total population of Englewood according to the 1930 census (Data for Chicago Communities) was 89,063 of this 87,873 (98%) where classified as white, while 1,126 (1%) were classified as black.  By the 1940 census the population had risen to 92, 849 with 90,799 (98%) whites and 2,008 (2%) blacks.  The racial shift in 10 years was not exceedingly dramatic; however by looking at the next two censuses a dramatic shift can be seen.  1950’s census showed 89% white, 10% black, and 1960’s showed a staggering shift to 31% white, 69% black. 

The striking demographic changes in this period are also accompanied by results from the decreased ratio of adults who are 20 to 65 years and older, which reversely explains the increased number of the youth under 20 and younger. In fact, 12% of total increased in population distribution comes from people of 19 years and younger, by which one can tell the African American families were constituted with many children compared to the white families. More interestingly, the unemployment rate in 1960 went down to 8% from 11.7% of 1950 which also brings to the assumption that the labor force in African American community was considerably dependent on the young people who were under nineteen years old.  

  

Economy and changes:  

Foreclosures and unemployment standsout over the nation as the economy continues to be weak. In the Englewood community, the level of unemployment in 1990 was nearly 10% higher than 1980, which was at 18% and remains about the same in 2000.  The unemployment rate of those 16 years and over was 25.80% in 2000. The Englewood unemployment rate has remained over 25% of the workable labor forces in total since 1990, which is just over three times higher than what it was in 1960, 8%. The low unemployment in 1960 was probably in part to the boom in the economy which took place following the Second World War.  The level of median household income of Englewood community is about quarter of that of Lincoln Park community and the almost half of the individuals in Englewood live below the poverty level. The ratio of individual poverty level seems to correlate with the ratio of education level.  The percentage of those with education levels not exceeding the 12th grade in 2000 was 40%.

 Census Data 2000 - Unemployment Rate

Total population 16 years and over	26,951
Persons 16 years and over in labor force	12,432
Persons 16 years and over in labor force; Unemployed	3,208 (25.80%)

Income data derived from the 2000 Census are for 1999   2000 Total Population 39,596 Total below poverty level 17,344 (43.80%) Total children 0 to 17 years 14,035 Children below poverty level 7,606 (54.20%) Total adults 18 to 64 yers 21,002 Adults 18 to 64 below poverty level 8,310 (39.60%) Total adults 65 years and over 4,559 Adults 65 and over below poverty level 1,428 (31.30%)
Educational Attainment for Persons of 25 Years and Over
2000 Total 21,595 (100.00%) Less than 9th grade 2,006 (9.30%) 9th to 12th grade 6,787 (31.40%) High school graduate 6,247 (28.90%) Some college, no degree 4,573 (21.20%) Associate degree 863 (4.00%) Bachelor's degree 854 (4.00%) Graduate or professional degree 265 (1.20%)

Crime

Unfortunately, the one thing that Englewood is best known for and associated with is crime, and specifically violent crime.   According to the Chicago Police Department’s crime database there have been 1, 095 violent crimes in Englewood in the one year period from March 9^th 2010 – March 9^th 2011, of the violent crimes 14 were listed as homicides.  According to the 2000 census the total population of Englewood is 39,596.  This means that approximately 1 in 40 residents of Englewood will be associated with a violent crime in the next year.  Essentially, it can be assumed that all members of the community experience violence either directly or through a close acquaintance.  Today violence and lesser crimes are apart of the DNA of Englewood, it is expected and either sought through criminal activities or avoided through hiding, or clinging within a group when venturing outdoors. There is however, some hope within the data, although the total number of 9,568 crimes this year which is quite high, the recent data shows a large drop in the number of crimes, in the last quarter (90 days) there were 414 less crime in the preceding quarter, and 355 less than that quarter.  This of course could be seasonal deviations. 

                                                                                                                                                  

Local Community Fact Book of Chicago 1970 ~1980. The Chicago Fact Book Consortium.

                                                   The university of  Illinois at chicago
                   Local Community Fact book of Chicago 1990. the Chicago Fact Book Consortium.

                                                   The university of  Illinois at chicago

 Local Community Fact book of Chicago 1930~ 1940:  Louis Writh and Eleanor H. Bernert.

                                                     The University of Chicago Press
                    Local Community Fact book of Chicago 1960. Evelyn M. Kitagawa and Karl E. Taeuber.

                                                      The University of Chicago Press         

Census Data 2000 . <www.nd.edu/~chifacts/chicago.html>

Crime Data of past 365 days .  <http://gis.chicagopolice.org/>    

                                          

       Association of College and Research Libraries.  Annual Report: Academic Librarians: Partners in Higher Education.     

                          Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 1990.

                          Clearmap Chicago. Chicago Police Department. March 15, 2011 http://gis.chicagopolice.org/.        

Pacyga, Dominic, and Ellen Skerrett.  Chicago: City of Neighborhoods.  Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1986.      

Roberts. Maria Lettiere. and Richard Stanz.  Chicago’s Englewood Neighborhood. Chicago:Arcadia Publishing, 2002.