AVONDALE, CHICAGO

'Avondale (Chicago, Illinois)'

'Community Area 21 - Avondale' Chicago Community Area 21 - Avondale Location within the city of Chicago
Latitude Longitude
Neighborhoods	★ Avondale ★ Jackowo ★ Wacławowo
ZIP Code	60618
Area	5.18 km² (2.00 mi²)
Population (2000) Density	43,083 ''(up 21.2% from 1990)'' 8,317.2 /km²
Demographics	White Black Hispanic Asian Other	29.6% 1.55% 62.0% 2.21% 4.65%
Median income	$36,677
Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services

'Avondale' aka 'Jackowo' is one of 77 officially designated Chicago, IL community areas. It is located on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Illinois. Its main borders are the North Branch of the Chicago River, Diversey Avenue, Addison Street, Pulaski Road and the Union Pacific/Northwest rail line; bisecting the community are Belmont and Milwaukee Avenues along with the Kennedy Expressway (Interstate 90/Interstate 94). Located
directly north of the Logan Square neighborhood, it is also accessible through the Belmont and Logan Square stations
of the CTA Blue Line.
An early racially-integrated suburb, Avondale became part of Chicago when the city annexed the Town of Jefferson in 1889. Factories that sprang up around the turn of the century by the railroads were responsible for the initial wave of European immigrants, mostly Germans, Scandinavians and Poles. This quiet blue collar neighborhood lately had an increase in the Hispanic population making it a truly diverse community.[1]
Today Avondale has a vibrant and diverse commercial and residential composition of rising real estate prices including frame houses, modest brick bungalows, two flats, multi-units and condominiums.

Contents

Neighborhoods

Jackowo

Wacławowo

See also

External links

Neighborhoods

Jackowo

'Jackowo', is one of Chicago's largest and most vibrant Polish neighborhoods. The neighborhood gets its name from Saint Hyacinth's Basilica (Bazylika Św. Jacka), the local Catholic parish church, at 3636 West Wolfram Street. Milwaukee Avenue is the main strip with dozens of sausage shops, restaurants, bakeries etc. This area is also referred to as the 'Polish Village' - a name featured on signs hung on street lamps over the district. Pulaski Avenue, named after the Polish Revolutionary War hero, runs through the area.
The Polish community of Jackowo appeared in late 19th century and early 20th century, when hundreds of Poles settled there and began working in local factories. They neighborhood experienced its heyday as the cultural nexus of Chicago's Polonia during the 1980's and 90's with the so-called Solidarity and Post-Solidarity waves of Polish migration to Chicago, including a number of political refugees. Although today much of the Polish diaspora has moved out to more upscale neighborhoods and other immigrants from Latin America or from the former Soviet Bloc, such as Ukrainians and Czechs have moved in, the area still retains much of its Polish character. Like neighboring Logan Square, the neighborhood is also experiencing gentrification as artists and Yuppies move their way northwest along Milwaukee Avenue.
The neighborhood is serviced by the Blue Line's Belmont station located on its northeastern edge next to the Kennedy Expressway at the intersection of Kimball and Belmont, less than three blocks away from the St. Hyacinth's former mission of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Wacławowo

'Wacławowo' is the Polish neighborhood just north of 'Jackowo'. Like most of the 'Polish Patches' in Chicago, its name derives form the area's Polish parish, in this case St. Wenceslaus. The neighborhood is serviced by the Blue Line's Addison station located on its northeastern edge over the Kennedy Expressway. Wacławowo is primarily a residential area of two flats and bungalow housing as opposed to the bustling commercial activity that characterizes the Jackowo district.

See also

★ Polish Cathedral style

★ Polish American

External links

★ Official City of Chicago Avondale Community Map