Community areas of Chicago

The city Chicago, Illinois, is divided into seventy-seven community areas. Census data and ZIP Codes are tied to the community areas, and they serve as the basis for a variety of urban planning initiatives on both the local and regional levels.

Related Topics:
Chicago - Illinois - Census - ZIP Code - Urban planning

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Seventy-five community areas were defined by the Social Science Research Committee at the University of Chicago during the late 1920s, and at that time corresponded roughly to neighborhoods within the city. In the 1950s, with the city's annexations for O'Hare airport, a seventy-sixth community area was added. Other than the creation of the seventy-seventh community area in 1980 (by subdividing an existing community area), boundaries have never been revised to reflect change but instead have been kept relatively stable to allow comparisons of these areas over time.

Related Topics:
Social Science Research Committee - University of Chicago - Neighborhoods - Annexation - O'Hare airport

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Today many of the community areas no longer correspond to any single neighborhood, and some community area names have fallen out of colloquial use. In many cases, the actual character of the community area is quite independent of that of the individual neighborhoods which comprise it.

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Community Area designations are useful more than merely as a historical curiosity because they are considered more durable than the names of neighborhoods, which can change over time due to urban redevelopment, gentrification and the constant shuffle and absorbation of the immigrant population.

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A full list in numerical order and map is available below.

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Another method of neighborhood nomenclature in heavily Catholic neighborhoods of Chicago has been to refer to communities in terms of parishes. For example, one might say, "I live in St. Gertrude's, but he's from Saint Ita's."

Related Topics:
Catholic - Parishes

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