Armour Square neighborhood

[Master Jay]

And regarding the last statement, I am by no means using a blanket statement to refer to all of the residents in one area as being care-less. However, it is enough to be noticeable!

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

I was bike riding with a friend on Bryn Mawr and Kostner on Saturday, and I commented that there is no good reason why the residents on W. 26th and Kostner, for example, can't have some of the same life experiences as those on Bryn Mawr and Kostner. (Keep in mind that I am Mexican-American). But the point is, there is NO reason to throw garbage in your own residential streets. There is NO reason to vandalize the building walls. There is NO reason to shoot at or kill someone because they wear different colored clothes. Both neighborhoods appear to be family-oriented, and yet one area seems to lack the pride of maintaining the cleanliness, or the respect for life.

My extended family is from down there and that was always their biggest gripe. They just couldn't understand why you couldn't at least maintain your home.

[Master Jay]

I do not own my home. In the past I have leased cars. But, that does not mean it gives me the option, nor the desire, to mis-treat what I am utilizing. Also, empathy and respect for others is what motivates me to also not mis-treat the property of others. It all comes down to upbringing and also personal responsibility. One can grow up in a household (or area) where certain values are not reinforced. Nonetheless, one ultimately becomes responsible for the choices they make. This is why I teach martial arts to youth, teens, and adults (my youth students are predominately Hispanic). Cities that have areas with these struggles need more programs to help reinforce positive values, as one avenue if there is ever going to be an improvement.

[JVS60612]

The area where Cabrini-Green is/was located was heavily Italian, mostly Sicilians, until the 1940s. A branch of my mother's family (Sicilians) lived there. The area was referred to as "Little Hell." Cabrini-Green was built in 2 phases. The low-rise portion, along Chicago Ave., were the Francis Cabrini Houses. They opened in 1942, as a racially mixed housing complex. The William Green Apts. (high rises), along Clybourn Ave., opened in 1958. By that time the original white population had left the Cabrini Houses and the residents of the Greens were totally African American.


When the area was mostly white, the Italians had 3 Catholic parishes that served their religious needs. St. Joseph and St. Philip Benizi were the Sicilian parishes, while Assumption Church (still standing on Illinois St. near Merchandise Mart) was founded by Northern Italian immigrants, most from Tuscany.


There was also a small Irish population who remained in the area and predated the Italians. They shared the area with the Swedes, who moved north along Clark St. to Andersonville, before the Italians came in large numbers.

[WestSideMillennial]

I have a question regarding the Armour Square community area. With the Asian population continuing to increase and expand, will it be possible in 10 or 20 years that the area would be 90% or more Asian?

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

My extended family is from down there and that was always their biggest gripe. They just couldn't understand why you couldn't at least maintain your home.

when 30% of a community is living below the poverty line and even more are undocumented or in the country on shaky legal status, most are just trying to survive day to day

[damba]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

Yes, valpofan11, I would have to agree that in my many visits, I have noticed more of a Chinese presence in the Armour Square and Bridgeport area (I guess I haven't really gone the McKinley Park way much; once on bicycle that I remember.) I typically attend the St. Jerome Croatian Church annual August fest. I recall once how an elderly woman was telling the story on how she lived in the neighborhood her whole life. She pointed out in the directions on which house she was raised in, which house she lived in when she was married, and which house she now lives in as a widow! It was kind of cool, because Milwaukeeans don't really have that kind of story, and more Chicagoans seem to have the "old neighborhood"-type of lifestyle... In any even, I wonder if the younger generation in the area is different? If maybe the younger Croatians and Italians are not interested in a lifetime of Armour Square? If the increase in Chinese is a contributing factor, or not?

Croatians? They have overwhelmingly fled to the various suburbs years ago, like many other ethnic concentrations in Chicago. Milwaukee is just smaller population-wise, so that is arguably harder to maintain over time.

[valpofan11]

Originally Posted by WestSideMillennial

I have a question regarding the Armour Square community area. With the Asian population continuing to increase and expand, will it be possible in 10 or 20 years that the area would be 90% or more Asian?

Wentworth Gardens Apartments are in Armour Square right by the ballpark, so AS is 10% black, but if WGA were torn down, then maybe.

[WestSideMillennial]

Originally Posted by valpofan11

Wentworth Gardens Apartments are in Armour Square right by the ballpark, so AS is 10% black, but if WGA were torn down, then maybe.

Thank you for your answer. I would find it interesting and gratifying! Mostly considering there are a couple of 90% or more white neighborhoods on the north side, while mostly having 90% or more black nieghborhoods on the south side of Chicago... There should be a balance between each ethnic community I think in this grand city lol.

[Master Jay]

There will always be a special place in my heart for certain south side areas: St. Jerome's Church area in Armour Square, the Italian area near 24th and Oakley in "Heart of Italy", but I also am a big fan of north side areas like Edison Park and Lincoln Square. You know, after driving from Milwaukee, a rest stop on the north side is always nice!