little india (Chicago, Naperville, Skokie: home, neighborhood, school districts)

[chitown202020]

Has anyone familiar or that lives in little India devon area notice its not as indian as it use to be? I do not want to lose Little India love our diverse nieghborhoods but seems like the asians moving to suburbs and africans moving to devon.

[WestSideMillennial]

Originally Posted by chitown202020

Has anyone familiar or that lives in little India devon area notice its not as indian as it use to be? I do not want to lose Little India love our diverse nieghborhoods but seems like the asians moving to suburbs and africans moving to devon.

I noticed that a couple weeks ago. It has changed, I think it's now gentrifying.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by chitown202020

Has anyone familiar or that lives in little India devon area notice its not as indian as it use to be? I do not want to lose Little India love our diverse nieghborhoods but seems like the asians moving to suburbs and africans moving to devon.

Most Indian families prefer to have some room to breathe (ie. suburban space with the elbow room that comes with it) & higher ranking school districts. Unfortunately, the West Rogers Park area / Devon Avenue area doesn't exactly offer these things.

Also, there's more Indian restaurants / Indian grocery stores than ever scattered throughout the suburbs as well. So unless they are looking for something a bit more exclusive (maybe some sari or jewelry brand that is only down on Devon Avenue), even the lengthy, congested day trip down to the north side of the city from many of the suburbs is sometimes not worth it.

The same thing has happened with many other ethnic groups in Chicago and other big cities (even look at Little Italy in NYC for example).

[Avondalist]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

The same thing has happened with many other ethnic groups in Chicago and other big cities (even look at Little Italy in NYC for example).

It happens to every group that comes here. Ever seen the movie Avalon?

[Nearwest]

The Jewish community is still present in large numbers in West Ridge (Devon Ave. neighborhood).

The character of the Jewish community within West Ridge has changed in the past few decades. It has skewed more observant and religious. The number of secular Jews in West Ridge has declined. This neighborhood is home to the Midwest's largest Hasidic community.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by Nearwest

The Jewish community is still present in large numbers in West Ridge (Devon Ave. neighborhood).

The character of the Jewish community within West Ridge has changed in the past few decades. It has skewed more observant and religious. The number of secular Jews in West Ridge has declined. This neighborhood is home to the Midwest's largest Hasidic community.

The Hasidic (Orthodox) Jews you see in West Ridge (Chicago's far north side) are quite different from the Reform Jews. Conservative Jews fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. I think the middle class suburban Jews in general have made a shift from suburbs such as Skokie over to areas such as Buffalo Grove. The wealthier spectrum of Jews seemed to move north along the shore (ie. up to Glencoe & Highland Park). I have to mention Northbrook & Deerfield as well (situated basically halfway from that Highland Park / Glencoe border over towards Buffalo Grove.

The affluent North Shore ones (so Glencoe, Highland Park as well as ritzy City hoods like River North, Gold Coast, Lincoln Park) seem to be the ones likeliest to be spotted at trendy galas & charity banquets (ie. the who's who of Chicago types of magazines). Night & day different from the much humbler Hasidic Jews that you referred to.

[Master Jay]

I am by no means an expert on Judaism. I did work briefly, many years ago, in an Orthodox Jewish school in Milwaukee, as well as a couple years teaching Tae Kwon Do at a camp for Jewish children.... In Chicago, my children and I enjoy going to Indian Boundary Park in the West Ridge area. And I agree with reppin_the_847, that these would be Orthodox Jewish people in the area. And someone can please correct me if I'm wrong, but you will see them walking to temple on Saturdays (their Sabbath day), typically wearing black suits and hats. Women will usually wear long skirts and cover their head if they are married. I learned that men and women (not married or family) will not shake hands. I remember being intrigued the first time I happened upon Devon Avenue when I saw what appeared to me to be Jewish people in mixed (or very close) proximity to Muslims. And I must also say: I very much liked to see it! We CAN live in unity! Peace.

[WillyNilly1021]

i live right on devon toward mccormick though and its pretty diverse. i think theres been a large black population anyway, esp toward ridge
def lot of jewish people

[emathias]

The vast majority of recent, educated Indians tend to live either downtown (Loop, South Loop, West Loop, River North), or Naperville. There is a good selection of Indian places in Naperville. There is a cute Indian street food cafe on the NE corner of Clark and Huron in River North, too, although recent closures are hurting it. I think it still does some take away, though, so patronize it, please.

[Dorian22]

oof that's a shame! I agree that Devon Avenue should definitely offer something to people of South Asian backgrounds that they won't be able to get in Schamburg, Naperville and River North areas for example.