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Old 03-07-2009, 08:26 PM
 
Location: Calgary, AB
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I was just wondering what areas of Chicago (both in the city proper and in the suburbs) do people of Balkan heritage tend to congregate? Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, etc. I've been told that more people from that part of the world live in Chicago than anywhere else in the US. Thanks in advance.
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Old 03-07-2009, 08:28 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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Here is one place we have covered this topic a little bit.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/chica...y-chicago.html
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Old 03-07-2009, 09:00 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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The most Balkan area would be Albany Park with some spillover into Irving Park, though I should note that it's primarily Serbian. Illinois' most famous Balkan son, Rod "Hair-Helmet" Blagojevich lives in Albany Park. That said, this is not by any means a critical-mass area where a majority or even a substantial portion of the population is Serbian, but there are enough to support a handful of Serbian restaurants and cafes and a Serbian deli or two.

Also in Irving Park, there are some leftover remnants of when it was a largely Romanian neighborhood, such as the Romanian Lutheran church on the 3900 block of Elston, a Romanian restaurant on the 3600 block of Elston and another on the 3200 block of Elston (though that's technically Avondale), a "Romanian Christian" television production group on the 3700 block of Montrose, the Romanian-American Community Center on the 3600 block of Irving Park, and Taste of Romania held every September on the 3500 block of Addison Avenue. Then there's my Transylvanian landlord. (I'm not making that up.) He's kinda spooky.

There used to be a Bulgarian community center on the 3800 block of Irving Park, but it looks pretty abandoned these days. The Bulgarians have pretty much moved on.

See Avenger's link with regard to Bosnian.

For Greek there's always Greektown, but it's more of a facade neighborhood of Greek restaurants only with few actual Greek residents.

That's about all I can think of.
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Old 03-07-2009, 09:05 PM
 
Location: Calgary, AB
482 posts, read 2,411,006 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
The most Balkan area would be Albany Park with some spillover into Irving Park, though I should note that it's primarily Serbian. Illinois' most famous Balkan son, Rod "Hair-Helmet" Blagojevich lives in Albany Park. That said, this is not by any means a critical-mass area where a majority or even a substantial portion of the population is Serbian, but there are enough to support a handful of Serbian restaurants and cafes and a Serbian deli or two.

Also in Irving Park, there are some leftover remnants of when it was a largely Romanian neighborhood, such as the Romanian Lutheran church on the 3900 block of Elston, a Romanian restaurant on the 3600 block of Elston and another on the 3200 block of Elston (though that's technically Avondale), a "Romanian Christian" television production group on the 3700 block of Montrose, the Romanian-American Community Center on the 3600 block of Irving Park, and Taste of Romania held every September on the 3500 block of Addison Avenue. Then there's my Transylvanian landlord. (I'm not making that up.) He's kinda spooky.

There used to be a Bulgarian community center on the 3800 block of Irving Park, but it looks pretty abandoned these days. The Bulgarians have pretty much moved on.

See Avenger's link with regard to Bosnian.

For Greek there's always Greektown, but it's more of a facade neighborhood of Greek restaurants only with few actual Greek residents.

That's about all I can think of.
Thanks a lot Drover! Any info on the Croatian community in Chicago?
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Old 03-07-2009, 09:14 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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Croats appear to be too scattered to form a cohesive geographical community here. A resource to check out would be Croatian Ethnic Institute - Hrvatski Etnički institut
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Old 03-07-2009, 09:37 PM
 
527 posts, read 1,239,147 times
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Default only thing missing here

There is a strong Serbian presence in Logan Square as well, including their beautiful Serbian Orthodox Cathedral on Palmer Square park itself. One of the most beautiful churches in Chicago...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
The most Balkan area would be Albany Park with some spillover into Irving Park, though I should note that it's primarily Serbian. Illinois' most famous Balkan son, Rod "Hair-Helmet" Blagojevich lives in Albany Park. That said, this is not by any means a critical-mass area where a majority or even a substantial portion of the population is Serbian, but there are enough to support a handful of Serbian restaurants and cafes and a Serbian deli or two.

Also in Irving Park, there are some leftover remnants of when it was a largely Romanian neighborhood, such as the Romanian Lutheran church on the 3900 block of Elston, a Romanian restaurant on the 3600 block of Elston and another on the 3200 block of Elston (though that's technically Avondale), a "Romanian Christian" television production group on the 3700 block of Montrose, the Romanian-American Community Center on the 3600 block of Irving Park, and Taste of Romania held every September on the 3500 block of Addison Avenue. Then there's my Transylvanian landlord. (I'm not making that up.) He's kinda spooky.

There used to be a Bulgarian community center on the 3800 block of Irving Park, but it looks pretty abandoned these days. The Bulgarians have pretty much moved on.

See Avenger's link with regard to Bosnian.

For Greek there's always Greektown, but it's more of a facade neighborhood of Greek restaurants only with few actual Greek residents.

That's about all I can think of.
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Old 03-07-2009, 10:20 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Basekamp View Post
There is a strong Serbian presence in Logan Square as well, including their beautiful Serbian Orthodox Cathedral on Palmer Square park itself. One of the most beautiful churches in Chicago...
Not really anymore. There was a time where there were many Serbs in Logan Square, but most of the Serbs are long gone. Many have moved to other areas of the city and the burbs.
That is why they built a new church on the Northwest Side near the airport:

Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois
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Old 03-08-2009, 05:29 PM
 
Location: Calgary, AB
482 posts, read 2,411,006 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
Croats appear to be too scattered to form a cohesive geographical community here. A resource to check out would be Croatian Ethnic Institute - Hrvatski Etnički institut
Would anyone know where there are specific Balkan grocery or food stores in Chicago? Logan Square? Albany Park?
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Old 03-08-2009, 05:38 PM
 
Location: Hyde Park, Chicago
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I would imagine there are still a handful of elderly and terrified Balkan types on the East Side. There used to be a Croatian place I know of down there that just got replaced by a Mexican restaurant. I have heard that the northern half of the North Side has lots of Balkan immigrants, but my source for this is Wikipedia, and I can't think of any South Slavic businesses up there off the top of my head. This is not based on any specific literature, but I'll bet a lot of new immigrants just head straight to the suburbs these days. It's all the rage.
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Old 03-08-2009, 05:54 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajau View Post
Would anyone know where there are specific Balkan grocery or food stores in Chicago? Logan Square? Albany Park?
There's a small Serbian grocery store on the 2900 block of Irving Park Road called Beograd Cafe. (And yes, it has a cafe attached.) They mostly seem to have a few dried goods, otherwise the focus of the business is the deli counter. There's also the Europa meat Market on the 1000 block of W. Granville that apparently specializes in Eastern European deli items as well, though I don't know if it's specifically Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, or some combination thereof, or if it even really makes a difference.
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