rogers park - bad reputation? (Chicago, Lincoln: crime, houses, neighborhood)

[mohammed wong]

For what its worth the excerpt from the Chicago Reader on uptown
and the link is here

Chicago Reader | Uptown Neighborhood Guide: The history of Uptown by Harold Henderson

When University of Chicago sociologists divided the city into “community areas” in the 1920s, Uptown was community area number three, running along the lakefront from Irving Park to Devon, its jagged western boundary defined, as it ran north, by Clark, Montrose, Ravenswood, and the railroad. As Uptown’s reputation declined after World War II, various components tried to bail out, redefining themselves as, for instance, Sheridan Park or Buena Park. Edgewater—that part of community area number three north of Foster—made a complete break and was named a separate community area in 1980.

[mohammed wong]

and the wiki entry.
I would like to know the cause for this discrepancy, apparently there
was some competition between the two names and communities,
I will have to get/read some history books on both areas.

The turn of the century

In the early 1900s, Edgewater was regarded as one of Chicago's most prestigious communities. A prominent symbol of Edgewater's affluence was the Edgewater Beach Hotel, which opened in 1916 at 5349 North Sheridan. The famed pink hotel was demolished in 1968, though the remaining pink Edgewater Beach Apartments building is still a landmark at the north tip of Lake Shore Drive. The Edgewater building boom peaked in 1926 and property values reached their height in 1928. The burgeoning affluent population grew so much that developers expanded Edgewater and renamed a portion of the neighborhood community Uptown (which still exists today).

[mohammed wong]

Talking about crazy boundaries and new names more from wiki

he approximate street boundaries of Andersonville are Magnolia Avenue to the east, Ravenswood Avenue to the west, Winnemac Avenue to the south, and Victoria Avenue to the north. The heart of the Andersonville commercial district is the corner of Clark and Foster (5200 North Clark).

The main shopping street is North Clark Street, which runs roughly north-south. The stretch of North Clark Street south of West Foster Avenue (where Andersonville has expanded across community boundaries into northern Uptown) is sometimes called South Foster, or SoFo. Recently real estate agents have also started using Andersonville Terrace for this area as far south as Argyle Street, in an attempt to capitalize on Andersonville's popularity. The stretch north of Bryn Mawr still retains a good number of Hispanic-owned business as well as some restaurants and cafes serving Andersonville's more recent transplants.

[mohammed wong]

And I finally read the whole wiki article,

It appears that this may solve the puzzle,
It was edgewater, then uptown, then edgewater again.

hmmmmm.





Revival

Uptown's population declined in the 1950s as Chicago's suburbs were developed and opened, absorbing Chicago's middle and upper classes. With the flight of residents came disrepair and high crime rates for what once was one of the most affluent districts of Chicago.
In the 1980s, the Chicago Board of Aldermen and local business owners orchestrated a revival for the Edgewater community. Edgewater seceded from the Uptown community and once again called itself its own community. New businesses were brought into the community, old buildings were refurbished and homes touched up to harken back to Edgewater's past.

[amy_cate]

well, wikipedia is not a reference source...

[j33]

..and easily edited by someone with agendas.

[cvatasoiu]

this debate is still going?

[surapak]

Stay away...the RP community is tight knit and great. I've lived in many other parts of the city, but nowhere have I gotten the sense of community as much as I have in Rogers Park. I've lived here for 4 years and recently purchased a condo. Its diversity, the people, the beaches...I love it all. It's funny to hear your neigborhood discussed and dissed by people speculating on hearsay. I don't know what beef Drover has with us RPers, but stay out.

As for Edgewater, you gotta be joking who ever said that a mile and a half makes such a difference. I lived in Edgewater previously. Edgewater beaches are great if you want to be sandwiched between 2 highrises and not swim. People in Rogers Park say hi to each other on the street, volunteer to beautify the beach, welcome people of all types and races. Dog owners are respectful and pick up after themselves. Stay away if you're scared. That's perfectly fine with us. As for me, it's my favorite place in the world.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by surapak

Stay away...the RP community is tight knit and great. I've lived in many other parts of the city, but nowhere have I gotten the sense of community as much as I have in Rogers Park. I've lived here for 4 years and recently purchased a condo. Its diversity, the people, the beaches...I love it all. It's funny to hear your neighborhood discussed and dissed by people speculating on hearsay. I don't know what beef Drover has with us RPers, but stay out.

I don't speculate on hearsay. I listen to people who actually live there and I do my own research both on paper and by putting feet to the ground. And based on what I have seen, heard and read, I am cautious about recommending RP to newcomers, especially those who are brand new to the urban experience. Rogers Park is best left to those who have developed some "urban smarts" and have fine-tuned their tolerance for urban conditions. You've obviously come to a different conclusion and that's fine. I'm sorry you can't tell the difference between criticism of RP and criticism of those who live there; but frankly that's not my problem. It's also too bad that you cannot be respectful while disagreeing with someone. If you can't abide other peoples' opinions, you have no business posting on a board where people are invited to freely share them.

[j33]

Everyone's experience of RP is different. I lived there 15 years and I did not experience a tight knit community, in fact, someone was stabbed in my courtyard, the building super tried to harass me, someone tried to break into our apartment, and I occasionally heard gunfire. So while I'm glad to hear your experience there was pleasant, you clearly lived on a different block than I did.

Are their nice streets in RP, of course. has the neighborhood changed in some areas? Of course. However, it varies from block to block and a newcomer who doesn't know what he or she is doing could end up on a rough one.