Cities with the best "little Poland" (loan, neighborhood)

[eskercurve]

Originally Posted by thefinalcut

That's strange but may be right especially since a lot of Chicago Poles moved to NW suburbs like Park Ridge, Niles, Des Plains.

A lot of the "more Polish in Chicago than in the capitol of Poland" comes from the ancestry. A lot of Polish moved to Chicago and settled there. So I think it has to do with Polish descendants, not necessarily Polish who are first generation. But I could be wrong though.

And a lot moved to the burbs

I add to that demographic, I'm 1/3 Polish.

[thefinalcut]

Originally Posted by eskercurve

A lot of the "more Polish in Chicago than in the capitol of Poland" comes from the ancestry. A lot of Polish moved to Chicago and settled there. So I think it has to do with Polish descendants, not necessarily Polish who are first generation. But I could be wrong though.

And a lot moved to the burbs

I add to that demographic, I'm 1/3 Polish.

A lot of "more Polish in Chicago than in the capital of Poland" is just a figure of speech. The capital of Poland, Warsaw is 2.7M and it is hard to imagine that there are 2.7M people of Polish ancestry living in Chicago when the whole metro area is about 10M.

[Nafster]

Originally Posted by thefinalcut

I think Chicago has a larger Polish population however it lacks a real Polish town i.e. part of town that is recognizably Polish in character. New York's advantage are those those close-knit ethnic neighborhoods where you really feel like you were teleported to another country: Greenpoint which is undeniably and historically Polish, Brighton Beach where you feel like you are in Odessa or Astoria that is as Greek as it gets... There were some in Manhatan (Ukrainian Village) but have been decimated by the housing boom which forced residents to move to other parts of town.

Nice try.

New York wins at many things like Little Italy and China town, but Chicago hands down takes the cake at the best Polish culture in the country.

You can't go a block in Chicago without hearing people speaking Polish and seeing Eastern European shops and markets.

Chicago has the yearly Polish Constitution Day Parade, the largest Polish parade outside of Poland.

Illinois is one of the few states that celebrates Casimir Pulaski day due to the Polish influence in the city.

Chicago has tons of Polish organizations, stores, markets, and has the yearly Taste of Polonia festival. Archer Heights is one of the most Polish neighborhoods in the country.

Sorry, Chicago takes the cake on the this one. But New York can come in as a respectable second.

[jjacobeclark]

Polish Fest ~ America's Largest Polish Fest ~ June 19-21, 2009 ~ Milwaukee, WI USA - Home Page

[WeSoHood]

Cleveland has a large polish population as well.. But more of the population is in the suburbs like Parma, Garfield Heights, Seven Hills, Brecksville, Independence, Valley View, etc.. a couple of those are near 35% polish.

[Daytonnatian]

^Yeah, I was just about to say that I think of Cleveland as a first instinct for a large polish population.

[sittingduck41]

http://www.city-data.com/top2/h61.html

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Polish Fest ~ America's Largest Polish Fest ~ June 19-21, 2009 ~ Milwaukee, WI USA - Home Page

I remember going to Polish Fest in Milwaukee as a kid on a family trip back in the 80s. Really fun times.

My mother grew up in a Polish Catholic family in the old Polish neighborhoods on the South Side of Milwaukee. Up until about the late 80s we still had relatives living near Mitchell Street and the surrounding area. Back then they still attended mass at huge Polish baroque churches like St. Stanislaus every week.

Although now most of my Polish-American relatives have either moved to the outer suburbs of Milwaukee or passed away--and the South Side of Milwaukee is more Hispanic than Polish apparently. But the last time I went to a wedding in Milwaukee everyone involved still had a Polish surname. Milwaukee is still has a lot of Polish influence, although I don't believe it has the amount of more recent Polish immigrants of somewhere like Greenpoint in Brooklyn.

[thefinalcut]

Originally Posted by Nafster

Nice try.

New York wins at many things like Little Italy and China town, but Chicago hands down takes the cake at the best Polish culture in the country.

You can't go a block in Chicago without hearing people speaking Polish and seeing Eastern European shops and markets.

Chicago has the yearly Polish Constitution Day Parade, the largest Polish parade outside of Poland.

Illinois is one of the few states that celebrates Casimir Pulaski day due to the Polish influence in the city.

Chicago has tons of Polish organizations, stores, markets, and has the yearly Taste of Polonia festival. Archer Heights is one of the most Polish neighborhoods in the country.

Sorry, Chicago takes the cake on the this one. But New York can come in as a respectable second.

No it is not a nice try just an assesment of situation. While Chicagoland has a large Polish population, but not larger than NY Metro, it lacks actual polish town. Poles are spread out across the city and there is no single part of the city where you see a lot of signs in Polish, lot of Polish restaurants etc.
That's the case with Greenpoint in New York.

What is that noise about Food Festivals in Chicago? Like Taste of Polonia is the same exact food you can have everyday in Polish restaurants only served from a tent and prepared hours before in restuarants, hence less fresh? What is great about it?

[Nafster]

Originally Posted by thefinalcut

No it is not a nice try just an of situation. While Chicagoland has a large Polish population, but not larger than NY Metro, it lacks actual polish town. Poles are spread out across the city and there is no single part of the city where you see a lot of signs in Polish, lot of Polish restaurants etc.
That's the case with Greenpoint in New York.

Actually no.

Poles in Chicagoland make up the largest population of Poles anywhere outside of Poland.

Chicago, and the Midwest in particular, is the center of Polish life in the country, with roughly 800,000 ethnic poles, and hundreds of thousands more of Polish decent.

Polish Weekly Chicago

New York is up there, but nowhere near the sphere of influence Chicago, or arguably even Milwaukee and Cleveland are in terms of Poles. Nor does the metropolitan area have the shear number of Poles as Chicago.

And what was that you were saying about no part of the city w/ Polish restaurants and/or signs?

Norwood Park, Jefferson Park, and Portage Park, to name a few all have significant Polish influence.

There are numerous cultural Polish events unique to Chicago not found anywhere else in America.

The Pulaski Day Parade In NYC is an amazing Polish event, but things like that are felt year round in Chicago and in the burbs.

Have you ever been down Milwaukee on the northwest side of the city?