Which Chicago suburb has the most Polish people? (Des Plaines, Mount Prospect: neighborhoods, schools)

[PetePiotr75]

I wanted to find out which Chicago suburb has the most Polish people that live there or moving to there.
Would Park Ridge be the #1 spot or some some other city? I am just curious to see where Polish people are trending these days besides Poland

[Tex?Il?]

The whole area around O'Hare is basically the major port of entry for Polish people

Park Ridge would have a lot more successful Polish immigrants, as its a little more expensive and white collared than surrounding areas. But yeah, Norridge, Harwood Heights, most of the far NW side of the city proper from the 90/94 split to O'Hare (basically Jefferson, Norwood Park and similar neighborhoods), Niles, Des Plaines, some extent Shiller Park/Elmwood Park, Mount Prospect to a lesser extent.

What is interesting is that despite the fact that recent immigrants don't have a lot in common culturally with 3rd generation Polish Americans they do tend to be in a lot of similar areas, there still is that connection.

To a lesser extent there is also a Polish community on the southwest side around Midway and further out (both recent immigrants as well as the 2nd/3rd generation Americans). neighborhoods on cities edge like Archer Hts, Garfield Ridge, suburbs like Burbank, Palos suburbs, Lemont too further out.

Hope this helps!

[wargamer6]

Wood Dale & Bensenville.

[OpelBlitz]

They're all over, honestly. But Tex?Il? hit the most common locations. NW side of Chicago proper is quite heavy (where I grew up) especially south of Niles and Park Ridge.

[Drover]

Norridge/Harwood Heights. They're "suburbs" basically as a technicality; together they're completely surrounded by the city proper, namely a section of the city that happens to be heavily Polish.

[Bird4Prez]

Interesting question. Kind of like asking which suburb of New York is the most Italian or which suburb of Boston is the most Irish. If you want to see signs in Polish and speak to Polish immigrants or first generation Poles.......the Near Northwest suburbs are it (like other posters said......esp. Niles and Des Plaines). The further you get from the city, the more diluted things get (meaning Poles that have been here for several generations or assimilated folks that may be half or a quarter polish).

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Bird4Prez

Interesting question. Kind of like asking which suburb of New York is the most Italian or which suburb of Boston is the most Irish. If you want to see signs in Polish and speak to Polish immigrants or first generation Poles.......the Near Northwest suburbs are it (like other posters said......esp. Niles and Des Plaines). The further you get from the city, the more diluted things get (meaning Poles that have been here for several generations or assimilated folks that may be half or a quarter polish).

There are "paths of migration" to some pretty far off places -- in far flung parts of Cook, DuPage & Lake Co there are older Catholic & Eastern Orthodox churches that have been magnets for immigrants for generations -- there are lots of kids going to "language schools" at these churches on the weekends and most of their families live with a few miles...

[Bird4Prez]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There are "paths of migration" to some pretty far off places -- in far flung parts of Cook, DuPage & Lake Co there are older Catholic & Eastern Orthodox churches that have been magnets for immigrants for generations -- there are lots of kids going to "language schools" at these churches on the weekends and most of their families live with a few miles...

Well ya, of course there are plenty of exceptions, especially when you consider the sheer numbers of all Eastern Europeans in Chicagoland.....I still think that the best spots in sheer number of Poles are in and around town. I'll admit that I am generalizing. I'll also admit that I haven't done any demographic investigations of the area, but I do know that if you drive on Milwaukee through Niles every other storefront will say Mowimy Po Polsku (feel free to correct that as I am not Polish). There is a good chance of that in Morton Grove (although the percentage of storefronts in Korean is quite high), Des Plaines etc

[HarmanFox]

At one time southern Cook had many polish American neighborhoods until forced intergration changed all that. Now it's just poverty stricken blacks.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by HarmanFox

At one time southern Cook had many polish American neighborhoods until forced intergration changed all that. Now it's just poverty stricken blacks.

"Just," huh?