Any Polish neighborhoods left? (Chicago, Orland Park: salons, pre-schools, pierogi)

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Ryan12345

Anyone know of any areas in the city that have a prominent presence of Poles?

Belmont between Cicero and Harlem, and then either direction along Harlem for a mile or so each way. It's not only Polish people, but they are prominent.

[NorthSideSoxGuy]

Originally Posted by andrew61

Are there still a lot of Poles in Cragin? (I think that area is mostly Hispanic these days.)

Mostly Hispanic now, but there's still a significant Polish presence. If you're ever hanging out around Belmont and Central during the day, it's a pretty good bet you'll hear some Polish spoken. Though I'm sure most have moved north and west, it seems the old Polish folks still come back to the neighborhood for groceries, restaurants, socializing, etc.

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by Ryan12345

Anyone know of any areas in the city that have a prominent presence of Poles?

For the most part they've moved to the suburbs. As people have said here, Belmont west of Milwaukee is where you'll find the old-school flavor still, in the forms of restaurants, cafes, signs for defunct businesses. Unlike other ethnic enclaves, however, one interesting part is that some of these signs are for businesses that have shut down in the last 20-30 years. Even as recently as the 90s, a lot of these blocks were Polish neighborhoods. In most cases, they are now majority Hispanic.

If you look at a demographic map, you'll see that Poles have a 25%-30% presence left in the far Northwest side neighborhoods, such as Dunning, Jefferson Park and Edison Park. That's about it, and for the most part much of those neighborhoods don't have anything uniquely Polish that you would notice about them save for certain tracts of Belmont.

However, if you hang out a Polish bar on Milwaukee; walk around Belmont and Central; go to a traditionally Polish church; or even walk down stretches of Milwaukee or Belmont you will encounter a fair number of Poles, including little old ladies with their carts loaded from the store waiting for the bus. It's definitely a blast from the past and unique among Chicago's European ethnic communities, which are almost wholly gone. Poles came here later, obviously, and continued to come, albeit in ever smaller numbers.

[personone]

Originally Posted by SkylarkPhotoBooth

Milwaukee Avenue stretches from near the Loop well into the far north suburbs, so that was kind of my point in saying there were and are Polish people all over Chicagoland. Milwaukee doesn't even begin to cover it, though. There were (and in some cases still are) Polish churches in Lincoln Park, Pilsen, McKinley Park, Hegewisch, and Whiting, IN, too, among many other places.

You might be referring to the Polish Triangle at Milwaukee, Division, and Ashland, by the Chopin Theater. My understanding is, if you had to pick one place to call the historical epicenter, it would be there, but that's all pretty much Yuppified Wicker Park now.

Exactly. You can’t list a street in Chicago as the epicenter of anything without context because many Chicago streets stretch for miles.....

[Irishtom29]

Whoa—-so the Gilmart and Bobaks stores on Archer Ave. both closed?!? Have the Southwest Side Poles gone to the burbs?

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Whoa—-so the Gilmart and Bobaks stores on Archer Ave. both closed?!? Have the Southwest Side Poles gone to the burbs?

I actually meant to address that.

According to the map, as of the 2010 census there was a 25-ish% population of Polish in Clearing, Garfield Heights, etc. Basically the same demographic trend as up north, with Mexicans becoming the dominant ethnicity. Same story on far south side in Hegswich.

I don't know about the stores you mention, but considering this was 8 years ago you can expect those numbers to be more exaggerated today.

[ChicagoMeO]

Niles Polish Deli on Milwaukee and Dempster (or other delicious Polish delis) will give you that flavor of the old Polish neighborhood.

[damba]

The best part about the Poles moving farther out in the suburbs is that some of the good delis have moved along as well

[glass_of_merlot]

My daughter's daycare is almost all Polish. Except us..lol..
Jeff Park.

[hendersj31]

It sure has changed. When I was younger Archer was much more Polish than it is today. I think many moved to the southwest suburbs because Poles are everywhere out there. Bobak closed a few years ago. I went to take my wife and it was an empty building.

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Whoa—-so the Gilmart and Bobaks stores on Archer Ave. both closed?!? Have the Southwest Side Poles gone to the burbs?