North Lawndale (Chicago, Skokie, Calumet City: rental, high crime, houses)

[dtcbnd03]

Anyone seeing any recent development in North Lawndale? Douglas Park is beautiful. So are the buildings.

1. East of Douglas Park - promising as Tri-Taylor / Pink line marches west. Lagunitas is there. And Ogden Commons is coming: https://chicago.curbed.com/2020/3/9/...s-construction.

2. North of Douglas Park - hopeful with Blue line, 290 and possible Tri-Taylor spill over. But I know someone who lives there and has pointed out all the drug houses to me on a single block. I've also driven through multiple times in broad daylight and it's the usual ghetto scene with people hanging out drinking, obvious drug sales, litter everywhere, boarded up buildings, etc.

3. West of Douglas Park - pipe dream at least 10-20+ years away any meaningful development.

[ChiAKA2002]

Nothing to see here. I have lived in North Lawndale for 40 years, 28 years near Ogden and Central Park and 13 years near 16th and Kostner. Don't even worry about it. There is nothing of interest.

[Master Jay]

Well, when I took jfre81 on my personal Chicago tour, he did snap some shots of the Gallegher house from "Shameless" on at 2119 South Homan Ave. So there is THAT.

[via chicago]

the only "Development" has been public/private + nonprofit collaborations. mostly Lawndale Christian Health putting in some investments here and there. for instance they partnered with Chicago Botanic Gardens to build an urban "farm" off the central park stop. theres also a mixed use/affordable housing development going in which is a partnership between Cinespace/Mount Sinai Hospital, and theres a fancy looking charter school on ogden as well

beyond that though, it remains an incredibly depressed area, and way worse off than Little Village to the south which still has its own share of problems but is miles ahead in terms of economic activity and housing/neighborhood cohesion. the area around Cinespace/Lagunitas is fine ( i guess this is technically N Lawndale but hardly the heart of it) but anything to the W/NW is in very bad shape and i wouldnt count on that changing soon.

[ChiAKA2002]

Originally Posted by via chicago

the only "Development" has been public/private + nonprofit collaborations. mostly Lawndale Christian Health putting in some investments here and there. for instance they partnered with Chicago Botanic Gardens to build an urban "farm" off the central park stop. theres also a mixed use/affordable housing development going in which is a partnership between Cinespace/Mount Sinai Hospital, and theres a fancy looking charter school on ogden as well

beyond that though, it remains an incredibly depressed area, and way worse off than Little Village to the south which still has its own share of problems but is miles ahead in terms of economic activity and housing/neighborhood cohesion. the area around Cinespace/Lagunitas is fine ( i guess this is technically N Lawndale but hardly the heart of it) but anything to the W/NW is in very bad shape and i wouldnt count on that changing soon.

See exactly! Nothing to see here.

[Nearwest]

Author Jonathan Kozol devotes a chapter regarding North Lawndale in his 1991 book, 'Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools.'


A resident of North Lawndale is quoted in this book by characterizing the neighborhood as "an industrial slum, without the industry."

[Master Jay]

If my memory of my studies on Chicago are correct (and please correct me if I'm wrong), North Lawndale had quite a large Jewish population; and that the majority relocated to Albany Park. It would be interesting to see how the neighborhood looked back then, because unfortunately it no longer has the good reputation as in the past. There are those nice books at the libraries/book stories on the history of Chicago. The book that focuses on Jewish in Chicago would certainly have pictures of North Lawndale prior to the 1960s. I hope North Lawndale gets the necessary resources to help turn it back around, for the positive!

[Nearwest]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

If my memory of my studies on Chicago are correct (and please correct me if I'm wrong), North Lawndale had quite a large Jewish population; and that the majority relocated to Albany Park. It would be interesting to see how the neighborhood looked back then, because unfortunately it no longer has the good reputation as in the past. There are those nice books at the libraries/book stories on the history of Chicago. The book that focuses on Jewish in Chicago would certainly have pictures of North Lawndale prior to the 1960s. I hope North Lawndale gets the necessary resources to help turn it back around, for the positive!

From about 1918 to the early 1950s, Jews of Russian and Eastern European origin were the dominant group in North Lawndale. At their peak, they constituted roughly 40% of Chicago's Jewish population. Many of North Lawndale's Jews had relocated to this area from Maxwell St. on the Near West Side.


There are some books available from the Chicago Public Library concerning the Jews of North Lawndale. I can recommend a few of them which were written by Irving Cutler. They are


"The Jews of Chicago"


"Jewish Chicago"


"Chicago's Jewish West Side"

[Master Jay]

Nearwest, thank you. I know I've seen one (or more) of what you mentioned on my various visits to your libraries and Barnes and Noble... And from what I can see, I see many Orthodox Jews still very much present in the Westridge neighborhood. I understand that they have moved from Maxwell Street to north Lawndale to Albany Park to West Ridge (or Skokie/Lincolnwood). But as far as IN the city of Chicago goes, I wonder if there will be an exodus out, a la the other neighborhoods mentioned, OR if West Ridge will be deemed safe and ok to remain???

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by dtcbnd03

Anyone seeing any recent development in North Lawndale? Douglas Park is beautiful. So are the buildings.

1. East of Douglas Park - promising as Tri-Taylor / Pink line marches west. Lagunitas is there. And Ogden Commons is coming: https://chicago.curbed.com/2020/3/9/...s-construction.

2. North of Douglas Park - hopeful with Blue line, 290 and possible Tri-Taylor spill over. But I know someone who lives there and has pointed out all the drug houses to me on a single block. I've also driven through multiple times in broad daylight and it's the usual ghetto scene with people hanging out drinking, obvious drug sales, litter everywhere, boarded up buildings, etc.

3. West of Douglas Park - pipe dream at least 10-20+ years away any meaningful development.

I agree with your assessment generally. I think east of the park is a good investment that'll pay off soon. But the secret's out on this and there are not a lot of properties in that small area. Sophisticated cash investors are already knocking on doors trying to get in. So when something over there does come up on MLS, it's either massively overpriced, a complete basket case, or, usually, a combination of both! You'll be paying for future value essentially.

Millennials and other amateurs are buying somewhat vigorously at the present time in North Lawndale west and north of the park. Realtors are telling them what you say about north and, also, that west is going to improve because East Garfield Park is improving and it's right off the Pink Line. Eh.... maybe they're right, I dunno. But this activity has driven prices up enough so that while it's not as crazily priced as Humboldt Park or East Garfield Park are, you're still paying an awful lot for a high crime area that doesn't feature a lot of amenities. You could get basically the same quality of life and demographics, as well as rent levels, in Englewood or Austin, or suburban Riverdale or Calumet City, for a whole lot less money!

I think these parts of North Lawndale may be a good long term bet, but I think they're gonna do what South Shore and East Garfield Park did c. 2004-08, where the amateurs all rush in, create gentrification buzz, only to have market the pull back on everyone during the next downturn. In other words, I see a rental property in one of those areas as a 10 year plus investment product, at least. So knowing that, if I was gonna roll the dice and buy in those areas, I'd get a larger building (4+ units) for cash flow and hire a professional manager who knows how to deal with that kind of tenant base.