Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends – A project of The Chicago Community Trust

STOCKYARDS Diversity grows thanks to jobs, transit, varied housing markets

Another cycle of ethnic change is underway in the

150-year evolution of industrial neighborhoods on

Chicago’s Near Southwest Side. Once populated

almost entirely by Irish, Germans, and Eastern

Europeans, the Stockyards district today is a mix of

nearly everyone from everywhere, with large

groupings of Chinese, Latinos, and African Americans

joining long-time and newly arrived white residents.

Named after the Union Stockyards meatpacking

district that once attracted tens of thousands of

immigrant workers, the district remains one of

Chicago’s strongest industrial centers. Modern

factories and warehouses in the Stockyards Industrial

Park support more than 5,000 jobs. Thousands of additional jobs are just north in the Stevenson and

Pilsen Industrial Corridors, home to metalworking companies, produce distributors, and food

processors. More jobs are to the west in the Brighton Park Industrial Corridor.

Those employment opportunities are matched with strong transportation assets and a diversity of

housing choices, ranging from the famous bungalows of Bridgeport, where Mayors Richard J. and

Richard M. Daley once lived, to big wood-frame houses in New City (the official name for Back of the

Yards), and tightly spaced townhouses in Chinatown (part of Armour Square). Major arteries are lined

with retail stores, many of them serving specific ethnic groups, while new auto-oriented shopping

centers serve regional markets.

Source: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using 2010 Decennial Census.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Stockyards – February 2015 – Page 2

About 153,600 people live in the six community areas south of the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) and

west of the Dan Ryan (I-90/94), within reach of eight CTA Red and Orange Line stations. The district’s

population declined five percent from 2000 to 2010, but is up from earlier levels thanks to a new wave

of immigrants and second- and third-generation Latino and Asian households.

A century old, but new again

Built up around Chicago’s first major industrial centers,

including the cattle pens and packinghouses made famous by

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, the Stockyards district has been

heavily populated for more than a century. But today’s

communities are very different than they were, and are

changing still.

Farthest north and east is Armour Square, commonly known as

Chinatown, which straddles Archer Avenue with thriving

business districts, dense residential areas, and a new riverside

park. Once hemmed in by rail viaducts and expressways, Chinatown has been overflowing those

boundaries since the 1990s, expanding onto former railroad land and into adjacent communities.

Neighboring Bridgeport, once solidly white and insular, is now 27 percent Latino and 35 percent Asian.

New condos and single-family homes have been built on in-fill lots and along the South Branch of the

Chicago River. Retail strips have diversified from their old-line roots with new ethnic restaurants and

bakeries, while old industrial buildings have become art galleries, incubators, and live-work spaces.

Moving southwest along Archer Avenue, McKinley Park and Brighton Park are now predominantly

Latino, with growing Asian populations alongside remaining Lithuanians and Polish Highlanders.

Both neighborhoods benefitted from the 1993 opening of the CTA Orange Line, which connects the

Loop to Midway Airport and provides faster service than the Archer Avenue bus.

STOCKYARDS DISTRICT OVER TIME 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Population 167,601 149,051 143,772 161,741 153,601

Share of population in poverty 12.4% 19.7% 23.7% 23.9% 25.7%

Percent owner-occupied/renter occupied 39/61 40/60 42/58 42/58 41/59

Sources: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using U.S. Census data from US2010 Project at Brown University.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Stockyards – February 2015 – Page 3

To the south is New City, called Back of the Yards, still lined with the wood boarding houses and

apartment buildings where meatpacking workers once lived. Originally Lithuanian, Czech, and Polish,

today it has 44,000 residents who are 57 percent Latino and 30 percent African American. The small

neighborhood of Fuller Park is just east of New City and south of the White Sox’s Cellular Field, with a

mostly African-American population of 2,900.

Source: Easy Analytic Software, Inc., updated January 2014, as displayed on Woodstock Institute Data Portal.

Diverse business base

The Stockyards district has always been solidly working class, with a large proportion of residents

walking to work or taking a short commute. Though the job base has shifted somewhat, the district

continues to have a very broad business mix, with two major freight-rail yards, several industrial areas,

and a dozen retail corridors. Shopping centers have been built on former industrial land – the largest

being the Back of the Yards Shopping Center on 47th Street – and other new retail is near Orange Line

stations.

The district has powerful and varied investment drivers, including:

Chinese immigrants: The influx of more than 8,000 new Asian residents since 2000 has

bolstered the Chinatown economy, which includes more than 70 restaurants and many retail

and wholesale businesses. The area attracts visitors from the city, suburbs, China, and Taiwan.

A 108-room hotel is under construction at Cermak and Archer; a second is planned by Chinese

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Stockyards – February 2015 – Page 4

investors at Clark Street and Archer Avenue. Demand for housing by Chinese families is strong

through much of the Stockyards district.

Industry: Heavy investment continues within the Stockyards Industrial Park. Testa Produce

built a $24-million LEED-certified distribution center, complete with a wind turbine; South

Chicago Packing Co. has expanded its food-oil processing capacity to take advantage of the

site’s rail access; and Tyson Foods employs about 1,000 at its Ashland Avenue facility.

Food and urban farming: A former pork-processing building has been renamed The Plant and

become an incubator for eight food-related businesses including aquaponic farms and bakeries.

The Iron Street Farm produces year-round vegetables, mushrooms, and compost on a seven-

acre site; and small Asian-oriented factories make noodles, tofu, fortune cookies, and paper

take-out tubs.

Transportation: The CTA Orange Line connects residents to downtown jobs; service jobs in and

around Midway Airport; and factory jobs in the industrial corridors. About 30,000 passengers

board the Orange Line each weekday at neighborhood stations including Midway.

The district is well served by chambers of commerce as well as four Special Service Area taxing districts

that provide services to support local industrial and retail businesses. CTA Orange and Red Line Ridership (weekday boardings, year-end averages, 2009 and 2012/13)*

Orange Line Red Line

Halsted Ashland 35th Archer Western Kedzie Cermak

Chinatown Sox 35th 47th St.

2009 2,490 1,476 2,643 3,302 3,000 2009 3,414 4,668 3,163

2013 2,985 1,701 3,092 3,814 3,428 2012 4,428 5,218 3,254

Source: Chicago Transit Authority Annual Ridership Reports. * Red Line South was closed for reconstruction in 2013 so 2012 numbers are used for Red Line only.

Major public investments are adding vitality at strategic locations. The landmarked Goldblatt’s

building at 47th Street and Ashland Avenue is being rehabilitated with $2.9 million in TIF funding; it

will include 101 senior assisted-living units above the commercial space. Nearby at 47th and Hoyne, a

vacant brownfield has been replaced by the $91 million Back of the Yards College Preparatory High

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Stockyards – February 2015 – Page 5

School, which includes an athletic field and co-located branch library. It is a “wall-to-wall”

International Baccalaureate school, with all 1,200 of its students participating in the rigorous

curriculum. It was built after extensive advocacy by the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council and

other community organizations seeking a high-quality school for local residents.

In Chinatown, a new library is under construction to replace the cramped existing branch, where book

circulation and patronage are consistently among the city’s highest. The two-story, 16,000-square-foot

facility has curved glass walls looking out onto busy Wentworth and Archer Avenues. Nearby on the

Chicago River South Branch, the $15 million Ping Tom Memorial Park Fieldhouse opened in 2013 with

a fitness center, swimming pool, and boat house. Both facilities were long-time goals of local

organizations including the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community.

In Brighton Park, a $2 million artificial turf soccer field is under construction at Kelly Park after a two-

year campaign by local residents and the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council. And in McKinley Park,

where industrial vacancy rates have been very high, the former Wrigley Gum factory is being

demolished to make way for new private development; the City of Chicago is exploring reuse of the

former Chicago Public Schools headquarters buildings on Pershing Road; and the obsolete Ashland

Avenue flyover bridge at Pershing has been taken down and replaced with a new $13 million

streetscape.

Strong local networks

Stability and growth throughout the Stockyards district has been supported by long traditions of

community cohesion and networking, from block clubs and churches to political organizations,

grassroots organizing, and chambers of commerce.

As the longtime base of the Chicago Democratic Party, Bridgeport and surrounding areas have for

decades had strong precinct organizations and political leadership that respond to neighborhood

concerns. Community organizing grew up alongside these political networks, most notably in the late

1930s when Saul Alinsky organized the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, which continues

today as a multi-service organization engaged in business development, safety, youth, and other issues.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Stockyards – February 2015 – Page 6

More recently, The Resurrection Project has bought and rehabbed both single-family and multi-unit

buildings in Back of the Yards, and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago launched its Live United

resource network in Brighton Park.

Entrepreneurship is also a driving force, with a

mix across the district of larger retailers and

smaller independent businesses. In Bridgeport,

the parallel Halsted Street and Morgan Street

corridors have developed an eclectic mix of

businesses and restaurants that have filled some

of the many vacant storefronts. Always home to

corner taverns, the area now includes the

nationally acclaimed Maria’s Community Bar,

960 W. 31st Street, with its lineup of craft beers,

and the Marz Community Brewing Company

founded by a collective of brewers. Swap-O-

Rama at 4100 S. Ashland is a major source of

employment and consumer goods, with more than 1,000 vendors and 25,000 visitors on weekends.

Artists represent a relatively new but growing presence. The Zhou B Art Center, founded in 2004 in an

industrial building on 35th Street, helped attract working artists to the neighborhood and nearby

Morgan Street. More recently, the 500,000-square-foot Bridgeport Art Center, in the former Spiegel

Catalog Warehouse at 1200 W. 35th Street, has brought more galleries, evening events, 70 artist work

spaces, and a fashion design center. Both participate in monthly 3rd Friday art walks that attract

hundreds.

Churches continue to play a central role in community life, with big Latino congregations at Holy

Cross, St. Michael’s, and St. Joseph churches, while Five Holy Martyrs in Brighton Park attracts both

current and former Polish residents. Many churches provide social services to neighborhood residents

EMPLOYMENT – STOCKYARDS

Top six employment sectors (# jobs) 2005 2011

Manufacturing 13,865 9,215

Wholesale Trade 4,068 4,030

Retail Trade 5,261 3,963

Admin, Support, Waste Mgmt, Remediation 4,063 3,745

Accommodation and Food Services 2,536 3,412

Transportation and Warehousing 2,979 2,438

Total # private-sector jobs in district

40,888

34,669

District Citywide

Unemployment rate 2012 16.7% 12.9%

Sources: Calculations by Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University using Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data (top sectors) and 2012 Five-Year American Community Survey (unemployment).

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Stockyards – February 2015 – Page 7

and the larger ones play an economic role, attracting parishioners who shop and dine out after Sunday

services.

Challenges and opportunities

A primary challenge throughout the Stockyards district is low income levels, with 25 percent of the

population living in poverty in 2010. Thirty-five percent of households earned less than $25,000 per

year in 2012. Finding higher-paying work is difficult because 36 percent of residents 25 and older have

not attained a high school diploma. Lack of English-language skills is another barrier for many Latino

and Chinese residents.

The aging stock of both residential and commercial/industrial buildings is also a challenge. Demand

for housing remains relatively strong throughout the district, especially for working-class families, but

many houses and apartment buildings are 80 years old or more. Some have been illegally subdivided

into smaller units and others suffer from decades of deferred maintenance. Nearly 19 percent of all

residential parcels were impacted by foreclosures between 2005 and 2013, causing a sharp drop in

values.

The district has a surplus of outdated industrial properties, even as demand increases for modern one-

story facilities near major transportation arteries. The area has seen continued reinvestment in plant

and equipment by existing users, such as Wheatland Tube and can-maker Rexam. Prologis Inc. plans a

new 208,000-square-foot distribution center at the I-55 ramp at 28th and Damen. But the market is

unlikely to quickly absorb the area’s surplus of industrial land and buildings.

Another major challenge through much of the district is how to improve safety. A survey conducted

for the 2013 Chinatown Community Vision Plan identified safety as the number one concern;

enhancing public safety was also a primary goal of the 2014 Back of the Yards Quality-of-Life Plan.

Gang activity and homicides are an ongoing concern in much of the district, which lacks the

recreational facilities and youth-programming organizations of other parts of the city. The Chicago

Park District in 2009 opened the 27-acre Palmisano Park in Bridgeport, at the former Stearns Quarry,

and is in the acquisition phase for Park #571 at Ashland and the river, which will include a 19,000

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Stockyards – February 2015 – Page 8

square-foot boathouse. But the community remains below the city standard for park space, with just 1.6

acres of open space per 1,000 residents, and has few major youth-recreation facilities or programs.

A major asset of all the Stockyards neighborhoods is the historic character of the building stock,

including hundreds of brick commercial and mixed-use buildings, many with decorative elements. The

2006 Urban Land Institute report, Archer Avenue: Remaking an Historic Corridor, recommends

preserving existing historical buildings and filling gaps with compatible structures that will

complement the streetwall. It suggests transit-oriented improvements around the CTA Orange Line

stations and development of gateways and streetscape improvements to soften the harsh edges created

by the adjacent Stevenson Expressway. More detailed guidance is provided in the 2008 Archer Avenue

and Halsted Street Pattern Book, which provides design guidelines for vibrant, pedestrian-oriented

activity centers.

By building on its rich history, employment base, and transportation assets, the Stockyards district can

continue to attractive the waves of newcomers that have made it a vibrant urban center for more than a

century. Examples of development opportunities

Place Location Status Notes

Vacant Aronson Furniture site

4630 S. Ashland Ave. This 20,000-square-foot building and large rear parking lot are in a high-traffic location.

Identified as highest priority redevelopment site in 2014 Back of the Yards quality-of-life plan.

Vacant lots at 47th and Damen

Southeast corner Four vacant lots are across from Back of the Yards Shopping Center.

Identified for potential mixed use by Back of the Yards quality-of-life plan.

Wells Wentworth Connector project

Relocation of Wells between Archer and Cermak is Phase 2 of Chicago Department of Transportation project.

Wentworth north of Cermak to be moved to align with southern section, removing dangerous jog.

Three buildings to be removed west of Wentworth. Parking lots east of Wentworth, owned by Illinois Department of Transportation, could be redeveloped for mixed uses after road relocation.

Central Manufacturing District buildings

1819 W. Pershing Rd. City-owned buildings were built for industry, then used as Chicago Public Schools headquarters.

Department of Planning and Development has been exploring re-use as data center or mixed uses.

Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 Summary of Assets – Stockyards – February 2015 – Page 9

Former Wrigley gum factory

Ashland Avenue at 35th Street

Factory closed in 2006 and was demolished in 2014.

32-acre Wrigley site is owned by Avgeris and Associates; is adjacent to Ashland Avenue project to remove flyover at 35th Street.

Data note: Unless otherwise stated, demographic and other information is provided by Chicago Community Area, which may differ slightly from the boundaries of the CN2015 Planning Districts. Community Areas included in this profile are Armour Square, Fuller Park, Brighton Park, McKinley Park, Bridgeport, and New City. Research support for Chicago Neighborhoods 2015: Assets, Plans and Trends was provided by a team convened by The Chicago Community Trust. The summary of assets for this planning district was created by LISC Chicago and Teska Associates with materials from Metropolitan Planning Council, Place Consulting, Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, and many other sources. Author: Patrick Barry. Learn more about the Stockyards district and Chicago Neighborhoods 2015 at cct.org/CN2015/Stockyards. Learn more about data and sources at cct.org/CN2015/DataSources.

Walsh es

Chicago

Kedzie

Halsted

Ashland

Western

35th/Archer

Sox-35th

47th

Stockyards Industrial Park

Brighton Park Industrial Corridor

Stevenson Industrial Corridor

Canaryville

Stockyards

Back of the Yards

NEW CITY

BRIGHTON PARK

BRIDGEPORT

MCKINLEY PARK

ARMOUR SQUARE

FULLER PARK

NEAR SOUTH SIDE

NORTH LAWNDALE

35TH

ARCH

ER

KEDZ

IE

CERMAK

PERSHING

47th

31ST

43RD

ASHL

AND

HALS

TED

DAM

ENDA

MEN STAT

E

WES

TERN

CALI

FORN

IA

CERMAK

55

55

94

94

Thomas ES

Lara ES

Instituto del Progreso Latino (CWF)

Healy ES

Davis ES

Kelly HS

Holden ES

Armour ES

Graham ES

Seward ES

Tilden HS

Shields MS

Calmeca ES

Ward, J ES

Everett ES

Namaste ES

Shields ES

Hamline ES

Sheridan ES

McClellan ES

Burroughs ES Air Force HS

Hendricks ES

Gunsaulus ES

Brighton Park HS UNO Charter Marquez Back of the Yards HS

Columbia Explorers ES

Chicago Childrens Choir ES

UNO Charter Brighton ParkThe Plant

Kelly Park

Mile Square Fuller Park

Yards Plaza

Swap O RamaTyson Foods

Davis Square

Bishop Plaza

Benton House

Armour Square

Prologis Inc.

City Beverage

McKinley Park

Testa Produce

Senior Housing

Palmisano Park

QTS Data Center

Iron Street Farm

New Soccer Field

St. Joseph Church

San Miguel School

Zhao B Art Center

Wheatland Tube Co.

Former Wrigley Gum

The Bridge Theater

U.S. Cellular Field

Bridgeport Alliance

Cedar Concepts Corp.

South Chicago Packing

Maria's Community Bar

Union Stockyards Gate

Bridgeport Art Center

Co-Propsperity Sphere

Former CPS School Bldg

St. Michael the Archangel

Ntl Latino Education Inst

Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing

Former Stockyards Ntl Bank

Former Aronson's Furniture

Marz Community Brewing Co.

Access Kedzie Family Health

Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council

First Lutheran Church Trinity

Five Holy Martyr's Church

Brighton Park Nbrd Council

BNSF Chicago Intermodal Fac.

Greene ES

Chavez ES

Brighton Park ES

McKinley Park ES

Second Chance HS

Evergreen Academy ES

Dugan Alternative HS

Daley

Canaryville

McKinley Park

Brighton Park

Back of the Yards

9TH

Bubbly Creek

Back of the Yards Mental Health Center

Hedges ES

Canalport River ParkPark No. 571

See Pilsen Little VillagePlanning District

See Bronzeville South LakefrontPlanning District

See MidwayPlanning District

See South Side Planning District

DATE | 01.16.2015

STOCKYARDS PLANNING DISTRICT ASSET MAPCHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS 2015

SSA#13

SSA# 7

SSA#39

SSA#10

KEDZI

E

CERMAK

South Loop Chamber of Commerce

Sanitary and Ship Canal

Pilsen Industrial Corridor

35th/Halsted

47th/Ashland

Stockyards Annex

Archer/Western

35th/State

35th/Wallace

Stockyards Industrial Corridor

Stephenson/Brighton

47th/Halsted

Stockyards Southeast Quadrant

3rd Ward

11th Ward

12th Ward

15th Ward45th & Western

25th Ward

14th Ward 20th Ward

47TH

HALS

TED

PERSHING

ASHLA

ND

DAM

EN

43RD

RACI

NE

See Bronzeville South LakefrontPlanning District

See Pilsen Little VillagePlanning District

See MidwayPlanning District

See South Side Planning District

DATE | 01.16.2015

*This planning area is located within the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council & the Eighteenth Street Development Corporation (LIRI)

STOCKYARDS PLANNING DISTRICT WARD/TIF/SSA MAPCHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS 2015

Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council

(NBDC) serves this district but main o�ce may be located o� the map