On Thursday, Ward Room published a blog post in which we wrote that Englewood has lost two thirds of its population since 1950. That made us wonder whether Englewood is the most abandoned neighborhood in Chicago.
So we did some research using Census tract data. It turns out that the neighborhood that’s lost the highest percentage of residents since 1950, the year Chicago’s population peaked at 3.6 million, is Fuller Park, which is down 83 percent. Fuller Park is in what used to be known as the Black Belt, the South Side ghetto to which the city’s African-American population was confined for the first half of this century. It was horribly overcrowded, and when restrictive covenants were banned, starting in the 1950s, its residents moved out in droves, seeking less dense living conditions. Douglas, Oakland, Grand Boulevard and Washington Park -- four other Black Belt neighborhoods -- have all lost over 75 percent of the populations since the ‘50s.
The neighborhood with the most growth is Ashburn, which increased 450 percent. Until a sudden residential boom in the mid-1950s was an empty space used for dumping ashes (hence its name) and holding carnivals. The Loop, which went from a sleazy red light district where no one respectable set foot after 5 p.m. to a trendy neighborhood for condo-dwelling professionals, is up 317 percent.
Here's a complete list, with percentage increases and decreases since 1950.
1. Rogers Park: 62,252 54,991 -11.6%
2.West Ridge 47,930 71,942 +50%
3.Uptown 84,462 56,362 -33%
4.Lincoln Square 47,298 39,493 -16%
5.North Center 47,787 31,867 -33%
6.Lake View 124,824 94,368 -24%
7.Lincoln Park 102,396 64,116 -37%
8.Near North Side 89,196 80,484 -10%
9.Edison Park 7,843 11,187 +43%
10.Norwood Park 26,798 37,023 +38%
11.Jefferson Park 23,556 25,448 +8%
12.Forest Glen 12,189 18,508 +52%
13.North Park 15,291 17,931 +17%
14.Albany Park 52,995 51,542 -3%
15.Portage Park 64,736 64,124 0
16.Irving Park 64,881 53,359 -18%
17.Dunning 32,231 41,932 +30%
18.Montclare 11,166 13,426 +20%
19.Belmont Cragin 63,546 78,743 +24%
20.Hermosa 22,805 25,010 +10%
21.Avondale 45,313 39,262 -13%
22.Logan Square 106,763 73,595 -31%
23.Humboldt Park 76,199 56,323 -31%
24.West Town 161,620 81,432 -50%
25.Austin 132,180 98,514 -25%
26.West Garfield Park 48,443 18,001 -63%
27.East Garfield Park 70,091 20,567 -70%
28.Near West Side 160,362 54,881 -66%
29.North Lawndale 100,489 35,912 -64%
30.South Lawndale 66,977 79,288 +19%
31.Lower West Side 53,991 35,769 -34%
32.Loop 7,018 29,283 +317%
33.Near South Side 11,317 21,390 +94%
34.Armour Square 23,294 13,391 -43%
35.Douglas 78,745 18,238 -77%
36.Oakland 24,464 5,918 -76%
37.Fuller Park 17,174 2,876 -83%
38.Grand Boulevard 114,557 21,929 -81%
39.Kenwood 35,705 17,841 -50%
40.Washington Park 56,856 11,717 -79%
41.Hyde Park 55,206 25,681 -54%
42.Woodlawn 80,699 23,410 -71%
43.South Shore 79,336 49,767 -38%
44.Chatham 40,845 31,028 -24%
45.Avalon Park 11,358 10,185 -10%
46.South Chicago 55,715 31,198 -44%
47.Burnside 3,551 2,916 -18%
48.Calumet Heights 9,349 13,812 -48%
49.Roseland 56,705 44,619 -21%
50.Pullman 8,899 7,325 -18%
51.South Deering 17,476 15,109 -14%
52.East Side 21,619 23,042 +7%
53.West Pullman 29,265 29,651 0
54.Riverdale 9,790 6,482 -34%
55.Hegewisch 7,142 9,426 +32%
56.Garfield Ridge 12,900 34,513 +168%
57.Archer Heights 8,675 13,393 +54%
58.Brighton Park 41,345 45,368 +10%
59.McKinley Park 18,813 15,612 -17%
60.Bridgeport 46,070 31,925 -30%
61.New City 75,917 44,377 -42%
62.West Eldson 7,728 18,109 +134%
63.Gage Park 30,149 39,894 +32%
64.Clearing 10,591 23,139 +118%
65.West Lawn 14,460 33,355 +131%
66.Chicago Lawn 50,211 55,628 +11%
67.West Englewood 62,842 35,505 -44%
68.Englewood 94,134 30,654 -67%
69.Greater Grand Crossing 61,753 32,602 -47%
70.Ashburn 7,472 41,081 +450%
71.Auburn Gresham 60,978 48,743 - 20%
72.Beverly 20,186 20,034 -1%
73.Washington Heights 24,488 26,493 +10%
74.Mount Greenwood 12,331 19,093 +55%
75.Morgan Park 22,618 22,544 0
76.O'Hare Not In City 12,576 N/A
77.Edgewater 54,606 56,521 +4%
