Archer Heights

Archer Heights is among the 77 communities located on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. You can easily access this neighborhood from the Midway Airport. Besides, the community is only 8.8 miles and 21 minutes drive away from the Chicago Loop. The area is peaceful, and many residents own their own homes giving the Archer heights a suburban feel. Many people are working class and live in Bungalows and ranch-themed homes made from bricks.

Archer Heights contains everything you like: schools, catholic schools, grocery shopping, and many more. We also have the famous Orange line built-in 1993 t. The orange line train stops at the Pulaski, Kedzie, and western. People use the Stevenson Expressway to access the rest of Chicago city. The community also has a park where people relax with their loved ones while children play. These parks include Curie, Archer, Kujawa, and Irma. C Ruiz park.

The community also has some honored residents like Henry J.Rutkowski, a world war two veteran and war prisoner. The people named 48th street and Harding Avenue to honor him. The other privileged resident is Omar Torres, who died in the Iraq Combat in 2007. Therefore, the residents put up his name on 47th Street and Keeler Avenue.

Tourists come from all over the world to come and admire the St. Bruno catholic church and the St. Richard Parish architecture. The church has served the community for decades, and its designs are one of the tourist attraction sites.

The community is diverse and has all the different ethnic backgrounds like white, Asian, African-American, and Hispanic. However, more Hispanic people live in the community than any other group.

Map

Archer Avenue runs from south of Chicago’s downtown area, through the southwest side of Chicago and beyond into the southwest suburbs, along what was once a Native American trail. The neighborhood is bounded by the Stevenson Expressway to the north, the CTA Orange Line to the south, the Corwith rail yard to the east, and the railroad tracks/Knox Avenue to the west.

The Archer Height zip code is 60632, and the coordinates are 4148.6′N 8743.8′W.

Population

The native Americans were the first community living in Archer Heights before the community had a name. In the 1930s, the population grew when the white community such as the Russian, Italian, Polish, Jewish, and Czech settled. The area also had minority groups like the Asian, Hispanic, and African Americans, but they contributed to the lowest population percentage.

Over the years, the Archer Heights community has continued to grow. The current population of the people in this area is 14,196. The current percentage of native-born is 62.2%, while the rest of the 37.7% were born in foreign countries. Over time, we have seen the rate of white ethnicity decrease as Hispanics increase. The Hispanics are now the largest ethnic group in Archer Heights. Let’s check out the percentage of each group:

Real Estate

From the year 2015- to 2019, there were a total of 4163 households in Archer Heights. People with no family own 23.4% of the total households. At the same time, the people living with a family are leading with 76.6% of the overall home. The other 11.6% of the Archer Heights households belong to single parents with children.

The Chicago housing authority is the municipal authority in charge of controlling everything to do with the housing finances, development, and renovation. The Chicago housing finance department demolished the LeClaire Courts residents in Archer Heights. The demolished houses consisted of two buildings, each having seven floors with 314 units. The Chicago Housing Authority demolished the housing in 2011, but they hope to complete the project ten years later.

50% of the Archer Heights residents claim the housing is affordable. Also, half of the residents claim that good quality houses have a good interior design. On the other hand, 25% of the residents say they can easily access parking in the area.

According to Niche.com, the current average median price is $194,814, lower than $335,000, which is Chicago’s median average price.

Schools

According to the 2015-2019 Archer Heights survey, 38.9% of the population is the highest percentage of people with a high school diploma or Equivalent. In the community, people who have a college degree are 14.6%, while 10.1% of the population have a Bachelor’s Degree.

Also, 4.1% of the population have an Associate’s Degree, and 2.8% hold a Graduate or professional degree. Unfortunately, 29.4% of the population has less than a High School Diploma.

There are 151 private and public schools in Archer Heights that serve the citizens. Payton Preparatory School is currently the Best school in Archer Heights, with an overall Niche grade of A+. People have rated the school as the top magnet and public School in Chicago, Illinois. Besides, 97% of the students are proficient in reading, while 93% are proficient in reading. Also, there are 1220 students in the school, and the student-teacher ratio is 16:1.

Some of the other best schools in Archer Heights are :

Elementary School: Hawthorne Scholastic academy

Rating A-

Student population: 568

Teacher to student ratio: 15:1

Middle School: STEM Magnet Academy Middle & Elementary School

Rating A-

Student population: 488

Teacher to student ratio: 14: 1

High School: NorthSide Preparatory High School

Rating A+

Student population: 1078

Teacher to student ratio: 18:1

Private School: British International School of Chicago, South loop

Rating A+

Student population: 604

Teacher to student ratio: 8:1

Crime Rating

Archer is one of the safest neighborhoods in Chicago. In the last 28 days, there have been three murder complaints in district 004 from 3rd – 9th Jan 2022. Since 2020 the number of death complaints has reduced from 2 to 0.

Over the last seven days, the total number of overall crime complaints in 2021 and 20202 has increased from 47 to 54. Over the last 28 days, the crime complaints increased 22%, from 178 to 217. The crime rate increased by 13% and 6% over two years in a year.

The shooting change has doubled by 100% over the last seven days and decreased by -13% in the previous 28 days.

History

The Archer Heights original occupants were Native Americans who were not interested in the land but the canal. They were not interested in the land because it was swampy. However, in the 19000s, farmers and land speculators came and found interest in the land. As a result, the real estate and manufacturing sectors also grew.

William. B was a speculator and Illinois and canal commissioner who came and found interest in the land, so they named it after him. At first, the name of the land was Archer Road District which they later changed to Archer Heights.

Economic Growth and Activities That Led to The Growth of Archer Heights

In the 19000, The speculators developed the residential sector by constructing buildings in the south of Archer heights. Railways led to the development of specific areas because of the employees and economic activities. Therefore, the people also developed the residential area in the north because of the railway passing through.

During that period, the improved transport methods in Archer Heights also contributed to the area’s growth. The horse car was one that people had developed in the 1890s. The other was the electric streetcars which the residents developed in the 19000’s. These attracted white foreigners like Jewish, Russian, Czech, Italian, and Polish who settled in the area.

The growth of the catholic parishes and the groundwork also peaked in the twentieth century. People came to Archer Heights and settled to attend St.Bruno’s curch, built-in 1925. More people moved into the community when the citizens built the St.Richards Parish in 1938.

Population Growth

At the beginning of the 20th century, the population started at 8,120. The end of world war 2 brought more people to the town, increasing 8,675. By 1970, the community grew from 10,584 to 11 143. However, the Great Recession effect caused the population in the community to slowly decrease to 9708 by 1970. The Great Recession was when the district faced a significant economic decline. As a result, the population was down to 9227 in 1990.

Population and Diversity

The whites were the majority group in Archer Heights for 90 years, and in 1990, whites were 96% of the total population. Besides, 26% of the population were white immigrants.

Some minority groups in the area were Mexicans and Hispanics. These minority groups were 8% of the total population in 1990. However, the Hispanic group grew and settled along the South West Side Bungalow belt ten years later. But, in 2000, the same year, the African-American group was still at 1%.

At the end of the 20th century, the residential growth in Archer Heights was lower than the Industrial and commercial economic growth. The manufacturing and bulk transportation activities led at 60% in the area. The people also dedicated 30 percent to residential and lastly commerce was at 10 percent.