Armour Square

Armour Square is a well-known neighborhood that is popular for being the home to Chinatown. Armour Square is a Chicago neighborhood on the city’s South Side. This formally defined community area is formed from the ruins of nearby communities. Therefore, Armour Square is only 4 or 5 blocks broad despite being 21 blocks long.

Bridgeport to the west, Pilsen to the northwest, Douglas and Grand Boulevard to the east and southeast, the Near South Side to the north, and Fuller Park to the south, all along Pershing Road, form the boundaries of Armour Square. The historic Armour Square Park and Guaranteed Rate Field, home to the Chicago White Sox, are notable landmarks. Chinatown is a bustling business sector with a diverse selection of restaurants and businesses. Besides that, residents can also Dim sum restaurants and teahouses, and unique architecture and constructions are available to residents and visitors.

The CTA’s Red Line and Metra’s Rock Island Line service the neighborhood’s public transportation. Commuters can drive on the Dan Ryan Expressway or the Stevenson Expressway. Armour Square is around 2.4 miles from the Chicago “Loop;” it takes seven minutes to travel to the site via subway. Likewise, a direct bus runs between Clark and Harrison and 3000 S Wentworth. It takes off every hour, and the journey takes about 14 minutes.

Map

Bridgeport to the west, Pilsen to the northwest, Douglas and Grand Boulevard to the east and southeast, the Near South Side to the north, and Fuller Park to the south, all along Pershing Road, form the boundaries of Armour Square.

Population

In Armour Square, something amusing happened around two decades ago. Armour Square was one of seven community areas in Chicago that increased by more than 10% in 2000, despite the city losing 200,000 citizens. The region is one of the smallest community areas in the city, covering only around one square mile, although it had grown by 1,411 residents since 2000.

Armour Square was the sole largely Asian community area in the city according to the 2000 Census, with 61 percent of the population being Asian. Even though Asians accounted for three-fifths of the population, there were several community areas with higher Asian populations like West Ridge. Whites made up the second biggest percentage of the other nationalities represented in Armour Square, followed by blacks and Hispanics.

As of 2021, Armour Square has a total population of 13,890 individuals. Out of this population, 42.5% are native, while the remaining 57.4% are foreign-born. This population underwent a change of 15.4% since 2000.

At present, there are three separate populations within Armour Square. The famed Chinatown is in the north, the middle is generally Hispanic with few Italians, and the south is predominantly African American. The community’s current racial makeup is 72.9% Asians, 14% whites, 8.3% blacks, 4.4% Hispanics, and 0.4% others.

Real Estate

There are a total of 5,648 households in the Armour Square region. 32.6% of these households comprise a single person, while 32.2% of Armour Square households comprise 2-persons. 3-person households constitute 13.5%, and 4-persons make up 21.7% of Albany Park households in the Albany Park region. The average household consists of 2.4 persons. 93.4% of the houses in the Armour Square area are occupied, while the remaining 6.6% of houses are vacant. The owners inhabit 34.5% of the occupied houses.

Armour Square’s broader, formally defined community area includes Chinatown and the Chicago Housing Authority’s Wentworth Gardens housing project. The majority of residents in Armour Square rent their homes. Recent stats show that 65.5% of the Armour Square households are renter-occupied.

There are high-rise and mid-rise elevator buildings in the area. Moreover, residents will find numerous bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks in Armour Square. It is a liberal neighborhood with many young professionals – the people living in the region get an urban feel.

Armour Square residents take advantage of the “Chinese New Year” in Chinatown each year. Lion dances, cultural performances, culinary events, and colorful parades are a staple of this annual festival.

Armour Square house prices experienced a hike of 8.9% in December 2021 due to recent interests. Armour Square homes started selling after 19 days of being listed on the market on average, compared to 32 days last year. Armour Square houses currently have a median selling price of $313,000. This average selling price is significantly lower than the $335,000 median average price in Chicago.

Schools

The literacy rates rate in Armour Square is above average. Between 2015 and 2019, around 24.5 percent of persons had a high school diploma, 16.8 percent had a bachelor’s degree, and 9.1 percent had a Master’s or Ph.D.

Several top-rated Chicago Public Schools serve residents of the community. Amongst the K-8 schools that serve the Armour Square neighborhood, Haines and J. Ward are the most highly rated. Apart from these, Phillips Academy High School is also designated for Armour Square residents.

1- Jones College Prep High School

Rating: A+

Student population: 1968 students

Teacher-student ratio: 18 to 1

2- Lindblom Math and Science Academy High School

Rating: A

Student population: 1357 students

Teacher-student ratio: 18 to 1

3- DeVry University Advantage High School

Rating: A

Student population: 142 students

Teacher-student ratio: 14 to 1

4- Westinghouse College Prep

Rating: A

Student population: 1238 students

Teacher-student ratio: 17 to 1

5- Hawthorne Scholastic Academy

Rating: A-

Student population: 568 students

Teacher-student ratio: 15 to 1

6- Philips Academy High School

Rating: C-

Student population: 599 students

Teacher-student ratio: 13 to 1

7- Williams Medical Prep High School

Rating: C-

Student population: 126 students

Teacher-student ratio: 8 to 1

Crime Rating

The murder ratio in District 015 has increased from 1 to 2 from 2021 to 2022. Robbery cases had decreased from 16 to 14 on the list of minor changes. The Armour Square area has seen 7 robberies in the previous week alone. The rise in theft cases is no exception. The number of burglary recordings grew from 3 in 2020 to 7 in 2021. In District 015, there have been a total of 21 theft cases reported in the first month of 2022.

History

Armour Square has always been mostly a working-class neighborhood. During the Civil War, Germans and Irish arrived in the region, and later, Swedes joined the population. As they migrated south and ascended to social and economic prominence, they used the area as a stopover. Even though Armour Square was located south of the burned region during the Chicago Fire of 1871, the calamity severely impacted it. Following the fire, laws requiring brick or stone construction in the central city were adopted. As a result of the increased costs, many working families were forced to relocate to the “brick district,” and Armour Square became a popular destination. As the railroads’ tracks were lifted, Armour Square lost blocks of houses. These alterations cut the area off from east and west neighborhoods.

Italian immigrants arrived in 1899, and the Roman Catholic parish of Santa Maria Incoronata was established. Housing in the area began to be displaced by commercial enterprises. Some of the invading shops were expansions of the notorious Levee neighborhood, immediate to the east. Between 34th and 35th Streets, Charles Comiskey built a new baseball facility for the Chicago White Sox in 1909. The American Giants of the Negro League moved into the old Sox park. The White Sox moved to a brand new stadium directly south of the old Comiskey Park in 1991, with the Negro Leagues long gone.

The Chinese community of the city also settled into Armour Square around the same time as the White Sox. In search of reduced rent, they relocated from the southern edge of the Loop to the neighborhood surrounding Cermak and Wentworth today. However, the Chinese faced significant racial prejudice and were obliged to conduct commerce through a mediator. The H. O. Stone Company secured 10-year leases on properties in the new region on behalf of 50 Chinese merchants. Their continued presence and investment helped them build one of the country’s largest Chinatowns, a popular destination for locals and tourists looking for the wonderful food and unusual, low-cost shopping. Chinatown grew in popularity as a tourist destination, with an attractive entrance gate and other unique features. The Chinese impact on the south side is still spreading geographically, with much of the rising population moving to Bridgeport.

As the city’s “Black Belt” expanded during World War I, African Americans began to relocate into Armour Square’s southern part, totaling around 4,000 by 1930. When the world saw the Great Depression during World War II, this figure remained stable until the development of Wentworth Gardens by the Chicago Housing Authority in 1947. This development plan resulted in the area’s population reaching an all-time high of over 23,000 people, with blacks constituting nearly half of the total. The demolition necessary for the construction of the Dan Ryan and Stevenson Expressways, on the other hand, resulted in a gradual population drop. Armour Square is known for its multicultural surroundings, including Chinatown and Wentworth Gardens.

In 1999, the Chinese made up more than half of the population in the area. The Chinese were expanding west into Bridgeport, and a revitalized Chinatown remained a popular tourist destination with numerous businesses and well-known restaurants. Appleville apartments were created by a Hong Kong-based investor, while Chinese businesspeople and local banks developed Chinatown Square and Jade City apartments. Along the river, a new Chinatown Park was being built. The region was energized by the adaptive reuse of old structures, surrounding infill housing, and the recently enlarged McCormick Place to the east.

Armour Square is now popular because of Chinatown, and the land’s worth is mainly dependent on the site. Anyone who wants to grab a bite late night can visit Chinatown – the assortment of exotic restaurants will be a sight to sore eyes (or in this case, food to hungry souls!)