Auburn Gresham

Auburn Gresham, more commonly referred to as Gresham, is number 71of the 77 Chicago designated community areas. It is located on the city’s far south side and was the previous location of the South Side Irish Parade until it was shifted to the Beverly area to Chicago’s far southwest. Auburn Gresham occupies a total land area of 3.77 square miles (9.76 km2).

Gresham is a middle-class neighborhood; the average household income in the area was calculated $34,396 in 2019. This amount is significantly less than the Chicago median family annual income of $58,247. The Auburn Gresham community is an excellent place for families to live in. It has plenty of nice eateries and cafes, and the grocery shopping options are also abundant. 

Moreover, the Auburn Gresham neighborhood has plenty of parks and playgrounds, including Foster Park, Mahalia Jackson Park, O’Hallaren Park, Lyle (John) Park, and the famous Auburn Park. Even in the dead of winter, the beauty of one of Auburn Gresham’s hidden jewels – the Auburn Park – is breathtaking. It features three winding, irregularly formed ponds surrounded by hand-hewn granite retaining walls. There are many flowering bushes and trees, as well as fountain jets, in the water during the summer. The lagoons are still popular for fishing among the locals.

The serene parklands aren’t the only things Gresham is famous for; it turns out the neighborhood is also adequate for travelers. It is located 12.6 miles (20 km) south of the Downtown Chicago Loop. The direct bus from Halsted Orange Line Station to Racine & 84th Street would take 42 minutes to reach the city business hub.

Map

The Auburn Gresham neighborhood is located near Englewood, another Chicago community district. It is defined by 55th and 76th Streets and Halstead and Wentworth. The region is part of the 60620 zip code.

Population

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s 2020 population census showed that the Auburn Gresham neighborhood is home to 44,878 individuals. Around 97.7% of this population comprises Native Americans, whereas only 2.3% of the population share goes to foreigners.

Like many of Chicago’s neighborhoods, the area that became Auburn Gresham was more or less rural. However, this situation considerably changed when immigrants working at the 1983 World’s Columbian Exposition moved in and started development projects. The most prominent construction from the time was the creation of the Auburn Lake Lagoon, which is still a central focus of the neighborhood today. The German and Dutch were among the early settlers of the Gresham neighborhood.

Since then, Auburn Gresham has been a culturally diverse area. The population predominantly consists of African-Americans (95.4%), followed by Hispanics and Latinos (2.2%). Whites are the third largest racial sector in the Auburn Gresham community occupying 1.1% of the population share. People from other non-Hispanic castes have a 1.0% population share, while Asians are at the bottom of the list, constituting merely 0.3% of the neighborhood’s residents.

Real Estate

CMAP’s August 2021 release indicates around 18,071 households in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. Each house has an average family size of 2.5 persons. 82.6% of the residential units are occupied; owners inhabit 44.6% of the occupied housing units, while renters inhabit the remaining 55.4% of housing facilities.

Auburn Gresham’s housing market is dominated by single-family detached houses taking up 45% of the total share. These structures are followed by two-unit houses making up 17.7% of residential units. Three to four-unit houses are another popular option comprising 12.6% of the domestic real estate market.

Auburn Gresham is part of Chicago’s so-called “bungalow belt,” with hundreds of Arts and Crafts-style brick homes dotted around the neighborhood. Surprisingly, the Auburn Gresham neighborhood was designated as Chicago’s 10th Bungalow Historic District. Gresham was classified on the National Register of Historic Places in October 2012. The district contains 264 Chicago bungalows built between 1918 and 1932 and a range of other residential structures. While thirty-two different architects designed the district’s residences, the bungalows remain identical. The uniform architectural design was a crucial component in their price; yet, characteristics such as color and brickwork identify the various homes.

Other than that, St. Sabina Church has been an essential element of this working-class neighborhood for more than a century, particularly for its work on social justice concerns. Through “The Ark” initiative — a safe refuge for at-risk adolescents – St. Sabina offers a wide range of free programs for youth and adults aged 6 to 28. There is also the St. Sabina Academy, which serves pupils from preschool to eighth grade. The building also houses an employment resource center and several social support services. 

Auburn Gresham features an affordable housing market; the average real estate listing price is $189K. Even though this amount experienced a 0.8% increase compared to the previous year, it is still significantly less than the Chicago average home price of $335K. 

Schools

The educational attainment figures in Auburn Gresham are average. The majority of the people residing in the neighborhood (31.2%) have a high school diploma, following the 29.5% of individuals who have gone to college but don’t have a degree. 

Coming to the tertiary education level, 8.6% of the Gresham residents have an Associate’s degree, while 9.5% have a Bachelor’s degree. Master’s and professional degree holders only occupy 5.2% of the entire neighborhood’s population. 

That said, there are some amazing schools and colleges situated in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. Some of them are listed below:

1- Gresham School of Excellence

Student population: 378 students in PK, K-8

Teacher-student ratio: 16-to-1

2- Cook Elementary School

Student population: 327 students in PK, K-8

Teacher-student ratio: 15-to-1

3- Oglesby Elementary School

Student population: 385 students in PK, K-8

Teacher-student ratio: 12-to-1

4- CICS – Ralph Ellison Campus

Student population: 244 students in grades 9 to 12

Teacher-student ratio: 61-to-1

5- Joplin Elementary School

Student population: 389 students in PK, K-8

Teacher-student ratio: 16-to-1

6- Cuffe Math, Science and Technology Academy Elementary School

Student population: 281 students in PK, K-8

Teacher-student ratio: 16-to-1

7- Learn Chtr – Hunter Perkins Camp

Student population: 480 students in K-8

Teacher-student ratio: 17-to-1

Crime Ratings 

Auburn Gresham is an adequately safe area in Chicago Police Department’s District 006. Between February 28 and March 6, 2022, one murder case was reported with the local police. Moreover, the residents lodged five robbery complaints and eleven burglary reports with the local police. Eighteen motor vehicle theft reports were filed during the week.

History

Auburn Gresham was established on low, flat, swampy ground in the southeast corner of the Town of Lake, which was annexed into Chicago in 1889. Truck farmers from Germany and the Netherlands were among the first residents. Irish railroad employees arrived at the area as train lines were established in the mid-nineteenth century. The World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 drew potential landowners to the South Side by expanding and improving city amenities, notably streetcar lines. Between 1913 and 1918, the city extended the Halsted lines to 119th Street and the Racine and Ashland Avenue cars to 87th Street. The 79th Street line extended from Western Avenue to the beaches of Lake Michigan.

Auburn Gresham’s proximity to public transportation made it an easy sell for developers aiming to recruit families looking to escape the city’s older and more congested areas. Many people of Auburn Gresham came from the working-class areas of Bridgeport, Canaryville, Back of the Yards, and Englewood. In the 1930s, 21% of Auburn Gresham’s population was of Irish descent. German Americans, Swedish Americans, and some Polish, Italian, and French Americans settled in the area. Many stockyard workers rode the Halsted streetcar to work. The area was convenient for municipal workers such as cops and firefighters and railroad and construction workers. The majority of the housing constructed at the time were bungalows, two- and three-flats, and apartment buildings.

Auburn Gresham survived the Great Depression and World War II and experienced a wealthy and pleasant 1950s. African Americans seeking property outside of the congested and crumbling Black Belt began to move into areas adjacent to Auburn Gresham by the end of the 1950s. While this sparked racist fears among many locals, the Organization of Southwest Communities was created in 1959 by churches and civic organizations (OSC). The OSC’s goals were to maintain property prices and appearances, deter real-estate agents from blockbusting, educate locals to refute racial prejudices, and prevent violence while permitting peaceful, steady integration.

During its first five years, OSC had widespread, even enthusiastic support from the community who felt safe from property value reductions and racial violence. In the 1960s, however, crime in the Gresham police district increased faster than in the rest of the city. Purse snatchings, bicycle thefts, and home break-ins were committed. At the same period, the population of Auburn Gresham grew substantially. It had stayed relatively steady over the preceding 20 years, but between 1960 and 1970, the population increased from 59,484 to 68,854. The increase in traffic and noise made the region less appealing, while parking challenges at night made crime-averse people more concerned.

City and national events also contributed to the cooling of racial tensions in Auburn Gresham. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s civil rights march in adjacent Marquette Park was met with violence in 1966. On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, igniting riots in Chicago and around the country. Many white Auburn Gresham residents believed that racial mixing would always result in violence.

By 1970, many African Americans settled in the neighborhood’s eastern section. While OSC was unable to preserve integration, it did make the shift from white to black more peaceful, less damaging to property values, and a less humiliating experience for residents.