East Garfield Park

Garfield Park (East) is the 27th distinguished neighborhood district of the 77 Chicago community areas. It lies in the West Side Chicago neighborhood and is popular as the area where urban activity collides with tranquility. The neighborhood draws its name from nearby Garfield Park, a Chicago Public Park that makes up 20% of this collective area. Another popular site that is regarded as East Garfield Park neighborhood’s sister community is West Garfield Park, which lies to its west side.

Garfield Park (East) is an up-and-coming neighborhood near state-of-the-art hospitals and a world-class university. It constitutes a total land area of 1.94 square miles (5.02 km2). The Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the greatest and most magnificent conservatories in the United States, is located in the area.

This neighborhood is great for people who enjoy soul food, BBQ, or Asian cuisine. The culinary scene in Garfield Park (East) has deep roots in family-style, traditional dining and is a must-visit for anyone looking for some hearty meals. No matter the cuisine one is craving, there is always a restaurant that serves the cuisine. For instance, if one is in the mood for a cheeseburger, the adjacent Fifth City has plenty of options.

Not only is East Garfield Park an ideal locality for food lovers, but it also holds importance due to its flexible transport routes. It lies close to Chicago’s central business district, around 4.5 miles (7.2 km). Traveling to and from the downtown Loop takes only around 11 minutes through the local train or subway. Moreover, the neighborhood is conveniently located, offering commuters flexible transport options – the Green Line and the Blue Line are two of the Chicago Transit Authority’s train lines that serve this area. The CTA’s public transport service also runs through the area. The 20 bus runs along Madison Street, the 126 bus runs along Jackson Avenue, and the 7 bus runs along Harrison Street. The 94 bus runs along California Avenue, the 52 bus runs along Kedzie Boulevard, and the 82 bus runs along Homan Avenue.

Map

The Garfield Park neighborhood is bordered on the north by Franklin Boulevard, the south by Taylor Avenue and Arthington Boulevard, the west by Independence Boulevard and Hamlin Street and, and the east by Rockwell Street.

Population

The area and its famous park were once known as Central Park, which was then renamed Garfield Park after the assignation of President James Garfield. The earliest inhabitants of the neighborhood were the Irish and the Germans. Most of these people worked in rail, manufacturing, and, most notably, the Sears plant in neighboring North Lawndale. Over time, people from various ethnic backgrounds started settling here, searching for job opportunities.

At present, the neighborhood is home to 19,992 people. The majority of this population (98.3 percent) comprises Native Americans, while only 1.7 percent are foreigners. The Garfield Park (East) community population experienced a decline of 2.8% in the past decade, from 2010 to 2020.

According to the American Community Survey’s recent estimates, there are more non-white persons in region than in most Chicago community areas. The area’s population is mostly dominated by blacks (88.3 percent). The second-largest community is the whites (6.0 percent), followed by the Hispanics (2.8 percent). Asians constitute the lowest share in the population (0.6 percent), while people of other races have a 2.2 percent share in the community.

Real Estate

The locality has a hot, somewhat competitive real estate market. The credit goes to the various attractions near the community. From cafes to parks and architectural structures, one cannot remain bored in the neighborhood.

The Garfield Park Conservatory is the neighborhood’s main attraction. Jens Jenson’s new vision of landscape design encased by glass, which opened in 1908, has grown to include 2 acres of greenhouse rooms and 10 acres of outdoor gardens. The Conservatory offers a wide range of programming, including family and children’s educational initiatives, beekeeping lessons, and composting demonstrations, in addition to its amazing collection of flora from across the world. Since its restoration in 1995, the Conservatory welcomes approximately a million visitors each year.

Garfield Park is a work of art in terms of landscape architecture. It features a lagoon and exquisite flower gardens that have been a source of attraction for decades. The park also has a lovely designed field house known as the Spanish Baroque Revival Gold Dome Building. It houses the Chicago West Community Music Center, which provides music education to area youngsters.

Several former industrial premises have been turned into art and design studios in Garfield Park (East) locality. There are currently few places open for casual visits and even fewer with a welcoming street presence. The 345 Art Gallery showcases the work of featured artists and hosts a variety of community events in addition to openings and rotating exhibitions.

The East Garfield Park neighborhood consists of 7,828 households. The average household shelters 2.5 persons. 81.8 percent of these households are occupied, while 18.2 percent are vacant. The majority of the occupied houses are inhabited by renters (77.5 percent). The houses in the neighborhood experienced a hike of 30.9 percent from December 2021. The current housing units in the Garfield Park (East) neighborhood are priced at $222,500, less than the Chicago median of $335K.

Schools

The educational level in the area shows good figures. Around 31.1 percent of people have a high school diploma, and 7.5 percent have an Associate degree. 10.7 percent of people have a Bachelor’s degree while Masters’s and Ph.D. degree holders constitute 5.6 percent of the population.

Some of the top-ranking schools in the Garfield Park (East) neighborhood are listed below as follows:

1- Faraday Elementary School

Rating: C-

Student population: 198

Teacher-student ratio: 14:1

2- Leif Ericson Scholastic Academy

Rating: C

Student population: 464

Teacher-student ratio: 15:1

3- Beidler Elementary School

Rating: C-

Student population: 323

Teacher-student ratio: 13:1

4- John Marshall Metropolitan High School

Rating: C-

Student population: 247

Teacher-student ratio: 11:1

5- Laura Ward STEM School

Rating: C-

Student population: 334

Teacher-student ratio: 13:1

6- Altus Academy

Rating: NA

Student population: 47

Teacher-student ratio: 10:1

Crime Ratings

The East Garfield Park region has a long history of violent and property crime. In 2014, it was ranked 6th out of 77 Chicago neighborhood areas regarding violent crime and 10th in property offenses.

The criminal complaints in District 3 showed unsettling figures. From 2021 to 2022, criminal sexual assault cases in the neighborhood rose from 4 to 7. Robbery cases also increased from 27 to 28. Theft and motor vehicle theft cases increased from 31 to 38 and 43 to 52, respectively.

History

The East Garfield Park district was incorporated to Chicago in the year 1869, but it took another quarter-century to become densely populated. Central (Garfield) Park was located in the western part of the region. The park’s establishment in 1869 sparked an outbreak of property activity. Still, developers failed to construct structures or infrastructure after subdividing the land eastward and south-side of the park for sale. The development of Garfield Park did not begin until 1905, under the direction of Jens Jensen. The small population was served by a few churches and academic institutions, including Marshall.

The West Side’s attraction to potential residents was further harmed by unreliable transit. Instead, towards the end of the century, the railroads that defined East Garfield Park’s eastern, northern, and southern borders attracted factories growing towards the west from the Near West Side. The four-block-long Sears facility on the boundary with North Lawndale was the most noteworthy of these industrial developments. After 1893, commercial development followed in the footsteps of the latest Lake Street Elevated. The people working in the local industry were housed in flats and small apartment structures. In Eastside Garfield Park, modest dwellings, commercial structures, and industries coexisted by 1914.

The neighborhood saw a brief period of postwar prosperity. The success of West Garfield Park’s Madison-Crawford commercial corridor extended towards the east along Madison Street. The Grasmere, a high-end residential hotel, opened immediately east of Garfield Park. In 1927, Chicago’s Flower Technical High School, a professional institute for girls, relocated from the South to 3545 Fulton. However, many residences were turned into smaller quarters and left to decay during the World War II and the Great Depression. The Daughters of Charity church inaugurated Marillac House at 2822 West Jackson to aid the local underprivileged in 1947 when the region was in desperate need.

Although the majority of Marillac House’s clientele were white, the racial makeup of the Garfield Park (East) quickly changed. Residents were relocated from a southern part of the neighborhood when the Congress (Eisenhower) Expressway was built in the 1950s. African Americans moved to East Garfield Park after being pushed out of the Near West and South Sides. By 1960, the western limit of family accommodation in Chicago and the eastern border of Garfield Park (East) had been defined by a cluster of Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) projects.

Physical conditions worsened, with absentee landlords ignoring renters’ pleas for repairs and unoccupied lots becoming more widespread. Many institutions, on the other hand, welcomed black participation. Interracial membership was encouraged at Central Presbyterian Church and the Warren Avenue Church.

Martin Luther King’s civil rights campaign in the north in 1966 resulted in the formation of anti-slum organizations in many residential districts. The Garfield Park (East) Union conducted rent strikes and protests against slumlords to End Slums. To access goods and shelter, participants formed the Garfield Park (East) Cooperative. The CHA’s plan to build new high-rise public housing was effectively thwarted by a coalition of citizens and clergy who argued that the neighborhood already had enough. Rioting on Madison Street in 1968 stifled this potential period of activism. When businesses lost their insurance, they fled, and national legislation allowed black residents who wanted to leave to do so. Buildings that burned down were not replaced since people and money fled the area.

Out-migration reduced the population of Garfield Park (East) by more than two-thirds, from 70,091 in 1950 to 20,881 in 2000. As persistent poverty and unemployment engulfed the neighborhood in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a drug addiction and connected unlawful activity such as prostitution stepped in to fill the hole. The extension of Bethany Hospital, the construction of Ike Sims Village for senior persons, and the arrival of St. Stephen AME Church were all examples of sporadic reinvestment.