Irving Park

Irving Park, the 16th recognized Chicago neighborhood, is located on the city’s Northwest Side. The neighborhood gets its name from the late American author Washington Irving. Irving Park is a mixture of smaller, more easily identified neighborhoods such as The Villa, West Walker, The Triangle, Independence Park, Addison Mall, and the treasure of Chicago – Old Irving Park. 

Old Irving Park was founded in 1869 by business tycoon Charles T. Rice, who sacrificed his plans to become a gentleman farmer in favor of a career as a land proprietor. What started as a 200-acre project boomed incredibly, resulting in an entire community settling in the surrounding areas. Irving Park occupies 3.23 square miles (8.37 km2) of Chicago’s total land area.

Irving Park is an upper-class community with an average annual income of $66,878 compared to Chicago’s $58,247. Most Irving Park residents are associated with the medical sector, including general, surgery, and specialty medicine. The neighborhood boasts plenty of fine dining and shopping opportunities for the residents. There are various other attractions in the Irving Park neighborhood like the Independence Park, Latvian Folk Art Museum, and the Irish American Heritage Center.

Irving Park also holds importance due to its proximity to the Chicago Loop. The neighborhood is conveniently located 5 miles (8.04 km) away from the city’s business hub. The CTA Blue Line offers a direct route from Addison, Irving Park, and Montrose to the downtown loop.

Map

Irving Park is surrounded on the north by Montrose Avenue on the west of Pulaski Road. On the south side lies Addison Street, and on its west are the Milwaukee Road train tracks. The Chicago River borders the city on its east.

Old Irving Park is surrounded by Montrose Avenue to the north, Pulaski Road to the east, Addison Street to the south, and Cicero Avenue to the west. Irving Park lies in parts of 60618, 60630, and 60641 zip codes.

Population

Chicago annexed the Irving Park neighborhood and the rest of Jefferson Township in 1889. This resulted in significant transportation advancements. The government installed new electric trolleys along Irving Park Road to the east and placed new railroad carriages along Milwaukee Avenue to the south.

The area’s population developed rapidly as a result of effective transportation. In the 1890s, the first generation comprised Germans, Swedes, and Norwegians. As diverse groups of immigrants arrived in the central city, the existing, thriving communities went further outside to neighborhoods such as Irving Park. By 1930, most of the population was composed of Germans, Scandinavians, Poles, and Russians. By 1960, the predominant ethnicities were Germans, Poles, and Italians, while German, Irish, and Polish families gained prominence by 1980.

Today, the Irving Park neighborhood has a total population of 51,940 individuals. Almost 3/4th of the neighborhood (71.3%) is inhabited by Natives Americans, while 28.7% of the area comprises foreign nationals.

The largest ethnic group in the Irving Park community is the whites (42.8%), immediately followed by Hispanics and Latinos at 41.9%. Asians constitute the third largest sector of the society (8.5%). The blacks and people from other non-Hispanic races occupy 3.3% and 3.6% of the Irving Park neighborhood.

Real Estate

Old Irving has a diverse housing stock, including Queen Anne, Victorian, Italianate homes, a few country houses, and various bungalows. The neighborhood is distinguished by big old white frame mansions that appear to have been ripped from a Hollywood period play.

The Villa Historic District inside the Irving Park neighborhood is well-known for its magnificent architecture. Most of these buildings are inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Aesthetics. Another famous Irving Park subdivision, California Park, boasts stunning real estate. Also known as East Irving Park, single-family homes dominate this region. Another distinguished architecture in the Irving Park neighborhood is John and Clara Merchant’s house, recognized as one of Chicago’s official landmarks.

The Irving Park neighborhood comprises 21,342 houses, each of which shelters 2.4 persons. More than 51.1% of these houses are renter-occupied, while owners inhabit 48.9%. Only 9.6% of Irving Park houses are vacant. The Irving Park residents mostly prefer single-family, detached units (26.3%). The second most popular housing type is two units, comprising 21.6% of Irving Park real estate. In the Irving Park neighborhood, one will also find three to four units (16.7%) and five to nine-unit houses (15.0%).

Being an affluent community, Irving Park’s real estate value exceeds the Chicago average of $335K. The average real estate listing price in the neighborhood is $420K. Compared to the previous year, these prices increased by 10.5% in February 2022.

Schools

Considering that Irving Park is an upper-class community, one may assume that the neighborhood’s literacy rates are sky-high. However, the figures are average. Even though most Irving Park residents (26.0%) have a Bachelor’s degree, a large chunk of the population (21.2%) has only graduated high school.

16.6% of the individuals have attended some college but don’t have a degree, 15.0% have less than a high school diploma, and 6.4% have an Associate’s degree. 14.8% of the Irving Park population has a Graduate or Professional qualification.

Various Chicago Public Schools operate in the Irving Park neighborhood. Some of the top-rated ones are listed below as follows:

1- Latin School of Chicago

Student population: 1,155 students in grades PK, K-12

Teacher-student ratio: 8-to-1

2- North Shore Country Day

Student population: 525

Teacher-student ratio: 6-to-1

3- Roycemore School

Student population: 231

Teacher-student ratio: 6-to-1

4- Francis W. Parker School

Student population: 935 students in grades PK, K-12

Teacher-student ratio: 9-to-1

5- Lycee Francais De Chicago

Student population: 790 in grades PK, K-12

Teacher-student ratio: 8-to-1

6- Chicago Waldorf School

Student population: 366

Teacher-student ratio: 8-to-1

7- Belding Elementary School

Student population: 570 students in grades PK, K-8

Teacher-student ratio: 15-to-1

8- Murphy Elementary School

Student population: 555 students in grades PK, K-8

Teacher-student ratio: 15-to-1

Crime Ratings

The Irving Park neighborhood is situated in District 017 of the Chicago Police Department. Irving Park is a safe neighborhood with a safety score of 75 and a safety range between 65 and 86.

That said, the crime ratings have increased significantly in 2022 compared to 2021. The police recorded two murder cases compared to one in 2021 and 22 criminal sexual assault cases compared to 14 in 2021. Burglary cases have decreased from 69 in 2021 to 50 in 2022, whereas theft has increased from 84 the previous year to 139 in 2022.

History

Old Irving Park was founded in 1869 by entrepreneur Charles T. Rice, who purchased 200 acres of farmland with four partners around seven miles outside Chicago. Race had planned to become a gentleman farmer, but because his land was so near the Chicago & North Western railway line, he decided that developing an elite suburb would be more profitable. After Race paid for a terminal, the railroad line accepted to stop at the community, which was first named Irvington in honor of writer Washington Irving but was quickly renamed, Irving Park.

Race constructed a three-story brick house with a cellar and a “French roof” for himself. With the help of associates, he formed the Irving Park Land Company, purchased extra land, and separated it into plots. Advertisements emphasized the neighborhood’s convenient access to downtown through hourly trains. The poster promoted Irving Park’s “shady streets, great schools, churches, and stores,” and homes of various styles as having an exquisite environment equal to that of Evanston and Oak Park. Grayland, Montrose, and Mayfair were built after Irving Park.

Initially, Irving Park drew wealthy Chicago families looking for spacious lands to build mansions. The Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 boosted Irving Park’s development by driving Chicagoans to regions outside the city that had not been destroyed. However, the suburban fantasy world was not without its flaws. Heavy rains caused floods in the 1880s, and poor drainage converted unpaved streets to mud. Major development projects began after Irving Park was merged into Chicago as part of Jefferson Township in 1889. The major road became a construction zone as renovations were made, streets were upgraded, and public transportation was established. Between 1895 and 1914, a residential boom created almost 5,000 new buildings, 1,200 of which were multifamily homes.

More citizens were drawn in by city streets, streetcar service, and waterlines. Between 1895 and 1914, homeowners built almost 5,000 structures. Irving Park’s residents were predominantly native-born, Protestant, and white-collar workers. They took part in community events as well as literary and musical activities. Both men and women were involved in community organizations. The Irving Park Woman’s Club was founded in 1888 to promote cultural and reform initiatives.

The Old Irving Park Association launched a new emphasis on neighborhood cooperation and the conservation of area houses in 1983. (OIPA). A year later, the organization split into two sections, with the OIPA focusing on renovating ancient houses, raising charity funds, assisting poor locals, and hosting political candidate debates.

The central part of Rice’s original purchase, Old Irving Park, had a resurgence in the 1980s. The historical importance of the old, elegant mansions was recognized by new buyers, who petitioned the Chicago Landmark Commission to designate them as landmarks. Residents established the Old Irving Park Association in 1983, intending to preserve the area’s rich heritage and original period architecture. Today, renovated houses adorn the shaded alleys of Old Irving Park, including numerous homes from the 1870s and 1880s.