Chicago's Southeast Side is an unpretentious place often overlooked by other Chicagoans. The area includes the communities of South Chicago, South Deering, the East Side and Hegewisch. The community of East Side is not well known in Chicago, where it is prone to be confused with the yuppie enclaves along the Chicago River by the lake. Small and down-to-earth, the real East Side is located on Chicago's far Southeast Side, bordered by 118th Street on the south, the Indiana State line on the west and the Calumet River on the north and west.
This community is located under the Skyway to Indiana. Even the surface streets offer a passage to Indiana, particularly for the many vehicles that head through the area on the way to and from the casinos in Indiana. The main shopping strip along Ewing Avenue and 106th Street forms the hub of the neighborhood. This is definitely a working-class neighborhood, with many businesses revolving around shipping on the Calumet River.
The neighborhood's history is rooted firmly in industrial roots. East Side's official beginnings date back to 1851, when immigrants from Poland, Italy, Germany and Sweden settled the town. The first steel mill followed shortly thereafter. Workers were drawn there by all the industry that sprang up near the waterfronts on Lake Michigan and the Calumet River.
Wisconsin Steel, U.S. Steel and Republic Steel opened their doors, providing jobs for thousands of local residents. The following decades, the '50s, '60s and '70s, were all prosperous ones for East Side. That all changed drastically during the economic recession of 1980s, when Wisconsin Steel shut down. U.S. Steel followed suit and Republic (now LTV Steel), dramatically scaled back its operations.
A mix of older brick housing, newer construction, and many vacant lots characterizes the housing stock. Most of the real estate in the neighborhood includes two-flat income property in the north end of town coupled with single-family dwellings on the south end. There are also a lot of Cape Cod style houses built after the World War II with two or three bedrooms. In 1993, local developers broke ground on the East Side's only major new development on 116th Street. The development is composed of 56 single-family homes -- bungalows, bi-levels and tri-levels. Environmental pollution from nearby industrial areas is the biggest concern for those looking to relocate to the neighborhood. On the flip side, affordable housing is a big draw.
The State of Illinois and the City of Chicago are planning to invest heavily in South Chicago's housing and infrastructure that will benefit the long-term South Chicago residents who have lived through the closing of the steel mills and the decline of their community.
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