Austin, Chicago

Austin, located on the Far West Side of Chicago, Illinois, is the largest (by population) of the city's 77 officially defined community areas (neighborhoods), followed by Lakeview. Its eastern boundary is Cicero Avenue. Its northernmost border is the Milwaukee District/West Line. Its southernmost border is at Roosevelt Road from Cicero Avenue west to Austin Boulevard. The northernmost portion, north of North Avenue, extends west to Harlem Avenue, abutting Elmwood Park. Other suburbs bordering Austin are Cicero and Oak Park. Also nearby is Berwyn.

Austin is one of Chicago's largest community areas by land area. Several distinctive areas within Austin include Midway Park, a historic district of restored 19th-century single-family homes in the core of the original Austin subdivision; Galewood, the northernmost section of Austin along the northern border with Oak Park but south of the Galewood railyards; and The Island, a square mile in the extreme southwest corner of Austin, which is bordered by Cicero to the south and Oak Park to the west and which is isolated from other residential area in the city by the Eisenhower Expressway and Columbus Park to the north and an industrial area to the east.

The first Wal-Mart store within Chicago city limits opened in this community area in September 2006.

Austin suffers from a number of problems plaguing poor inner-city communities across the United States such as substance trafficking, a high murder rate and gang activity.Fact|date=February 2008 Per capita violent crime rates in the neighborhood are high by Chicago standards, and much higher than the national average. The Eisenhower Expressway, which passes through Austin (and neighboring Garfield Park), makes for a lucrative drug market. Convenient access by automobile makes the west side a popular location for suburbanites looking to buy drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

History

On December 1, 1958, the Our Lady of the Angels School fire killed children and nuns at the Our Lady of the Angels School, located in the Humboldt Park community. Some sources describe the school as "in Austin" [http://www.olafire.com/NewsStoriesAll.asp#MemoriesStay] .

Austin was a predominantly white neighborhood until the late 1960s (99.83% white in the 1960 census). It faced numerous infrastructure problems before the arrival of black residents. While white residents of Austin in the early 1960s generally thought negatively of leaving their neighborhood for the suburbs, a combination of events occurred in the years after to change this. The government of the city of Chicago was not responsive to the neighborhood's demands towards improving neighborhood infrastructure. Suburbs gradually became better supported through an increased transportation system between Chicago and its suburbs, and many jobs left the city for the suburbs and overseas locations. Significant riots began to occur on Chicago's West Side starting in 1965, and an especially damaging riot in 1968 (after Martin Luther King's death) prompted many white residents to leave. The west side experienced a further declining infrastructure and lack of local jobs after this.

Not all emigrating residents moved into suburbs - many moved into other areas of the city, especially the Northwest and Southwest sides. Not all emigrating residents were white - some black families, especially after the riots, began to leave the area as well, as it declined, to better perceived locations elsewhere.

By 1970, southern Austin (south of Lake St) was mostly black, and the neighborhood overall was 66% white and 33% black. Nearby neighborhoods such as East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, and North Lawndale, were experiencing white flight before Austin did. Decay and a declining population in these neighborhoods led to an influx of black residents in Austin. By 1980, North Lawndale was 96.50% black, West Garfield Park was 98.85% black, East Garfield Park was 99.00% black, and Austin was 20.76% white and 73.78% black. The population of these neighborhoods seriously declined in the 1970s (approximately 30-40% decline), except Austin, which increased from 128 thousand residents in 1970 to 138 thousand in 1980. The Neighborhood is part of Chicago's West Side which consists of Austin, West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale and Near West Side. The area has a population of about 250,000 and is over 87% African American. [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=86000US60624&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US17%7C05000US17031&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US17&_zip=60624&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=]

Crime

Austin is known as one of the most crime-ridden areas in the city of Chicago. Due to numerous infrastructure and transportation problems, the neighborhood took to a white flight in the mid-to-late 1960's for better conditions in the surrounding suburbs. Although there are some stable pockets in Austin, the majority of the neighborhood is poverty-stricken and crime-ridden. Because of this, Austin is tied to drug dealing, and murders are not infrequent. In 2007, the Chicago Police Department recorded 18 homicides in the Austin neighborhood, making the area the highest in homicide-related incidents in Chicago. In 2008, 3 people were killed within 2 hours of each other in Austin.Fact|date=February 2008 .

Education

Chicago Public Schools operates Austin's schools.

Austin Community Academy High School [http://www.austin.cps.k12.il.us/] will close after spring 2007 [http://www.cps.k12.il.us/schools/hsdirectory/austincommunityacademy.shtml] . New smaller schools will replace Austin Community Academy High School. One of the small schools, Austin Polytechnical Academy, will open in September 2007.

Other portions of the community area are zoned to Manley H.S., Marshall H.S., and Orr Campus.

External links

* [http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_ATTACH/Community_Areas_AUSTIN.pdf Official City of Chicago Austin Community Map]
* Chicago Landmarks
** [http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/F/FourHousesSchock.html Four Houses by Architect Frederick Schock]
** [http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/H/HitchcockHouse.html Hitchcock House]
** [http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/L/LaramieStBank.html Laramie State Bank Building]
** [http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/W/WalserHouse.html Walser House]
* Chicago Park District
** [http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.detail/object_id/FD6A5E2C-B08B-44DF-B0E4-4FDA8389D638.cfm/ Columbus Park]
** [http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.detail/object_id/C5EDC051-9DBE-4F23-880D-E47FCBB16322.cfm/ Austin Town Hall Park]
* Austin Community Organizations and Service Providers
* [http://www.austinweeklynews.com Austin Weekly News, local newspaper]
* [http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/93.html Encyclopedia of Chicago entry on Austin]
* [http://www.austinchicago.com Directory of Community Organizations Serving Austin, Chicago]

Geographic Location
Center = Austin, Chicago
North = Belmont Cragin, Chicago
Northeast = Hermosa, Chicago
East = Humboldt Park, Chicago West Garfield Park, Chicago
Southeast = North Lawndale, Chicago
South = Cicero, Illinois
West = Oak Park, Illinois
Northwest = Elmwood Park, Illinois & Montclare, Chicago