Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago103
Most epic 60 year decline I would have to say is this:
38.Grand Boulevard 1950:114,557 2010:21,929 That is an 81% decline in population!
What is more tragic is the population density decline, this neighborhood's density used to be close to that of Harlem or the Grand Concourse area of the Bronx. In 1950 it had a population density of 66,218 people per square mile! That is nearly twice that of any community area of Chicago today. Today it's population density is slightly under 13K per square mile or about the citywide average. I was actually in this area last summer for the Bud Billiken parade and you could tell the place used to be pretty awesome but is now just a shell of it's former self. It's housing stock is basically all pretty large low and midrise apartment buildings or at minimum rowhouse flats. The thing is though that there are tons of vacant lots where no doubt similarly scaled buildings used to be and a number of the standing buildings are either vacant or in bad shape. Only some restored and/or well maintained buildings on King Drive give clues to the old grandeour of the neighborhood. A ride on the Green Line through the area is the best way to get a casual view of this area today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Boulevard,_Chicago |
Of course at its peak, this neighborhood was an overcrowded and run-down with people bursting out of the seams. Blacks lived there in substandard housing at very high densities because they were prohibited from living in other neighborhoods.
Charles Cushman took a bunch of color photos documenting life in old Chicago. Here's some pictures of Bronzeville.
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cush...49&action=roll