East Side

      Prayer Points

• Many businesses have closed, resulting in empty buildings and the need to shop outside the neighborhood. Pray for the good use of existing structures and a renewed economy.

• A new school is planned to ease overcrowding. Pray for timely completion of the project, community and parental involvement, and good role models in the schools.

• Some older, established churches are struggling with upkeep of their facilities in light of fewer and aging constituents. Pray for direction for congregations and denominations that will need to make hard decisions.

• Pray for a renewed focus among the churches to build bridges into the large and growing Latino community in this neighborhood

      Ethnic Breakdown

• Asian (0.3%)
• Black or African American (2.3%)
• Hispanic or Latino (77.6%)
• White (19.4%)

Neighborhood Background

Construction of the railroads originally drew many new residents to the area in the late 1800s. With the success of its industry, primarily steel production, the economy was strong and the population exploded.

During that time, East Siders enjoyed a certain amount of voluntary social isolation being surrounded by water on three sides. Its family and friendship ties remained strong during this time, but racial tension following World War II brought great conflict to the area including race riots as African Americans started to settle in the area.

The decline of the steel industry in Chicago hit East Siders hard, bringing a decline to the economy and driving residents out of the neighborhood in search for employment. Much of the population that left was replaced with a Hispanic population that grew significantly between 1980 and 2000. Although efforts of revitalization have been made with the declaration of the East Side as an “enterprise zone” and the expansion of Ford Motor Company into the former Republic Steel site, the area continues to struggle economically.