Hyde Park

      Prayer Points

• Hyde Park is experiencing renewed growth, leading to gentrification. Pray for those residents who are being displaced and for the assimilation of the residents with a long history in Hyde Park with new residents moving in.

• The community spans a wide intellectual spectrum. Pray that Christians would be wisely visible and gently vocal as they engage meaningfully in Hyde Park from contacts on the streets to the halls of academia.

• The University of Chicago attracts leaders from around the world. Pray for these students and the ministries reaching out to them, that they would experience Christ deeply, and take Him with them as they return home.

• Pray that the power of the Gospel would penetrate and expose the shortcomings of political ideology, academic pride and cultural liberalism.

      Ethnic Breakdown

• Asian (11.1%)
• Black or African American (33.4%)
• Hispanic or Latino (5.3%)
• White (48.4%)

Neighborhood Background

Hyde Park had modest growth and development until the founding of the University of Chicago and the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Building and development continued into the 1920s with prominent architects including Frank Lloyd Wright leading to diverse building structures and also increased diversity among the inhabitants.

By the early 1930s Hyde Park was home to over one hundred hotels and many elaborate structures along the lakefront. However, concern later arose about increased crime and illegal residential conversion. As a result the South East Chicago Commission was established in 1952 to counter local crime and monitor building code violations.

The urban renewal plan was implemented resulting in many displaced residents, and the transformation of densely built-up area to a ‘semi-suburbia’. More recently, Hyde Park has received increased attention as the home of the 44th President Barack Obama and is said to be a place with rich culture and architecture and well sought-after.