Lakeview

      Prayer Points

• The neighborhood of Wrigleyville in Lakeview draws many Cubs baseball fans to the bars and restaurants surrounding the ballpark. Pray for the Gospel to be a more powerful force than the lure of the party scene.

• Many of those in Boystown wrestling with same-sex attraction have experienced deep wounds from people who did not understand or lacked in compassion. Pray for healing and openness to a Christ-centered Gospel.

• There are multiple churches and ministries in Lakeview that seek to reach the numerous subcultures in the community, including runaways, homeless, and goth and punk cultures. Pray for creativity and perseverance of these ministries. Pray for a deep heart of compassion for all of us as Christ-followers to walk with the hurting in this community. Pray for tears of love and a Gospel of reconciliation.

      Ethnic Breakdown

• Asian (6.0%)
• Black or African American (3.4%)
• Hispanic or Latino (8.0%)
• White (81.4%)

Neighborhood Background

Lakeview quickly became urbanized, welcoming new residents to its commercial and recreational facilities. To meet the demands of increased interest in the area, developers built high-rise apartment buildings and multiple-unit low-rises, which appealed to singles and young couples.

Efforts were made by the Lakeview Citizens Council in the 1950s to preserve the original heritage of the area. Despite these efforts, Lakeview’s residents were primarily single and young couples, with very few traditional families.

By the 1950s, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community grew to be an identifiable population in Lakeview’s “Boys Town” and by 1990 more than 22,000 residents were living in “non-traditional” households and were between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four. Today, Lakeview is still widely known for its large population “non-traditional” households.