Near West Side

      Prayer Points

• Greektown is an integral part of the community. Pray for a clear understanding of who Jesus is within the culture.

• Little Italy is still a presence in the neighborhood despite some displacement. Pray for the maintenance of their cultural heritage and identity.

• Thousands of students studying at University of Illinois Chicago are in the neighborhood. Pray for the many campus ministries reaching out to the young people searching for meaning in life.

• Near West Side houses a strong medical center that serves hundreds of people facing serious physical challenges and dealing with grief and anxiety. Pray for the caregivers, the patients and their families, and the chaplains that minister to them.

      Ethnic Breakdown

• Asian (11.7%)
• Black or African American (40.2%)
• Hispanic or Latino (7.2%)
• White (38.4%)

Neighborhood Background

After the fire of 1871, Near West Side became overcrowded with the 200,000 people who took refuge in the area. This brought many cultures into the neighborhood, including a settlement of Greeks in an area now known as Greektown.

In the 1930s and 1940s, African Americans and Mexicans came in great numbers from the south to the urban north. The construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago also brought an end to much of the historic Italian neighborhood. In the 1950s and 1960s, the area was experiencing an increase in poverty and economic decline and was impacted even greater by the Martin Luther King’s assassination riots in 1968.

Toward the end of the twentieth century the growth of the University once again restructured Near West Side, taking over the historical Maxwell Street Market. With this expansion, the area has more recently become a dwelling place for many middle and upper-class residents who had interest in living near downtown.