Austin chicago neighborhood

In the year Austinville was too big for Cicero Township ; therefore, it was voted in to be annexed into the city of Chicago that year. The earliest residents in the 19 th century and the early 20 th century were middle class to upper class Germans and Scandinavians. In the s and s Italian and Irish immigrants came to Austin and the Irish actually developed a pretty large influence on the neighborhood.

Austin fared quite well during the turbulent s decade in the Great Depression era as Greek immigrants moved into the neighborhood. Austin was known to have beautiful and elegant apartments and sturdy homes.

There was also Columbus Park that was full of beauty and recreation. All was well in the neighborhood for decades to come. White greaser street gangs formed in the neighborhood geared at protecting the neighborhood back in the s and s.

In the late s residents of Austin began to move out of the neighborhood as they headed for a new life in the suburbs , their old homes were then occupied by African Americans as black families were looking to escape blighted areas of the west side and south side, and as the black families arrived a Vice Lord element formed on Cicero Avenue and clashed with the white gangs. South and central Austin did not fight real hard to keep the neighborhood white instead they responded by moving out and letting the neighborhood change.

The s decade saw a massive move out of white residents while African Americans rapidly moved in. White greaser street gangs fought Vice Lords and other black gangs tooth and nail as their families still wanted to live in the area, but by the late s it became a losing battle for the white gangs as they began closing their territory.

White residents living north of North Avenue fought to keep their neighborhood from decay and stop African American migration up there but some Latino migration did happen in North Austin and Galewood but the assimilation was successful with Latinos. The Gaylords street gang set up territory in Sayre Park in the Galewood section of Austin in the late s that successfully fought to preserve the neighborhood. Central and South Austin all below North Avenue fell into a major state of deterioration and poverty.

The once thriving businesses on Chicago Ave, Madison Street and Lake Street became either abandoned crumbling buildings or were torn down and left as vacant lots where crime and drug activity has run rampant. The adjacent land will be redeveloped with a mixed-income, multi-story rental building that includes a green roof, public plaza, social spaces, and outdoor art.

The project is expected to generate up to construction jobs and 22 full-time positions. An official website of the City of Chicago Here's how you know.

Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a City of Chicago government site. The site is secure. Home Austin. Winning Development Project. Chicago Ave.