West Ridge is one of 77

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

community areas. It is a middle-class neighborhood located on the far North Side of the City of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It is located in the 50th ward and the 40th ward. Also historically called North Town, and frequently referred to as West Rogers Park, it is bordered on the north by

Howard Street Howard Street may refer to: * Howard Street (Baltimore), a major street in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland **Howard Street Tunnel fire, a disaster that struck the freight railroad tunnel under Baltimore's Howard Street in 2001 *Howard Street (Sheffiel ...

, on the east by Ridge Boulevard, Western Avenue, and Ravenswood Avenue, the south by Bryn Mawr Avenue and Peterson Avenue, and on the west by Kedzie Avenue and the North Shore channel of the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...

. At one time joined with neighboring

Rogers Park Rogers Park is the first of Chicago's 77 community areas. Located from the Loop, it is on the city's far north side on the shore of Lake Michigan. The neighborhood is commonly known for its cultural diversity, lush green public spaces, early ...

, it seceded to become its own village in 1890 over a conflict concerning park districts (known as the Cabbage War). West Ridge was annexed to Chicago on April 4, 1893, along with Rogers Park. Today West Ridge is one of Chicago's better off communities, filled with multi-ethnic culture lining

Devon Avenue Devon Avenue is a major east-west street in the Chicago metropolitan area. It begins at Chicago's Sheridan Road, which borders Lake Michigan, and it runs west until merging with Higgins Road near O'Hare International Airport. Devon continues on ...

, historic mansions lining Ridge and Lunt Avenues, cultural institutions such as St. Scholastica Academy and one of the highest per capita incomes on the North Side of Chicago. It is home to the Midwest's largest Hasidic community, as well as other Jewish, Irish American,

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, Pakistani, Bangladeshi,

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

and

Rohingya The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...

immigrant communities.

Neighborhoods and sub-areas

Golden Ghetto

The Golden Ghetto is bounded on the north by Warren Park and Pratt Avenue and on the south by Peterson Avenue. It acquired its name from the thriving

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community there from about 1930 to the mid-1970s. The Jewish community peaked at over 47,000 in the 1960s.The rise, fall and rise again of a historically Jewish Chicago neighborhood
Retrieved April 29, 2020 That community began to drift into the suburbs in the 1960s, and the neighborhood began to be home to

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

ns and

Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

from about that time. The heyday of the area is the topic of Adam Langer's ''Crossing California'', told from the perspective of the second-generation residents during their

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

and teenage years. There has been a recent resurgence in Jewish residents, up from a nadir of 20,000 to around 25,000 in the late 2010s, due to increased Orthodox residents.

Rogers Park Manor Bungalow Historic District

The Rogers Park Manor Bungalow Historic District is a residential historic district in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The district includes 329 buildings, 247 of which are Chicago bungalows built in the 1920s. The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on November 15, 2005.

Talman West Ridge Bungalow Historic District

The Talman West Ridge Bungalow Historic District is a residential historic district in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. 181 of the district's 272 buildings are either brick Chicago bungalows or older stucco bungalows built from 1919 to 1930.

Schools

Public schools

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

operates public schools. * Clinton Elementary School * Jamieson Elementary School * Daniel Boone Elementary School * Stephen Decatur Classical School * George Armstrong Elementary School * Philip Rogers Elementary School * Stone Scholastic Academy * West Ridge Elementary School *

Stephen Tyng Mather High School Stephen Tyng Mather High School (commonly known as simply Mather) is a State school, public 4–year high school located in the West Ridge, Chicago, West Ridge neighborhood on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1959, Mat ...

Private schools

* ABC Academy * Bais Yaakov High School * Bethesda Evangelical Lutheran School * Bnos Rabbeinu High School * Cheder Lubavitch Girls Elementary / High School * Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov High School * Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov / Tiferes Tzvi Elementary School * Keshet High School * Lubavitch Mesivta of Chicago * Native American Educational Services College * Victor C. Neumann School * Sofer Nathan's Vocational College * St. Hilary Elementary School * St. Margaret Mary School * St. Philips Evangelical Lutheran School * Tzemach Tzedek Elementary School (Opened 2002) * Yeshivas Brisk / Brisk Rabbinical College * Yeshiva Migdal Torah School * Yeshiva Ohr Boruch-Veitzener Cheder

Politics

West Ridge has supported the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in the past three presidential elections, In the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

, West Ridge cast 16,712 votes for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

and cast 4,772 votes for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January ...

, West Ridge cast 14,446 votes for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

and cast 5,345 votes for Mitt Romney. It had been represented in the Chicago City Council by Alderman

Bernard Stone Bernard "Berny" L. Stone (November 24, 1927 – December 22, 2014) was alderman of the 50th Ward of the City of Chicago, Illinois from 1973 to 2011. The 50th Ward encompasses part of Chicago's far North Side and includes the West Ridge, West Rog ...

from 1973 until May 2011. On April 5, 2011, Alderman

Debra Silverstein Debra Silverstein is the Alderman of the 50th Ward of the City of Chicago, Illinois. She defeated 38-year incumbent Bernard Stone in the 2011 runoff election, a race in which she was endorsed by Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel. As of 2019–2020, sh ...

defeated Stone in a runoff election and now represents the 50th Ward, which encompasses West Ridge.

Religion

The

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago ( la, Archidiœcesis Chicagiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. It was established as a diocese in 1843 an ...

operates Catholic churches. On July 1, 2020, St. Henry, St. Margaret Mary, and St. Timothy churches will merge.

Historical population

Source:

Bus routes

CTA: *11 Lincoln *49B North Western *82 Kimball-Homan *84 Peterson *93 California/Dodge (Monday–Saturday only) *96 Lunt (Weekdays only) *97 Skokie *155 Devon *206 Evanston Circulator (Weekday rush hours only) Pace: *215 Crawford-Howard *290 Touhy

Notable people

Sidney Blumenthal Sidney Stone Blumenthal (born November 6, 1948) is an American journalist and political operative. A former aide to President Bill Clinton, he is a long-time confidant of Hillary Clinton and was formerly employed by the Clinton Foundation. As a ...

(born 1948), journalist, political operative, and

Senior Advisor In some countries, a senior advisor (also spelt senior adviser, especially in the UK) is an appointed position by the Head of State to advise on the highest levels of national and government policy. Sometimes a junior position to this is called a N ...

to President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. He resided at West Birchwood Avenue in West Rogers Park as a child. * Howard W. Carroll (1942–2021), member of the Illinois Senate from 1973 to 1999. He resided at 6014 North Francisco Avenue during his political career. * Philip H. Corboy (1924–2012), trial lawyer. He was a childhood resident of West Rogers Park, living at 2836 West Lunt Street. * Leo Lerner (1907–1965), newspaper publisher. According to the

1940 United States Census The United States census of 1940, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.3 percent over the 1930 population of 122,775,046 people. The census date of record w ...

, he resided at 2120 West Lunt Avenue. * Louis A. Lerner (1935–1984),

United States Ambassador to Norway The United States Ambassador to Norway (formally the Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of Norway) is the official representative of the President and the Government of the United States of America to the King and Government of Norw ...

during the Carter administration. According to the

, he resided at 2120 West Lunt Avenue. * John H. Leims (1921–1985), Captain in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

and recipient of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

. He resided in West Ridge at 5837 North Talman Avenue.

References

External links

Official City of Chicago West Ridge Community Map

Chicago Park District: Indian Boundary Park

Lakeside Community Development Corporation

Photographs of Devon Avenue by Jordan Bettis

Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society
{{Chicago Community areas of Chicago Former municipalities in Illinois Former populated places in Illinois North Side, Chicago Jews and Judaism in Chicago