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Little Italy, sometimes combined with University Village into one neighborhood, is on the Near West Side of
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. The current boundaries of Little Italy are Ashland Avenue on the west and Interstate 90/94 on the east, the
Eisenhower Expressway Interstate 290 (I-290) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that runs westward from the Jane Byrne Interchange near the Chicago Loop. The portion of I-290 from Interstate 294, I-294 to its east end is officially called the Dwight D. Eisenhowe ...
on the north and Roosevelt to the south. It lies between the east side of the
University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
campus in the
Illinois Medical District The Illinois Medical District (IMD) is a special-use zoning district two miles west of the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. The Illinois Medical District consists of 560 acres of medical research facilities, labs, a biotechnology business incuba ...
and the west side of the
University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
campus. The community was once predominantly Italian immigrants but now is made up of diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds as a result of
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...
,
urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...
,
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
and the growth of the resident student and faculty population of the
University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
(UIC). Its Italian-American heritage is primarily evident in the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
-American restaurants that once lined Taylor Street. The neighborhood is home to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame as well as the historic
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
churches Our Lady of Pompeii, Notre Dame de Chicago, and Holy Family. The recent history of the neighborhood waves of urban renewal, starting with the construction of expressways in the 1950s, the development of UIC in the 1960s, the demolition of public housing in the 1990s and 2000s, and redevelopment of Maxwell Street in the 2000s. Along with these changes, housing prices in the area have risen.Paolini, Matthew and Craig Tiede, "Economic upswing in Little Italy comes with a price"


History

While there are several
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
-American communities that thrive within the
Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...
, Taylor Street, the port-of-call for Chicago's Italian American immigrants, inherited the title of Chicago's "Little Italy." Taylor Street's Little Italy is part of a larger community area — Chicago's Near West Side. Dominant among the immigrant communities that comprised the Near West Side during the mass migration of Europeans around the start of the 20th century, were Italians, Greeks and Jews. Other ethnic groups vacated the neighborhood beginning in the early 1900s, and only the Italian-American enclave remained as a vibrant community. Other ethnicities have always been present in the area known as "Little Italy."Binford, Henry C., "Multicentered Chicago", ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', p. 548-9, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004, The University of Chicago Press, Nonetheless, the neighborhood was given its name due to the strong influence of Italians and Italian culture on the neighborhood throughout the 19th and 20th century. The Italian population, peaking during the decades of the 1950s and '60s, began declining shortly after the decision to build the University of Illinois in the area was finalized in 1963. However, several Italian restaurants and businesses remain in the formerly prominent Taylor Street corridor.Poe, Tracy N., "Foodways", ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', p. 308-9, Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004, The University of Chicago Press, Italians began arriving in Chicago in the 1850s in small numbers. By 1880, there were 1,357 Italians in the city.Vecoli, Rodolph J., "Italians", ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004, The University of Chicago Press, By the 1920s, Italian cookery became one of the most popular ethnic cuisines in America, spawning many successful bakeries and restaurants—some of which prospered for generations and continue to influence the Chicago dining scene today. By 1927, Italians owned 500 grocery stores, 257 restaurants, 240 pastry shops, and numerous other food related businesses that were concentrated in the Italian neighborhoods. The immigration of Italians accelerated throughout the late 19th century and into the early 20th century. Chicago's foreign-born Italian population was 16,008 in 1900 and peaked at 73,960 in 1930. The largest area of settlement was the Taylor Street area, but there were also 20 other significant Italian enclaves throughout the city and suburbs. This was the home of the
Genna crime family The Genna crime family (), was a crime family that operated in Prohibition-era Chicago. From 1921 to 1925, the family was headed by the six Genna brothers, known as the ''Terrible Gennas''.Capeci, Jerry. ''The complete idiot's guide to the Mafia ...
.


The Hull House Neighborhood

Jane Addams labeled the community as "The
Hull House Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of Chicago, Hull House, named after the original house's first owner Charles Jerald Hul ...
Neighborhood." One of the first newspaper articles ever written about Hull House acknowledges an invitation sent to the residents of the "Hull House Neighborhood." It begins with the salutation, "Mio Carissimo Amico," and is signed, "Le Signorine, Jane Addams and
Ellen Starr Ellen Gates Starr (March 19, 1859 – February 10, 1940) was an American Reform movement, social reformer and activist. With Jane Addams, she founded Chicago's Hull House, an adult education center, in 1889; the settlement house expanded t ...
." Bethlehem-Howard Neighborhood Center Records further substantiate that, as early as the 1890s, the inner core of "The Hull House Neighborhood" was overwhelmingly Italians. If those were the demographics as early as the 1890s, the flight of other ethnic groups, which began after the start of the 20th century, suggests that virtually the entire community from 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). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
on the east end out to the western ends of what came to be known as "Little Italy" and from
Roosevelt Road Roosevelt Road (originally named 12th Street) is a major east-west street in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. It is 1200 South in the city's street numbering system, but only south of Madison Street. It runs under t ...
on the south to the Harrison Street delta on the north — the inner core of the Hull House Neighborhood, was wall-to-wall Italian from the 1930s through the 1950s.


Late twentieth century

Little Italy used to encompass a much bigger area, but the construction of the university decimated the neighborhood. Many of the residents in the area were against the idea. Florence Scala, Chicago's legendary Taylor Street activist and longtime Hull House cohort, blamed the board of directors of Hull House for betraying the thriving, vibrant, tight knit neighborhood. Scala accused them of encouraging Daley to go ahead and destroy the neighborhood. In 1963, the trustees of Hull-House accepted an offer of $875,000 for the settlement building. Jessie Binford and Scala took the case to the Supreme Court. The court found in favor of the university and the settlement was closed on March 28, 1963. Some speculated the reason Daley chose Little Italy as the location for the university was payback, he was unhappy with the area politically and was moving UIC there to break up the Italian neighborhood and their power base. However, the area had voted overwhelmingly in favor of Daley. Following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, several developments hindered the cohesion of the community. The construction of the
Eisenhower Expressway Interstate 290 (I-290) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that runs westward from the Jane Byrne Interchange near the Chicago Loop. The portion of I-290 from Interstate 294, I-294 to its east end is officially called the Dwight D. Eisenhowe ...
and the
University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
Medical district forced many to move. The establishment of the Circle Campus of UIC in the 1960s by Mayor Richard J. Daley further dispersed the community. During the construction of the UIC campus, 200 businesses and 800 homes were bulldozed in Little Italy, with 5,000 residents displaced.Leroux, Charles, "Cold Shoulder: UIC and its neighborhood are thriving but the two have yet to embrace", ''Chicago Tribune'', September 25, 1991.


Public housing redevelopment

University Village was formerly home to several
Chicago Housing Authority The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is a municipal corporation that oversees public housing within the city of Chicago. The agency's Board of Commissioners is appointed by the Mayor of Chicago, city's mayor, and has a budget independent from that ...
(CHA)
public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
developments. These were grouped under the acronym
ABLA Abla is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality, former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see in Almería (province), Almería province, in Andalusia, southeast Spain. History It is considered to be the Abula mentioned by Ptolemy in his '' ...
. Those developments were: the Jane Addams Homes (first public housing development in Chicago), Grace Abbott Homes, Robert Brooks Homes, Robert Brooks Extension, and Loomis Courts. Most of ABLA razed by the CHA as part of the CHA's ''Plan for Transformation'', a program of demolition and redevelopment as
mixed-income housing The definition of mixed-income housing is broad and encompasses many types of dwellings and neighborhoods. Following Brophy and Smith, the following will discuss “non-organic” examples of mixed-income housing, meaning “a deliberate effort to ...
. ABLA was demolished in stages in the early 2000s. and is currently being redeveloped as townhouses and condominiums under the name Roosevelt Square. The developer, The Related Companies, has received $9.7 million from the Roosevelt/Racine
Tax Increment Financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program i ...
District.


Recent gentrification

Rents in the area have risen in the past few decades due to an influx of
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
s,
townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...
s, and the proximity of Little Italy to UIC and the Loop. An example of this
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
: in the 1990 census, no homes in the Little Italy sample area were reported to be worth more than $400,000. By contrast, according to the 2000 census, 62 homes were reportedly worth more than $500,000, and 13 of those were worth at least $1 million.


Landmarks

Two of the more significant landmarks of Little Italy were the Catholic churches of Our Lady of Pompeii and Holy Guardian Angel founded by Mother Cabrini. Holy Guardian Angel was the first Italian congregation in Chicago. The parish was established in 1898, and the church was built on Arthington Street in 1899. Due to the burgeoning population, a second major Italian church, Our Lady of Pompeii, was founded in 1911. The Holy Guardian Angel Church was razed for the construction of the expressway system. The Our Lady of Pompeii Church is now the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii.
Hull House Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of Chicago, Hull House, named after the original house's first owner Charles Jerald Hul ...
, Jane Addams'
settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity an ...
known for its social and educational programs was also located within the Little Italy area. In recent years, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (founded in 1977 in Elmwood Park, Illinois) was relocated to a new building in Little Italy.


Politics

Little Italy is currently served by Byron Sigcho-Lopez, alderman of Chicago's 25th Ward, Jason Ervin, of the 28th Ward, and Nicole Lee, of the 11th Ward. The neighborhood is part of Illinois's 7th Congressional District, currently filled by Democrat Danny K. Davis.


Other "Little Italies" in Chicago

Taylor Street has popularly been known as Chicago's "Little Italy," but several other areas in Chicago have had significant Italian populations. Inner-city enclaves along Taylor Street, Roseland on the Southwest Side and Little Sicily on the Near North Side, as well as enclaves beyond the city limits, such as those in Highwood and Melrose Park, all flourished.


Little Sicily or "Little Hell"

In the 22nd Ward on the city's Near North Side, a Sicilian enclave known alternately as "Little Sicily" and "Little Hell" was established in an area formerly populated by Scandinavians.Seligman, Amanda, "Cabrini–Green", ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004, The University of Chicago Press, It was considered the most colorful Italian neighborhood, and was home to 20,000 Italians by 1920. The neighborhood no longer exists due to the construction of the Cabrini–Green
public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
projects on the site during and after World War II. By the mid 1960s, crime and social problems resulting from the housing projects caused many of the earlier residents to leave.


Grand Avenue

An Italian enclave exists along Grand Avenue to Chicago Avenue between Aberdeen Street and Washtenaw Avenue. As noted by Maureen Jenkins, Staff Reporter for
Chicago Sun Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
: "You're still likely to hear folks speaking dialects from
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
and the coastal city of
Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...
, which stands on the "heel" side of the Italian boot in the
Puglia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...
region. In fact, this sliver of Grand—with its private men's clubs and markets where sausage still is made by hand—feels way more "Little Italy" than current-day Taylor Street".


Heart of Italy

On the city's Lower West Side, a community centered on 24th and Oakley called the "Heart of Italy" or "Little Tuscany" is composed mostly of Northern Italian immigrants. While Taylor Street goes by the popular Little Italy moniker, that designation once belonged to a stretch of decades-old ristoranti on the 2400 block of South Oakley, an area now known as Heart of Italy.


North Harlem Avenue

Perhaps the largest concentration of Italian businesses and residents in present-day Chicago is located along Harlem Avenue on the Northwest Side and neighboring Elmwood Park.


Bridgeport

The area from the river to the Dan Ryan, 26th to 39th (excluding the Wentworth Gardens housing project) has a large Italian population, specifically in the eastern portion near Armour Square Park. Located on Shield Ave in the Old Italian American Club, founded by Angelo La Pietra in the early 1980s. The neighborhood is home to several Italian churches, bakeries and restaurants.


In fiction

The 1980 novel '' Paper Fish'' by Antoinette "Tina" De Rosa takes place in Little Italy.Candeloro, Dominic. "Chicago's Italians: A Survey of the Ethnic Factor, 1850–1990." In: Jones, Peter d'Alroy and Melvin G. Holli. ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995. p. 229–259. , 9780802870537. p
231


See also

* Italians in Chicago


Notes


References

* *


External links


Taylor Street Archives

University Village Association
{{Coord, 41.871, -87.659, dim:1000_region:US-IL, display=title Ethnic enclaves in Illinois Neighborhoods in Chicago Little Italys in the United States Italian-American culture in Chicago Restaurant districts and streets in the United States Sicilian-American culture