Profile > Rogers Park

Back to Neighborhoods

Rogers Park is the northernmost of Chicago community areas in the far North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and is also the name of the Chicago neighborhood that constitutes most of the community area. It is bounded by the city of Evanston along Juneway Terrace and Howard Street to the north, Ridge Boulevard to the west, Devon Avenue and the Edgewater neighborhood to the south, and Lake Michigan to the east. The neighborhood just to the west, West Ridge, was part of Rogers Park until the 1890s. Some Chicagoans use the phrase "East Rogers Park" to refer to any area east of Ridge, but usually East Rogers Park refers only to the portion of Rogers Park east of Clark Street.

Rogers Park continued to see demographic changes into the 21st century. The 2000 census data, like those of 1980 and 1990, showed it to be one of the most diverse communities, if not the most diverse, in the entire country. A robust mix of ethnic backgrounds with over 80 assorted languages flavor the neighborhood. However, this diversity has been affected by gentrification of the community. Much of the rental housing that has been converted to condominiums since 2000 formerly housed racial- and ethnic-minority households. More than 90% of the new homeowners are white households, according to the Woodstock Institute, a nonprofit advocacy and research organization. However, the financial crisis of 2007-2009 hit the area hard and at present many of the condominiums are unsold or foreclosed. The dominant institution in Rogers Park is Loyola University Chicago. Historic places of interest include Madonna Della Strada Chapel, the mother church of the Jesuit Province of Chicago (one of the largest Jesuit provinces). The neighborhood continues to be home to many Jesuit religious-order institutions. However, modern Rogers Park contains many different religious institutions. An example of the neighborhood's diversity is the historic Rogers Park Baptist Church. Founded in 1891, this church has services in three languages every Sunday and is made up of immigrants from 21 countries representing five continents.

The presence of so many students and academics from Loyola, Mundelein College (now part of Loyola), and Northwestern University, just a few miles to the north, has historically lent Rogers Park a high degree of liberalism and tolerance. The community also has a high Internet presence. In 2007, the Web site outside.in named Rogers Park one of the country's "bloggiest neighborhoods."

Source: Wikipedia