Edgewater Illinois Real Estate

Edgewater, Illinois
by Julie Farby

Edgewater is a community in North Chicago, located about seven miles north of downtown, and bordering the neighborhoods of Rogers Park to the north, Uptown to the south, Lincoln Square to the west and south and West Ridge to the west and north. Statistically, Edgewater has the highest population density of any of the neighborhoods in Chicago. And, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, “the zip code 60640, one of two zip codes in Edgewater (the other being 60660), had the highest concentration of gay and lesbian couples in the city, and fifth highest in the country.”

According to Wikipedia.org, few people lived in the Edgewater area before the late nineteenth century. However, developers began cutting down the dense woods in the area in the late 1880s to make way for future development, and in 1885, Edgewater was given its name by its builder, John Lewis Cochran. He built the first residential subdivision in the area. After a few years, Edgewater was celebrated as a wonder as it became "the only electric lighted suburb adjacent to Chicago".

Edgewater also gained fame as the “celery-growing capital of America's Midwest.” By the early 1900s, Edgewater was regarded as one of Chicago's most prestigious communities. A prominent symbol of Edgewater's affluence was the “Edgewater Beach Hotel, which opened in 1916 at 5349 North Sheridan. The famed pink hotel was demolished in 1968, though the remaining pink Edgewater Beach Apartments building is still a landmark at the north tip of Lake Shore Drive.” The Edgewater building boom peaked in 1926 and property values reached their height in 1928.

The burgeoning affluent population grew so much that developers expanded Edgewater and renamed the new neighborhood community “Uptown.”

According to Wikipedia, Uptown's population “declined in the 1950s as Chicago's western and southern suburbs were developed and opened, absorbing Chicago's middle and upper classes. With the flight of residents came disrepair and high crime rates for what once was one of the most affluent districts of Chicago.” In the 1980s, the Chicago Board of Aldermen and local business owners orchestrated a revival for the Edgewater community. Edgewater seceded from the Uptown community and once again called itself its own community. “New businesses were brought into the community, old buildings were refurbished and homes touched up to recapture Edgewater's glory days of the past.”

According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, at the same time, “the smaller commercial strips within Edgewater promoted their own distinctive flavors.” What began as a promotion of “Chinatown North” on Argyle Street evolved as Edgewater's population shifted to include diverse Asian-Americans; among the shop owners on Argyle were Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Pakistanis, and also Spanish-speakers, Greeks, and Albanians. With an “unexpected influx of gay and lesbian residents,” Edgewater’s land values skyrocketed.

Today, the community now boasts one of the largest homosexual populations in the United States, sharing that distinction with the neighboring communities of Andersonville, Lakeview, and Rogers Park. Edgewater is also home to the Gerber/Hart Library, “the largest gay and lesbian library and archives in the Midwestern United States. Meanwhile, Edgewater is also home to a large African community. “Ethnic Ethiopians, newly independent Eritreans, and Nigerians, to name a few, live and socialize in Edgewater.”
(The African community also extends farther north into the Rogers Park and Loyola University areas.) According to the Edgewater Community Council, “walk the streets of Edgewater and one will mix with women in traditional African costume and Serbian grandmothers strolling with their grandchildren while the middle generation is out making a living in the new world of Chicago.” Native Americans, former Yugoslavians, Africans of every part, young hipsters, new parents, first-time homeowners, students and many more make their home in Edgewater, making the average resident of Edgewater, beyond any single classification.

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