West Ridge, Chicago


West Ridge is one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is a middle-class neighborhood located on the far North Side of the City of Chicago. 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, 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. At one time joined with neighboring Rogers Park, it seceded to become its own village in 1890 over a conflict concerning park districts. 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 thriving multi-ethnic culture lining Devon Avenue, 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 had been represented in the Chicago City Council by Alderman Bernard Stone from 1973 until May 2011. On April 5, 2011, Alderman Debra Silverstein defeated Stone in a runoff election and now represents the 50th Ward, which encompasses West Ridge.
It is home to the Midwest's largest Hasidic community, as well as other Jewish, Irish American, German-American, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Assyrian, Russian, and Korean immigrant communities.

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 community there from about 1930 to the mid-1970s. The Jewish community peaked at over 47,000 in the 1960's. That community began to drift into the suburbs in the 1960s, and the neighborhood began to be home to South Asians and Russian Jews 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 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.

Schools

Public schools

operates public schools.
West Ridge has supported the Democratic Party in the past two presidential elections. In the 2016 presidential election, West Ridge cast 16,712 votes for Hillary Clinton and cast 4,772 votes for Donald Trump. In the 2012 presidential election, West Ridge cast 14,446 votes for Barack Obama and cast 5,345 votes for Mitt Romney.

Religion

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago operates Catholic churches. On July 1, 2020, St. Henry, St. Margaret Mary, and St. Timothy churches will merge together.

Historical population

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Bus routes

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