A primer about the difference between a Chicago community and a Chicago neighborhood.

Chicago consists of 77 communities.

The 77 Chicago Community Names.
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Many of those communities have named multiple neighborhoods

People who grew up in Chicago may know the neighborhood name but would call the community by the neighborhood name because that is what most Chicagoans did. Not to be confusing but... some communities also have the same name for one of its neighborhoods.

West Ridge and Rogers Park communities (in bold black), have neighborhoods (in blue). Throughout Chicago's history, many neighborhood boundaries have changed or shifted as 'progress,' like new highway construction, forced some of these changes.

West Ridge Community, Chicago, Boundaries: 

NORTH: Howard St (7600 N)

SOUTH: Bryn Mawr Ave (5600 N) west of Western Ave (2400 W) and Peterson Ave (6000 N) east of Western.

EAST: Ridge Boulevard (diagonal 2100-1800 W)

WEST: North Shore Channel of the Chicago River.

Rogers Park Community, Chicago, Boundaries: 

NORTH: The city of Evanston border along Juneway Terrace (7800 N) from the lakefront (1200-1850 W), and Howard Street (7600 N) from (1600-2100 W).

SOUTH: Devon Avenue (6400 N).

EAST: Lake Michigan.

WEST: Ridge Boulevard (diagonal 2100-1800 W).

Alphabetical List of Chicago Communities and its Neighborhoods in PDF.

In Chicago, Cook County property deeds and mortgage documents include these community and/or neighborhood names.

Homan Square is Outlined in the White Area.
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Mortgage Loan № S82423945891-R

EXHIBIT A

LOT 12 IN HOMAN SQUARE PHASE THREE, SECTION 1, BEING A SUBDIVISION OF LOTS 26 THROUGH 32 AND LOTS 43 TO 49 IN HOMAN SQUARE PHASE 3, BEING A SUBDIVISION OF PART OF THE SOUTHEAST 1/4 OF SECTIONS14, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 13, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDAN, RECORDED SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 12345678, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

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Example of community and neighborhood loss of area: In the "Near West Side Community (with neighborhoods of Columbus Circle, Greektown, Little Italy, Medical Center, Near West Side, Tri-Taylor, Fulton River District, and University Village), the "Little Italy" neighborhood used to be larger, but like many other neighborhoods of Chicago was affected by the construction of new expressways. It lost a considerable chunk of land when the Eisenhower Expressway was built in the 1950s. It lost even more real estate when the University of Illinois-Chicago moved into the area in the 1960s.

NOTE: Some Chicagoans will respond with their Parishes' name when asked what neighborhood they're from. Asking or stating a Parish as a Chicago neighborhood assumes the other person knows the church AND its location. What you, your friends and family call a Chicago area is up to you, but a parish name, unlike New Orleans, Louisiana, is not official.

Copyright © 2017 Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.