Beverly, Chicago
Beverly, officially Beverly Hills, is a community area from the Loop on the far Southwest Side of Chicago, Illinois, bordering the neighborhoods of Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, Washington Heights, Auburn Gresham, Ashburn and the village of Evergreen Park., Beverly had 20,027 inhabitants.
Sparsely settled until the late 19th century, Beverly was incorporated as part of the village of Washington Heights in 1874 and began development by business interests from Chicago. The area was annexed by the city of Chicago in 1890, and continued to grow with the completion in the Rock Island Railroad that runs parallel along the eastern edge of the Blue Island ridge to its terminus at LaSalle Street Station in downtown Chicago. Beverly's position on the ridge allowed the community to become an exclusive streetcar community, which is reflected in the homes and large lots.
History
Etymology
In 1889, when the Rock Island Railroad realigned its suburban tracks, it expanded service north of 99th Street. The new station on 91st Street was named "91st Street–Beverly Hills station". By the late 1910s, the telephone network established a Beverly exchange. The exact significance of the name "Beverly Hills" is no longer known. Many speculate it is named after Beverly, Massachusetts, at the suggestion of Alice Helm French, a prominent resident and wife of the first director of the Art Institute of Chicago, or that the Rock Island Railroad simply named it after the hilly terrain. It is not named after Beverly Hills, California, which was named after the city in Massachusetts and received its name nearly 20 years after the 91st Street Station was named.19th century
Beverly and the surrounding area was sparsely populated by the Potawatomi and some white settlers until 1833, when the indigenous people were forced to cede their land rights to the United States under Indian removal. The earliest known non-indigenous inhabitants of the area were DeWitt Lane, who settled near 103rd Street and Seeley Avenue in 1832, and Norman Rexford, who opened a tavern near 91st Street and Pleasant Avenue. The area famously became a dry settlement, prohibiting saloons and the sale of liquor. A permanent settlement was established with the sale of the land to John Blackstone in 1839. In 1844, Blackstone sold the land along the Blue Island Ridge from 91st to 115th Streets to Thomas Morgan, after whom Morgan Park is named.The transformation of the area to a suburban community began in 1869 when the descendants of Thomas Morgan sold his lands to the Blue Island Land and Building Company. The area, which was at the intersection of the Rock Island Railroad and the Panhandle Route, saw a substantial period of growth sustained by Chicagoans displaced by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. It became an attractive community with the establishment of several schools in the 1870s. In 1874, much of Beverly and the area to the east was incorporated as the Village of Washington Heights. In 1890, the section of modern-day Beverly north of 95th Street was annexed to the City of Chicago. The section west of Western Avenue and south of 99th Street was added to Washington Heights.
Geography
Beverly Hills is community area #72. It is on Chicago's far south side, from the Loop. Its northern border is 87th Street and its southern border is 107th Street. Its western border runs along Western Avenue from the northern border to 99th Street, then along Fairfield Avenue to 103rd Street, and finally along the rail line to the southern border. Its eastern border runs along Vincennes Avenue from 107th to 103rd Street, then along Beverly Avenue up to the northern border. The community covers an area of. Beverly is connected to the Interstate system via I-57, located immediately to the east.Beverly, Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, Washington Heights, and the City of Blue Island are considered part of the Blue Island Ridge. The prehistoric glacial ridge was once an island in a lake and later part of its western shore. The distinct geological history is the most significant in Chicago, being the point of highest elevation at nearly above the water line of Lake Michigan. It was named for its color, due to atmospheric conditions or its blue wildflowers. 51.3% of the total is used for single-family housing, 2.9% for multifamily housing, 3.2% for commercial development, less than 0.1% for industrial development, 2.1% for institutional development, 0.5% for mixed-use development, and 13% is vacant lots or open space. The remaining 26.9% was defined as "transportation and other".
over three-quarters of the housing stock, 78.7%, in Beverly consists of single-family detached homes, compared to 26.1% citywide. Most of the houses were built before 1969. The median number of rooms in an area house is 7.4, compared to 4.8 rooms citywide. About 92% of the housing units were occupied. Of the total number of units, 85.3% were owner-occupied and 14.7% were renter-occupied. No multifamily buildings in the area were considered affordable according to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Demographics
Before European American settlement, the area was home to Potawatomi people, who in 1833, after the Black Hawk War, were forcibly moved west of the Mississippi River by the federal government. Beverly's early Caucasian settlement was largely English and Protestant, but by the early 20th century, a large influx of Irish Americans began to arrive in the neighborhood and the construction of several Roman Catholic church parishes and business establishments saw Beverly develop into a stronghold of the city's South Side Irish community.20,027 people in 7,691 households lived in Beverly. This represents a decrease of less than 0.1% from the 2010 U.S. census, which in turn had represented a 8.9% decline from the 2000 U.S. census. The area's racial composition was 55.3% White, 32.4% Black, 1.3% Asian and 3.7% other racial categories. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 7.2% of the population. Along with being known for its Irish American community identity, Beverly is also known for being one of the most racially integrated neighborhoods in Chicago with one of the city's highest percentage of black residents among white-majority neighborhoods. The age range was broad, with 23.6% under the age of 19, 15.4% aged 20 to 34, 16.7% aged 35 to 49, 25.6% aged 50 to 64, 12.2% aged 65 to 74, 5.0% 75 to 84, and 1.5% 85 and older. The median age was 45, compared to 35.1 citywide. English was the only language spoken by 92.0% of the population aged five and older, compared to a citywide figure of 64.8%.
The median household income was $113,824, compared to the citywide median income of $65,781. Seven percent of households earned less than $25,000 annually; 11.3% earned between $25,000 and $49,999; 11.6% earned between $50,000 and $74,999; 13.1% earned between $75,000 and $99,999; 20.7% earned between $100,000 and $149,999, and 36.3% earned more than $150,000. This compares with a citywide distribution of 21.8%, 18.4%, 14.9%, 11.7%, 14.7% and 18.6%, respectively., the western census tracts in the area had a median household income of over $86,900; the eastern tracts had a median household income between $57,900 and $86,900. The entire area placed above the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's low-income limit.
The hardship index is a metric used by the City of Chicago which considers six indicators of public health to quantify the relative amount of hardship in a community area: the percentage of occupied housing units with more than one person per room; the percentage of households living below the federal poverty level; the percentage of persons in the labor force over the age of 16 years that are unemployed; the percentage of persons over the age of 25 years without a high school diploma; the percentage of the population under 18 or over 64 years of age; and per capita income. The index is represented as a score from 1 to 100, with a higher score indicating greater hardship., Beverly's hardship index was 12.
Economy and employment
66.3% of Beverly's population was in the labor force; the unemployment rate was 7.6%, compared to the citywide rate of 8.4%. Of those employed, a plurality worked outside of Chicago; 32.0% worked in the Loop, 5.0% on the Near North Side, 5.5% on the Near West Side. About 8.1% of those employed in Beverly lived there; more than half lived outside Chicago.Among Beverly residents, education was the leading employer, accounting for 18.0% of the population. The next two major industries of employment were health care and public administration. Within the community area, transportation, professional employment, accommodation and food service, retail trade, and health care were the top five employer industries, accounting for 18.9%, 17.9%, 11.9%, 10.1%, and 9.0%, respectively.
Western Avenue and 95 Street are zoned for business, as well as the intersection of 99th Street and Longwood Drive and the intersection of 103rd Street and Longwood Drive.