All Near West Side

Near West Side is a Chicago neighborhood and official community area west of the Chicago River and the Loop, spanning about 5.75 square miles. It includes several distinct districts such as University Village, Little Italy, Greektown, Tri-Taylor, and the Illinois Medical District; the West Loop and Fulton Market district, in the community area’s northeast corner, is treated separately here.

University Village is bordered by Harrison Street to the north, the Dan Ryan Expressway to the east, 16th Street to the south, and Racine Avenue to the west. Greektown is centered on Halsted Street between Van Buren and Madison Streets. Tri-Taylor lies west of the Illinois Medical District, bounded by the Eisenhower Expressway, Ogden Avenue, and the Western Avenue railroad tracks.

Development

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 originated in the Near West Side. Waves of immigration shaped the area in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including the settlement that led Jane Addams to found Hull House. The Illinois Medical District was established in the years following the 1871 fire and grew into one of the largest medical complexes in the country. Mid-20th-century freeway construction, centered on the Jane Byrne Interchange, reshaped the neighborhood, and recent decades have brought substantial redevelopment of former manufacturing and warehousing land into residential and commercial use.

Parks & Recreation

The University of Illinois Chicago campus anchors University Village. The United Center, home to the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, opened in 1994 on the neighborhood’s western edge.

Transit

The CTA Blue, Green, and Pink Lines all serve the Near West Side; the Green Line’s Lake Street elevated tracks have operated since 1893. Chicago Union Station and the Ogilvie Transportation Center, serving Metra and Amtrak, sit at the neighborhood’s northeast edge.