With 63,000 residents speaking more than 80 languages, Rogers Park is one of America’s most culturally and economically diverse neighborhoods, yet its residents enjoy a sense of community and harmony that is the envy of many of Chicago’s more homogenous neighborhoods. Easy and convenient access to the city, the natural charms of the Lake Michigan shore, many beautiful parks and gardens, and a host of exciting cultural, recreational, and leisure opportunities make Rogers Park a great place to live.
Location
Rogers Park is a Chicago neighborhood located on the Lake Michigan shore in the far northeast corner of the city. The town of Evanston is on its northern border.
Geography/Terrain
Rogers Park is a flat suburban area on the Lake Michigan shore.
Distance to 3 closest major cities
Rogers Park is ten miles from Chicago’s Loop and around 40 miles from cities in Indiana such as Gary and Hammond, and Racine, Wisconsin
Jobs
Considerable investment has been made in residential and commercial development in Rogers Park in recent years, and also in neighboring Lincoln Park, bringing many new jobs to areas that had languished for some decades. Employment in construction, retail, and administration areas has increased, and Rogers Park’s easy access by automobile and public transport to every part of the nation’s second-largest city, and to Evanston in the north, guarantees that its residents have access to the widest possible range of employment.
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Housing
Approximately 75% of Rogers Park’s housing stock is rental accommodation, with most buildings having been constructed in the 1920’s and 30’s. The area is currently undergoing extensive “gentrification”, which is stimulating interest in the real estate market. In areas like Edgewater and Eastlake over $100 million has been invested in the last five years to renovate and redevelop large blocks of apartments as upscale accommodation, but there are still many large apartments rich in character available in Rogers Park at very reasonable prices. In addition an average of around 100 units of affordable housing has been developed annually for the past 15 years.
Parks/Sports/Recreation/Golf
With thirteen public street-end beaches and ten parks offering facilities for such sporting and recreational activities as softball, soccer, aerobics, basketball, arts & crafts, woodworking, family picnics and summer day camps, Rogers Park offers plenty of leisure and recreational choices.
Cutting through the neighborhood and extending north and south, the fabulous Forest Preserve District of Cook County offers countless places for city dwellers to be rejuvenated and restored by nature’s peace and beauty. Over 200 picnic groves, more than 100 miles of paved bicycle trails and 200 miles of multi-use trails for horse riders, hikers and cross-country skiers, 10 golf courses, 4 driving ranges and 5 toboggan slides are available to the general public.
In addition the Forest Preserve District offers winter recreation such as ice fishing, snowmobiling, sledding and coasting, cross-country skiing and ice skating in designated areas. There is boating, fishing, and swimming in over 27 ponds, streams, and lakes, and special areas where model boats or airplanes can be operated. There’s even a place where you can let your dog off its leash and give it some serious field training.
Wherever you live in Rogers Park there are at least several excellent public golf courses just a short drive away. The nine-hole Billy Caldwell course, just ten minutes from downtown Chicago offers everything you need for a quick game after work or, closer to home, the Robert A. Black course is guaranteed to test the most skilled golfer. In North Sheridan Rd, Straight Shootin Golf Lessons offers one hour lessons that are excellent value for money and guaranteed to improve your game.
Special Attractions/Events
Rogers Park prides itself on being Chicago’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood, and of using original and creative means to solve community problems. The search for ways to combat graffiti in public places has led to the annual Artists of the Wall Festival. Now in its 13th year, the Festival draws art fans and community members in their thousands on two days each June as mural and outdoor artists adorn sections of wall in Loyola Park with art works that remain throughout the year. A special tent and painting materials are available for children too, making this a great family and community event.
Gardeners and admirers of beautiful gardens will enjoy the annual Rogers Park Garden Walk. Now in its 12th year this popular annual event offers a tour of the gardens of Rogers Park’s many stately and historic homes.
As more people become interested in healthy food the popularity of Farmers’ Markets is increasing nationally. Rogers Park holds an extremely popular Farmers’ Market each Saturday during the summer and fall, where the best of freshly harvested locally-grown seasonal fruit and vegetables share space with gourmet cheeses, fresh herbs, maple syrup, honey, breads fresh from the oven, herbal soaps, fresh cut flowers, and much more.
Rogers Park and nearby neighborhoods are home to several excellent professional theater companies and renowned venues which offer stimulating and entertaining dramatic fare to discerning playgoers. Since its formation in1983 the Raven Theatre has focused on American classics and on lesser-known projects that shed light on the "American Experience", establishing itself as an important voice in regional theatre. The theatre also produces exciting children’s drama, with traveling productions delighting and entertaining children throughout the Chicagoland region. Other theater companies include the well-known Side Project Theatre, while the 297-seat Kathleen Mullady Memorial Theatre at Loyola University’s Lakeshore Campus is an integral part of Chicago’s lively theatre and arts scene.
Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
Like many modern towns and cities in America Rogers Park developed at the convergence of two ancient Indian trails. What are now Rogers Avenue and Ridge Boulevard were for millennia trails used by the Pottawatomie people and other regional tribes as they journeyed to and from the lakeshore at Rogers Park from season to season.
Several decades from the 1830’s saw waves of immigrants, mostly from Germany and Luxembourg, settling in the area to grow hay for winter stock feed and cucumbers for pickling. The village of Rogers Park, named after Philip Rogers, an early pioneer and land speculator, was formally incorporated in 1878, and became increasingly culturally diverse as the years passed.
Following extensive settlement of German, Irish, English and European Jewish migrants in the 1930’s, in addition to the movement of wealthy Chicagoans to planned communities in the area, Rogers Park became, and continues to this day, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States, with an amazingly rich mix of cultures, ethnicities, languages, age groups and family incomes living harmoniously together.
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