Back of the Yards

Back of the Yards, in the New City community area, extends from 39th to 55th Streets between Halsted and the railroad tracks along Leavitt Street, just south and west of the former Union Stock Yard. For years the neighborhood was sustained by the thousands of meatpacking and railroad jobs that the livestock industry supported. But since most of the meat packing plants had closed by the late 1960s, the community has struggled with employment, housing and all the other issues resultiing from the loss of jobs.
During that time, the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, a coalition of dozens of neighborhood and parish groups, became Saul Alinsky's model for community organizing throughout the country as it galvanized a broader community identity among the diverse ethnic groups and addressed an array of community problems. BYNC is the lead agency in Back of the Yards. Download the 2014 Back of the Yards quality-of-life plan.
In recent years, the site of the old stockyards has been transformed into a new industrial park, bringing back some of the jobs that had disappeared earlier.
Back of the Yards Community Area
Population
Population (2010) |
56,524 |
down 5% from 2999 |
Racial/ethnic makeup (2010) |
51% Latino, 28% African American, 17% white |
|
Housing
Total occupied units (2010) |
15,330 |
down 6% from 2000 |
Owned housing units (2010) |
6,430 |
up 6% from 2000 |
Income
Median household income (2010) |
$32,649 |
up 19% from 2000 |
Percentage above $50,000 (2010) |
15% |
15% above $75,000 |
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