O'Hare, located on the far north side of Chicago, is one of the city's 77 community areas. O'Hare International Airport is located within the boundaries of this community area. This community area is the only one that extends outside Cook County; the western edge (an area comprising the southwest part of the airport) is in DuPage County.
In the Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien, Alexander Robinson was given two square miles of land in what is now the O'Hare community area as a reward for shielding white settlers during Battle of Fort Dearborn. The land was slowly settled over the remainder of the nineteenth century despite the opening of a railroad depot in 1887. During World War II, the Douglas Aircraft Company produced cargo planes in the area. After the war, the facility became a commercial airport that the City of Chicago eventually developed into O'Hare International Airport.[2] In response to the annexation, the University of Chicago revised its map of official community areas to add O'Hare as the 76th area. It is one of only two revisions to occur since the late 1920s.[3]
According to an analysis by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the area had 12,377 residents comprising 6,125 households as of June 2018.[1] The racial makeup of the area was 79.87% white, 1.22% African American, 7.93% Asian American and 4.52% were either American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander or some other race. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 6.46% of the population.[1]
16.8% were under the age of 19 years, 26.7% were age 20 years to age 34 years, 23.8% were age 35 years to age 49 years, 17.6% were age 50 years to age 64 years and 15.1% were 65 years or older.[1]
The median household income was $49,295 compared to a median income of $52,497 for Chicago at-large.[1] The area had an Income distribution in which 28.8% of households earned less than $25,000 annually; 21.6% of households earned between $25,000 and $49,999; 24.1% of households earned between $50,000 and $74,999; 12.9% of households earned between $75,000 and $99,999; 7.5% of households earned between $100,000 and $149,999 and 5% of households earned more than $150,000. This was a less equitable distribution than Chicago-at large which had a distribution of 26.7%, 21.1%, 15.8%, 10.9%, 12.7% and 12.9.[1]
The top five employing industry sectors in O'Hare are transportation (59.2%), accommodation and food (7.6%), professional (6.3%), administration (4.7%), and information (4.6%). 68.5% of these workers come from outside of Chicago.[1] The top five employing industry sectors of community residents are healthcare (11.5%), retail trade (9.9%), manufacturing (8.7%), transportation (8.4%), and administration (8.2%)[1]
Notable people
Joseph Grendys (born 1961), chairman, president, CEO, and owner of Koch Foods. He is a resident of the O'Hare area.[10]
Joseph Miedzianowski (born 1953), Chicago police officer convicted of using his position as a member of the gangs task force to run a narcotics trafficking ring. He resided on the 8500 block of West St. Joseph Avenue before his arrest.[11]
The O'Hare community area is located in two wards: The area north of Lawrence Avenue is in the 41st ward and the area to the south is in the 38th ward.[15][16] They are represented on the Chicago City Council by Anthony Napolitano and Nicholas Sposato respectively.
^O'Connor, Matt; Mills, Steve (December 17, 1998). "COP CHARGED IN DRUG RING U.S. ACCUSES VETERAN GANG CRIMES OFFICER IN HEROIN-COCAINE OPERATION". Chicago Tribune. p. 1 – via ProQuest.
