I’m not much of a sports fan and haven’t joined the craze about the recent World Cup. But it didn’t take much to get me excited about the activity this past Sunday on Devon Avenue outside the Croatian Cultural Center. Ultimately (I’m told), the French beat the Croatians but the attention of Chicago was focused on West Rogers Park, as huge crowds gathered at a watch party. I’ve attached a photo that I took when stopping for a visit.
I regularly take long strolls down Devon Avenue and take note of the strong ethnic and religious diversity. As you walk east, you see Golda Meir Boulevard intersecting with Honorary Rabbi H. Shusterman Way, both indicators of the strong Jewish presence in the neighborhood. Further along Devon, you find an interfaith intersection – at Golda Meir Boulevard and Mother Teresa Way. Of course, the restaurants, grocery stores, boutiques and institutions of the Jewish and Indo-Pak communities are strong indicators of who lives here.
Our summer intern, Matthew Erlebacher, is doing quite a bit of research on recent neighborhood demographic data and reaching out to many community organizations. This data will be helpful to us.