This page is to help our students recognize the Near West Side neighborhood in terms of who lives there, where "there" is and how these relate to the economic, social, political and cultural factors that helped shape the Near West Side, namely the Little Italy community.

This information is intended to serve as a background, a framework for addressing the subject matter and themes to be addressed here on out...

This information is divided into two categories on tool bar to the right:

The "Historic" button is dedicated to information predating the arrival of UIC to the area

The "Current" button is dedicated to events that have helped to shape the neighborhood as it looks now.