The city Chicago is divided into seventy-seven community areas. Census data and ZIP codes are are tied to the community areas and they serve as the basis for for a variety of urban planning initiatives on both the local and regional levels.

Seventy-five community areas were defined by sociologists at the University of Chicago during the 1920s, and at that time corresponded roughly to neighborhoods within the city. In the 1950s, with the city's annexations for O'Hare airport, a seventy-sixth community area was added. Other than the creation of the seventy-seventh community area in 1980 (by subdividing an existing community area), boundaries have never been revised to reflect change but instead have been kept relatively stable to allow comparisons of these areas over time.

Today many of the community areas no longer correspond to any single neighborhood, and some community area names have fallen out of colloquial use. In many cases, the actual character of the community area is quite independent of that of the individul neighborhood which comprise it.

Communiy Area designations are useful more than merely as a historical curiosity because they are considered more durable than the names of neighborhoods which can change over time due to urban redevelopment, gentrification and the constant shuffle and absorbation of the immigrant population.

A full listing and a map is available in the article Chicago community areas.

Another method of neighborhood nomenclature in heavily Catholic neighborhoods of Chicago has been to refer to communities in terms of parishes. For example one might say, "I live in St. Gertrude's, but he's from St. Ita's."

External links

• City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development (http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalEntityHomeAction.do?entityName=Planning+And+Development&entityNameEnumValue=32)
  • Community Area Demographics (http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalDeptCategoryAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@2098294959.1106424979@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccccadddjedklfjcefecelldffhdffn.0&deptCategoryOID=-536889699&contentType=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=Dept&entityName=Planning+And+Development&deptMainCategoryOID=-536886126)
  • Community Area Maps (http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalDeptCategoryAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@1695287351.1106424828@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfadddjedkmmkcefecelldffhdfgn.0&deptCategoryOID=-536886118&contentType=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=Dept&entityName=Planning+And+Development&deptMainCategoryOID=-536886114)
• Chicago Area Geographic Information Study (CAGIS) (http://www.cagis.uic.edu/)
• Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (http://www.nipc.org/)
  • Census 2000 Chicago Community Area Profiles (http://www.nipc.org/test/Y2K_SF1_CCA.htm)
• WildOnions.org - Chicago Area Communities: Facts and Statistics (http://www.wildonions.org/ChicagoAreaCommunities.htm)