Working class, blue collar no-nonsense neighborhood- that is McKinley Park in a nutshell. If you take a map of Chicago and put a dot at the center of it you would be in the McKinley Park Neighborhood. In a real sense it is the Center of Chicago. It’s a tough and gritty working class neighborhood. Once there, it’s not uncommon to run across someone without a high school diploma, and hence no college degree. Don’t let their lack of higher education be confused with lack of intelligence. They are not the same. There are some smart people who lack degrees and some not-so-smart people with degrees. Many intelligent people in McKinley who do not have degrees.
“The main reason MCKINLEY PARK is such a great area is because we as neighbors back each other up. We watch out not just for ourselves but our neighbors. We don’t care if you’re a different ethnicity but DO care if you’re a good neighbor.”
Ana Marie
The McKinley Park Neighborhood is made up mostly of immigrants as well as the children of immigrants. The residents of McKinley don’t judge you by the color of the skin in which you were born with but rather by are you a good neighbor.
The McKinley Park neighborhood is not perfect. What neighborhood is? Like the rest of Chicago McKinley is witnessing an increase in crime.
Unlike other city neighborhoods McKinley has not received millions of dollars earmarked for area development. Funds which are long overdue.
The neighborhood has to do with what they have. And that is McKinley Park– an amazing any time of year and one of Chicago’s best parks.
The park has a beautiful lagoon which offers the best fishing in Chicago next to Lake Michigan and is the location of Chicago’s best kids fishing derby.
The park has a magnificent nature walking trail. It is a favorite for bird watchers. A nice soccer field, tennis courts, basketball court, an outdoor ice rink, outdoor pool, outdoor kids spray pool all exist in the park. There is a fine dog park as a result of a few community residents getting together with a vision, organizing and following through with determination.
Mckinley also has public art in the form of a large bonze statue of a President of the United States of America bearing the name of the neighborhood and park – McKinley. The bronze used in the McKinley statue was recycled from a Christopher Columbus statue from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Ten Tons of the Bronze Columbus statue was melted down and turned into art.
The McKinley Statue was such a high point for the community that on July 4, 1905, an estimated 10,000 people attended the dedication to see the work of art. Never again has there been as many people in McKinley Park at one time.
The McKinley statue just like the residence of McKinley took something discarded and make something great. In both the statue and neighborhood they turned it into a work of art.
Once in the neighborhood long enough a certain type of hard working blue collar bonding and a respect for the community is developed. This is a bond that outsiders sometimes don’t understand.
McKinley has what many Chicago neighborhoods don’t – great potential.
A real diamond in the rough. A large component of what helps make McKinley Park a great place to live is the volunteer work by the many organizations in the neighborhood. Some organizations, such as the highly respected McKinley Park Civic Association and the American Legion William McKinley Post #231 have been around for over 50 years helping the community. But they are not alone. Many more volunteer organizations are doing great work for the McKinley Park neighborhood. Helping to make it the great place it currently is.
