Back of the Yards/New City

I've been putting these blog posts off for a while first because of a need to do seminary applications and now a need to do scholarship applications. However, right now I'm feeling good enough about my deadlines to start catching up on neighborhood posts.

Back of the Yards is a large neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago (which is also called New City). It was once made up of meatpacking plants and housing for the European immigrants that worked there. However, the meatpacking plants have closed down to be replaced by warehouses, huge stores like Home Depot, and occasionally just empty lots and roads. The gate in this photo commemorates the neighborhood's history; it's listed as a historical point of interest on Chicago's tourism site, but is mostly surrounded by empty lots - probably more appealing than closed slaughterhouses, but still less than riveting.

We went to Back of the Yards in early January, and place was probably at its bleakest with black

ice edging the streets. Eventually after some walking the warehouses began to be interspersed

with houses, and finally we ended up in the more residential part of the neighborhood. It was mostly Hispanic, with cowboy boot shops and an absolutely delicious bakery near murals and plenty of older homes. The place started to feel more like a bustling New City, instead of the remains of Chicago's past. As we kept walking, we found a bustling flea market where people sold everything from tires to puppies to DVDs to cactus leaves (which, as it turns out, are pretty tasty). There was no room to walk and everything to buy and it was fantastic.