West Side, Chicago 5.05

The West Side is one of the three major sections of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, along with the North Side and the South Side. The West Side consists of communities that are of historical, cultural, and ideological importance to the history and development of Chicago. On the municipal flag of Chicago, the West Side is represented by the central white stripe.Often referenced by the media and residents as a largely poor, crime-ridden area of the city, the West Side has gone through many transitions in its ethnic and socioeconomic makeup due to its historic role as a gateway for immigrants and migrants as well as its role for funneling poorer residents away from the wealthier lakeside neighborhoods and central business district. Today, the West Side consists of large communities of widely working class, low-income, and poverty-stricken Black, Puerto Rican, and Mexican residents; some small communities of blue-collar, lower middle class and middle class white residents of historically Polish, Italian, Czech, and Greek, descent; and newer communities of middle-class and upper-middle class white residents created by gentrification. Major shifts continue to happen due to forces such as rapid gentrification, selective corporate investments, and unequal distribution of city resources.