By: CBCAC Youth CASL

Chicago’s Chinatown – The History  Neighborhood centered on Wentworth and Cermak Streets  The discrimination of Chinese immigrants in California led to Chinese migrating  Originally, Chinatown was supposed to be built near the north of Chicago but moved to the South due to higher rents from landlords. General Overview

History -Pui Tak Center Before After

Population ''The 7 th largest Asian American city in the United States'' U.S. Census Generated by Onboard Informatics (Copyright © 2014 Onboard Informatics)

Finance  Housing costs in Chinatown are relatively inexpensive compared to other neighborhoods  Consist of Chinese restaurants, gift shops, grocery stores, Chinese medicine stores  Tourism and Catering are two big parts of Chinatown's finance.

Notable Landmarks Chinese American Museum

Notable Landmarks Ping Tom Park

Notable Landmarks/Cultural Centers Chinese American Service League Pui Tak Center

Chinatown Summer Fair  Attracting more than 40,000 people throughout Chicago  Chinese classical dance and music, demonstrations of kung fu

Dragon Boat Race For Literacy  The Dragon Boat Race dates back to about 2000 years ago and is popular among Chinese communities  Annually held by 30 teams competing against each other  U.S Bank and Comcast  Proceeds raised from the race promote literacy, cultural, and diversity programs  Held at the Ping Tom Memorial Park in July

Status Quo - Crime Risks/Safety  Crime rates in Chinatown is lower than Chicago as a whole.  Residents don't feel safe walking around Chinatown, especially at night  Frequent car break-ins – especially on tourists  Language barrier between Chinese speakers and mainly English speaking law enforcement Generated by NeighborhoodScout® search engine (2016) Problems Facing Chinatown

Status Quo - Crime Statistics Generated by Onboard Informatics (Copyright © 2014 Onboard Informatics)

Status Quo - Sanitation  Household garbage in streets  Due to lack of public garbage cans, back alley dumpsters.  Chinatown used to have many public garbage cans, however business owners had called to remove them resulted in more street litter

Status Quo - Parking/traffic problems  Narrow roadways that lead to traffic interference  Lack of parking space

Solutions Sanitation:  Public & residential trash bins & more alley dumpsters for Chinatown. Safety:  More biking police presence & promote the Chinatown Nightwatch Communications/Connection:  Meetings to promote for awareness and openness to others. Parking Problems:  Advocate for tiered parking spaces, more biking lanes, encourage biking versus car

What We Have/Can Achieve  Ping Tom Park Expansion – (Boathouse, aquatics areas)  Infrastructure improvements ie. for the CTA red line train entrance at Cermak  New Chinatown Library  New solutions to connect the community

References  y+Vision+Plan+-+Low+Resolution/0fe0fb4c-e f3e-ba2a78abadaa  neighborhoo/commercialization-in-chinatown-a8be293b7a46#.x6r9tagn5  Demographics.html  