The <strong>Chicago</strong>Context<strong>Chicago</strong> has one of the country’s most diverse populations and is one of thenation’s most vibrant and diverse culture and arts environments.<strong>Chicago</strong> is the third largest metropolitan area <strong>in</strong> the United States beh<strong>in</strong>d New Yorkand Los Angeles. <strong>Chicago</strong>’s arts and culture community serves the city’s seventy-sevencommunity areas of almost three million people and the entire metropolitan statisticalarea (MSA) of n<strong>in</strong>e million. The characteristics of <strong>Chicago</strong>’s residents and its <strong>in</strong>stitutionsdemonstrate the diversity of the social, economic, and cultural resources of the entiremetropolitan area.The City of <strong>Chicago</strong>’s population is roughly evenly divided among African-Americans(36 percent), Caucasians (31 percent), and Lat<strong>in</strong>os (26 percent). The other races makeup the rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g 7 percent of the city’s population. Outside of the city, much smallerpercentages of the population are either African-American or Lat<strong>in</strong>o. As a result, forthe <strong>Chicago</strong> metropolitan area 18 percent of the population is African-American and16 percent is Lat<strong>in</strong>o.Although the <strong>Chicago</strong> area’s Lat<strong>in</strong>o population comes from many parts of the WesternHemisphere, the vast majority report either hav<strong>in</strong>g immigrated from Mexico or be<strong>in</strong>gof Mexican ancestry. Approximately 70 percent of the city’s Lat<strong>in</strong>o population ofapproximately three-quarters of a million persons is of Mexican descent. Fifteen percentreport be<strong>in</strong>g from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican ancestry. The rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g 15 percentreport ancestry from Spanish-speak<strong>in</strong>g countries throughout the Caribbean and Centraland South America. In the rest of the metropolitan area outside of the City of <strong>Chicago</strong>, aneven larger percentage of Lat<strong>in</strong>os report that they are Mexican or of Mexican orig<strong>in</strong>.The median household <strong>in</strong>come for the City of <strong>Chicago</strong> is substantially less ($38,625) thanthe <strong>Chicago</strong> MSA ($51,046). Furthermore, the metropolitan area has three to four timesmore middle <strong>in</strong>come and wealthy households than the City of <strong>Chicago</strong>.In the city, 25 percent of <strong>Chicago</strong>’s population holds a bachelor’s degree or higher, while<strong>in</strong> the metropolitan statistical area, the figure is 29 percent.Def<strong>in</strong>itions and Maps of <strong>Chicago</strong>• The <strong>Chicago</strong> MSA is the fourteen-county area shown <strong>in</strong> Map 1; the population of theMSA is about n<strong>in</strong>e million.• Just over five million of the people <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Chicago</strong> MSA live <strong>in</strong> Cook County, which isdivided <strong>in</strong>to townships and community areas, as shown <strong>in</strong> Map 2.• The City of <strong>Chicago</strong>, with a population of nearly three million, is shown <strong>in</strong> Map 3.With<strong>in</strong> the city, the boundaries of the seventy-seven community areas are shown.The populations of community areas range from 3,000 to 117,500.• Map 4 shows the boundaries of the 865 census tracts <strong>in</strong> the City of <strong>Chicago</strong>. Mosttracts have populations of about 2,000 to 5,000, with 1,000 to 2,000 households <strong>in</strong> each.13
CookCookCookCookCookCookCookCookCookDeKalbDeKalbDeKalbDeKalbDeKalbDeKalbDeKalbDeKalbDeKalbDuPageDuPageDuPageDuPageDuPageDuPageDuPageDuPageDuPageGrundyGrundyGrundyGrundyGrundyGrundyGrundyGrundyGrundyKaneKaneKaneKaneKaneKaneKaneKaneKaneKendallKendallKendallKendallKendallKendallKendallKendallKendallLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeMcHenryMcHenryMcHenryMcHenryMcHenryMcHenryMcHenryMcHenryMcHenryWillWillWillWillWillWillWillWillWillJasperJasperJasperJasperJasperJasperJasperJasperJasperLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeLakeNewtonNewtonNewtonNewtonNewtonNewtonNewtonNewtonNewtonPorterPorterPorterPorterPorterPorterPorterPorterPorterKenoshaKenoshaKenoshaKenoshaKenoshaKenoshaKenoshaKenoshaKenoshaLake Michigan1<strong>Chicago</strong> Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
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