How Healthy is Your Town - Taking Chicago's Temperature

Rating the city's neighborhoods for health factors.

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To gauge the health of the city, Chicago grouped its 77 neighborhoods (as delineated by the U.S. Census Bureau and others) into ten geographic regions and then compared their levels of air pollution, crime rates, and other key public health measurements. Statistical information about each of the ten regions is contained in the accompanying boxes, which also note the neighborhoods within each region. The best citywide score for each variable is printed in green, while the worst score appears in orange. For an explanation of each of the variables, see "Methods and Sources."

As with the suburbs, the more affluent urban areas fared best, registering, for instance, lower rates of premature mortality (death before age 65) and low-weight births (under five and a half pounds), two commonly used indicators of a region's health. Overall, the North Central area came out on top. Bounded roughly by North Avenue on the south, Cicero Avenue on the west, Ravenswood Avenue on the east, and Howard Avenue on the north, North Central boasts three hospitals, six hospital-affiliated centers, and nine additional clinics run by the city's health department, community groups, and schools. What's more, 35th Ward alderman Rey Colón (whose district includes Logan Square) is currently implementing an Open Space Plan for the ward, which sets aside additional space for parks and a new bike path and transforms a gravel lot under the Kennedy Expressway into a skateboard park.

This article appears in the October 2005 issue of Chicago Magazine.

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