Forest Park

Forest Park (formerly Harlem) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, United States. The population was 14,339 at the 2020 census. Forest Park is located at 41°5223N 87°4840W (41.873031, -87.811155). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Forest Park has a total area of 2.40 square miles (6.22 km²), all land. The community (formerly part of a larger town called Harlem) officially became incorporated under the name of Forest Park on April 17, 1907. The Forest Park terminal on the CTA Blue Line is the line's western terminus, located on the Eisenhower Expressway at Des Plaines Avenue. This makes it one of only two municipalities served by the Chicago "L" train network that does not directly border Chicago (the other being Wilmette). Forest Park cemeteries include Altenheim, Forest Home Cemetery, Jewish Waldheim (producer Mike Todd is buried in Beth Aaron there), Woodlawn (including Showmen's Rest), and Concordia. Forest Home cemetery is home to the famous Haymarket Martyrs' Monument. The Naval Ordnance Station Forest Park operated from early in World War II until most of the plant was replaced by a mall in 1971, with some of the site used as a Naval Reserve center until 2007. Emery Parichy purchased the Boston Bloomer Girls softball team in the early 1930s and moved them to Forest Park.

Geography

Forest Park is located at 41°5223N 87°4840W (41.873031, -87.811155). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Forest Park has a total area of 2.40 square miles (6.22 km²), all land. The Des Plaines River runs through Forest Park. Forest Park is home to the U.S. Army National Guard and the Army Air and Space Command. The U.N. Peacekeeping Force is based in Forest Park and has a presence in the park. The National Park Service has a training center in the Park. The park is also home to a youth center, which is open to the public. It has a playground, a baseball field, and a basketball court. The Park is also the site of the Nationalchery Championships, which take place in the spring and summer. It also has a baseball diamond, which has a capacity of 1,000 people. It is located on the banks of the Des Plaine River, which runs through the park and into the city of Chicago. It was founded in 1872 and is one of the oldest parks in the United States. The town's name comes from the French town of Forest Park, which was once part of the French province of Champagne-et-Germain-Alpes-Provence. The city's name means "Forest of the Forest" or "Forest Park" in French and "Park" in English.

History

The community became incorporated under the name of Forest Park on April 17, 1907. For much of its history, Forest Park was known as a "Village of cemeteries", with more dead "residents" than living ones. Some figures estimate the ratio at 30:1, dead to alive. The Naval Ordnance Station Forest Park operated from early in World War II until most of the plant was replaced by a mall in 1971. Women's professional baseball/softball has roots in Forest Park. Emery Parichy purchased the Boston Bloomer Girls softball team in the early 1930s. The team operated in the suburb until 1955, when the land their softball field was on was taken for the Eisenhower Expressway. Forest Park Amusement Park was a small but popular amusement park located just west of Desplaines Avenue, and just north of the then Waldheim Cemetery, from 1907 to 1922. Its former location is now occupied by the Forest Park station on CTA's Blue Line at Des Plaines Avenue. Notable visits from famous playwrights have included Marvin Hamlisch, Rupert Holmes, Douglas Post, Michael John LaChiusa, Stephen Gilman, Rebecca Gilman and Harry Connick, Jr. Circle Theatre has produced over 175 productions and received over 80 Joseph Jefferson (JEFF) nominations and won over 30 Jeff Awards. In 2007, the town held a summer-long centennial celebration. It has also held two other centennial celebrations, one in 1956 for when the first settlers came and one in 1984 for the 100th anniversary of the creation of the town of Harlem.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 14,339 people, 6,695 households, and 3,138 families residing in the village. The racial makeup of the village was 49.60% White, 30.89% African American, 0.43% Native American, 6.23% Asian, 4.72% from other races, and 8.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.32% of the population. The village's age distribution consisted of 14.7% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 36.1 percent from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.3 males. For each 100 females age 18 and over,there were 84.8 males. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.03. The. median income for a household in the. village was $70,670, and the median income. for a family was $101,894. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of anyrace. The US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. The per capita income for the village is $46,969. About 4.4% of those under 18 and 7.6% ofThose age 65 or over are below the poverty line.

Government

The United States Postal Service operates the Forest Park Post Office at 417 Des Plaines Avenue. The post office contains a mural, The White Fawn, painted in 1940 by Miriam McKinnie. The village of Forest Park runs under a village commission form of government led by a mayor and four commissioners elected every four years. Forest Park lies within Illinois's 7th congressional district and is located in the state's central business district. It is located on the Illinois Turnpike, which runs from Chicago to Chicago. The turnpike is one of the busiest roads in Illinois. It was built in the early 1900s and has a paved road that runs through the center of the village. It also has a train station, which opened in the mid-1930s. The train station was the first to be built in Illinois, and the first in the Midwest. It opened in Chicago's Central Business District in the late 1930s and was the last to be completed in the Chicago area in the 1940s. In the early 1940s, the U.S. Postal Service began using murals in its post offices. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section. of the Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department. The mural in the post office was painted by McKinnie in 1940, and is known as "White Fawn" Forest Park is in Illinois's Central business district, which is also home to the Illinois State Museum.

Village life

The village has several industries, but the most prominent is Ferrara Pan, now known as simply the Ferrara Candy Company. The town is served by a weekly newspaper, the Forest Park Review, coming out every Wednesday. Every autumn the St. Bernardine Church hosts an Oktoberfest and the village hosts a Rib-fest. There is a NFP citizens advocacy and information organization known as Vox 60130 (formerly Citizens United in Forest Park) serving the community since 2004. It monitors local governmental meetings and activities and sponsors workshops and presentations of important, relevant issues. It is printed by Wednesday Journal, Inc. A bi-monthly publication, The Forest Park Post, is distributed to all homes and businesses in the village and is published by 34 Publishing, Inc. The village has a 15-acre (61,000 m2) park, with an aquatic center. It was voted by the readers of the Chicago Tribune as the "Best Neighborhood Dining" in the Chicago area. In the last few days of July and first few of August, Forest Park's Park District plays host to the Forest park No Glove National Invitational Softball Tournament. This is an invitational to all the best 16-inch softball teams in Chicago metropolitan area (and sometimes from other regions) The game is slow-pitch softball played without gloves, a favorite in the region. The candy factory can be seen and smelled from the Harlem Blue Line stop. It's located near the center of the village.

Education

The Forest Park Public Library is located at 7555 Jackson Boulevard. The current library building opened on October 8, 1995. It covers 26,400 square feet (2,450 m2) over two levels and is completely accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is spacious and comfortable, with more seating and study areas, along with a meeting room, a youth activity room and computer room. The total cost of the building was projected to be $3,295,000. The funding comes from the Imber Fund, now grown to $900,000, a State of Illinois Construction Grant of $250,000 and General Obligation Bonds for $2.9 million. The community is served by Proviso East High School in Maywood. In addition, theproviso Mathematics and Science Academy, a magnet school, is located in Forest Park. The elementary school district operates four elementary schools and Forest Park Middle School. The district also operates the Forest Park High Schools District 209, which operates four high schools and a middle school. The high school district also has a magnet high school, the Provisa High School for Math and Science, which is located on the edge of Maywood, Illinois. The school district has a budget of $1.2 million, which includes a $100,000 grant from the state of Illinois and interest income from the federal government. It also operates a middle and elementary school, as well as the elementary school and the middle and high school.

Landmarks

St. Bernardine Catholic Church, built in a Spanish Mission style, was designed by McCarthy, Smith, and Eppig. The Ferrara Pan Candy Company is located at 7301 W. Harrison Street. The company was founded in 1908 by Salvatore Ferrara who came to America from Nola, Italy, in 1900. The use of the word "pan" refers to the process of making the candy by the sugar panning process. The firm worked extensively with Cardinal George Mundelein and produced numerous Chicago-area Catholic churches during the Great Depression, including St. Wenceslaus in Chicago, as well as St. Joseph and St. Francis Xavier churches in Wilmette. They also produced numerous churches in New York and Los Angeles during the 1930s and 1940s. They are no longer in business. They have been sold and moved to a new location in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, which was built in the 1960s and '70s in the style of the Art Moderne style. The church is located on the corner of Wacker Drive and Wacker Road, near the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, which is on the opposite side of the street. It is now home to a private residence and a private business, Ferrara's Candy Co., which makes and sells the candy. The candy company is still in business today and is located in the same building. It was founded by Ferrara in 1908 and still operates today.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois = 6.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 31. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 11. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Forest Park = 3.6 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 14,339 individuals with a median age of 39.4 age the population dropped by -4.91% in Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 5,969.61 residents per square mile of area (2,305.18/km²). There are average 2.08 people per household in the 7,059 households with an average household income of $53,634 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 10.80% of the available work force and has dropped -4.37% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 20.46%. The number of physicians in Forest Park per 100,000 population = 255.4.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Forest Park = 36 inches and the annual snowfall = 39.1 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 121. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 189. 85 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 16.9 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 46, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois which are owned by the occupant = 41.59%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 56 years with median home cost = $184,440 and home appreciation of -5.32%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $16.10 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $6,069 per student. There are 14 students for each teacher in the school, 1196 students for each Librarian and 427 students for each Counselor. 6.51% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 21.69% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 14.77% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).