20 apartments for rent in East Garfield Park, Chicago, IL

Four miles west of the Chicago Loop, the East Garfield Park community is located in the path of regentrification efforts moving westward from downtown. In fact, the neighborhood was named one of America’s most “up and coming neighborhoods” by Business Week magazine in 2007. Although today the economic recession has slowed the renewal process, recent activity gives its pioneering homeowners faith in the future of East Garfield Park.

The neighborhood is bordered by Franklin Boulevard on the north, Arthington and Taylor Streets on the south, Hamlin and Independence Avenues to the west and Rockwell Street to the east. Elegant greystone homes built during a period of postwar prosperity line the streets that surround Garfield Park, one of the city’s oldest parks and home to the Garfield Park Conservatory.

The neighborhood jewel, the circa 1906 Conservatory is one of the nation’s largest. Permanent exhibits include more than seven dozen different varieties of palm trees.

The park also features ball fields, tennis and basketball courts, a swimming pool, an ice skating rink and “the Golden Dome” which houses an Olympic-sized gymnasium, boxing ring and theater.

Three years ago, armed with $4 billion of federal money, the city began working to get the area’s homes up to code and occupied. One home, across from the Conservatory, had gone unoccupied for 10 years; with new plumbing, central air and updated kitchen and bathrooms, the house had five buyers right away. Proof, the developer says, that these efforts can stabilize the area.

CTA’s Blue Line, Green Line and bus service operate here. Children are served by Chicago Public Schools as well as Urban Prep Academies’ East Garfield Park Campus and Providence St. Mel private Roman Catholic school.