Chicago Brehs: Why Is There Beef Between The Southside & West Side?

[JustRegularBlack]

Ain't no beef at all but most of the "jokes" are rooted in the same ignorance of light skin vs dark skin, hood nikka vs square nikka, etc.

I grew up on the border of Austin/Humboldt Park and my dad's folks were near Cicero/Madison, mom's folks Roseland. Spent a lot of time on both sides of town. Many Black people got forced to move south when they came to Chicago so that is where most true Black neighborhoods were originally established (Bronzeville comes to mind). This obviously caused big white flight. Then eventually Black people began moving west and white folks ran again.

It's hard to compare the west and south side due to such a big size difference, specifically the areas Black people live. For simplicity sake let's say the south side is from McCormick place (2300 South) to about 138th street (13800 South). Let's say the west side is from the United Center (1900 West) to Austin Blvd (6000 West). The south side is WAY bigger so they have way more neighborhoods good and bad. The west side is pretty small with not a lot of great neighborhoods - besides Galewood (one that most folks don't even know about).

 

[JustRegularBlack]

Oh the gentrified area for the students? What is the equivalent of Morgan park, Beverly, Chatham, Jackson Highlands, etc?

Galewood is an equivalent. And Chatham is not a great example for out south anymore.

It's funny you talk about gentrified areas but ignore the fact that one of the biggest reason many south side neighborhoods are "great" is because they still got white folks involved (Beverly, Hyde Park, Jackson Highlands even).

 

[cornercommission2k12]

There's no beef

Just people shooting the shyt cracking jokes on each other. Something like when alumni of high schools be on social media "beefing" lol but there is no beef. Never any situation I can think of where people from one side of town couldn't go to the other.

 

[BeBorn]

Westside the best side
Madison nikka

 

[Sir Richard Spirit]

I stayed over east We rented a house for years on 114th and Avenue H. It was my wife auntie house. I’ve never heard anyone consider that south Chicago. Always been east.

There is no east anything in Chicago. The lake is literally east. You were probably on the Southside, because Downtown is the middle point of the North, South and West sides.

THE "EAST SIDE" IS THE SOUTH SIDE



​

The only East I ever heard of in Chicago is in Indiana.

If Stony Island extended past downtown Chicago, it would look like this:

 

[J-MIL]

It ain't no beef....it's all jokes

 

[invalid]

Coming from a black professional family that originated on the south side (Englewood and Washington Park), moved out to the burbs in the 60's (Olympia Fields) then to OPRF area in the 90's while also maintaining a downtown condo, this is my perspective.

Southsiders got to Chicago before Westsiders. They had more time to establish themselves, start influential businesses, and build political clout that formed the foundations of what would be Chicago's once large middle class population.

If you know anything about the Great Migration, it happened in three waves. The first wave of southern migrants were largely middle class. Most of these folks were professionals who came from families that established themselves during Reconstruction, were the early attendees of HBCUs, and came looking for wider job prospects. You also had those who were fleeing due to southerners being envious of their success.

All of these folks settled on the Southside creating numerous middle class enclaves, as others have mentioned.

Southsiders tend to look at Westsiders as their country cousins. Most of them arrived in the late stage of the second and third wave of the Great Migration. It's not uncommon for parents and grandparents to have been born in the south on the West Side. For Southsiders, it's more Great and 2nd Great grandparents.

As another poster said, there are virtually no middle class/upper middle class black neighborhoods or enclaves on the West Side. I get the impression, historically, that's where a lot of blacks settled who worked as domestics or in the service industry.

Obviously, you had a lot of that on the South Side but because you also had the inclusion of middle and upper class blacks living on the South Side, that area became more dynamic and culturally influential. In addition, you access to the Lake and its beaches and parks, yacht clubs, golf clubs, tennis clubs, you had access to the University of Chicago and the Lab Schools, both of which created more intellectual and sophisticated black circles than anywhere in the city.

Since I spent the greater part of my childhood in the OPRF area, so was on the West Side for various reasons, I will say Westsiders are no slouches. They are hustlers in ways that regular Southsiders are not. They are also kinder, easy going, and less aggressive. Southsiders are aggressive in ways that I haven't seen anywhere else around the country beside maybe Brooklyn in NYC.

Most of the rivalry between the South Side and West Side is in jest and typically involves food (Harold's/Remus, Pearl's/MacArthur's), Drip, Hustle, Sports, nothing serious really. And nowadays, people are back and forth between the West and South Sides regularly and many will have family on both sides.

 

[invalid]

Would you all consider the Ford City, Marquette Park, Midway area to be the south side or west side?

All that is Southside.

The Westside is actually really small. The Westside used to end at Madison Street. I guess it could be extended out to Roosevelt Road, but once you are in the 20s and 30s then you are basically on the Southside.

It's not just North, West, South. There is also Northwest, and Southwest.

South side stops at Western. Anything west of Western is Southwest. On the farther South Side, I'd push it to Kedzie. And I'm talking about the Morgan Park/Beverly area.

Ford City, Marquette, Midway are Southwest. Most people would not consider those neighborhoods the traditional South Side.

Additionally, the West Side has always extended past Roosevelt. Lawndale/Little Village has always been considered the West Side and they extend all the way down to the Stevenson which is in the 30's.

 

[The God Poster]

Too much misinformation in here. Time for an updated version

 

[invalid]

Galewood is an equivalent. And Chatham is not a great example for out south anymore.

Galewood was never a middle class black enclave though. Plus it's mostly Mexican these days. When Westsiders got a little money, they moved out of the city to Maywood, Bellwood, Berwyn, Westchester, etc. If they really had money, they moved into Oak Park, Forest Park, LaGrange.

When Southsiders got money, they had both city options (Hyde Park/Kenwood, South Shore/The Highlands, Park Manor, Avalon Park, Chatham/Marynook, West Chesterfield, Calumet Heights/Pill Hill, Brainerd, Longwood Manor, Morgan Park, Beverly) but also suburban options (Hazel Crest, CC Hills, Homewood, Flossmoor, Olympia Fields, Matteson, South Holland, Lansing Tinley Park, Frankfort, Orland Park, etc.)

Plus even the worst South Side neighborhoods were economically mixed and had middle class enclaves like Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Roseland and Bronzeville.

 

[Wildhundreds]

It's not just North, West, South. There is also Northwest, and Southwest.

South side stops at Western. Anything west of Western is Southwest. On the farther South Side, I'd push it to Kedzie. And I'm talking about the Morgan Park/Beverly area.

Ford City, Marquette, Midway are Southwest. Most people would not consider those neighborhoods the traditional South Side.

Additionally, the West Side has always extended past Roosevelt. Lawndale/Little Village has always been considered the West Side and they extend all the way down to the Stevenson which is in the 30's.

The southside is West Pullman, Roseland, Washington Heights, Morgan Park, Chatham, Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Mount Vernon, etc.

 

[DropTopDoc]

Not from Chicago but once heard someone say that bacc in the day guys from the westside could go to the southside. But guys from the southside couldn’t go to the westside.
Don’t know how true it was but it suprised me since I came up during the drill era and drill music makes the southside seem like hell on earth and the west side quiet as hell

Folks could go to any side

 

[DropTopDoc]

Coming from a black professional family that originated on the south side (Englewood and Washington Park), moved out to the burbs in the 60's (Olympia Fields) then to OPRF area in the 90's while also maintaining a downtown condo, this is my perspective.

Southsiders got to Chicago before Westsiders. They had more time to establish themselves, start influential businesses, and build political clout that formed the foundations of what would be Chicago's once large middle class population.

If you know anything about the Great Migration, it happened in three waves. The first wave of southern migrants were largely middle class. Most of these folks were professionals who came from families that established themselves during Reconstruction, were the early attendees of HBCUs, and came looking for wider job prospects. You also had those who were fleeing due to southerners being envious of their success.

All of these folks settled on the Southside creating numerous middle class enclaves, as others have mentioned.

Southsiders tend to look at Westsiders as their country cousins. Most of them arrived in the late stage of the second and third wave of the Great Migration. It's not uncommon for parents and grandparents to have been born in the south on the West Side. For Southsiders, it's more Great and 2nd Great grandparents.

As another poster said, there are virtually no middle class/upper middle class black neighborhoods or enclaves on the West Side. I get the impression, historically, that's where a lot of blacks settled who worked as domestics or in the service industry.

Obviously, you had a lot of that on the South Side but because you also had the inclusion of middle and upper class blacks living on the South Side, that area became more dynamic and culturally influential. In addition, you access to the Lake and its beaches and parks, yacht clubs, golf clubs, tennis clubs, you had access to the University of Chicago and the Lab Schools, both of which created more intellectual and sophisticated black circles than anywhere in the city.

Since I spent the greater part of my childhood in the OPRF area, so was on the West Side for various reasons, I will say Westsiders are no slouches. They are hustlers in ways that regular Southsiders are not. They are also kinder, easy going, and less aggressive. Southsiders are aggressive in ways that I haven't seen anywhere else around the country beside maybe Brooklyn in NYC.

Most of the rivalry between the South Side and West Side is in jest and typically involves food (Harold's/Remus, Pearl's/MacArthur's), Drip, Hustle, Sports, nothing serious really. And nowadays, people are back and forth between the West and South Sides regularly and many will have family on both sides.

I agreed with you til this point, we are just as kind on the south side

 

[CHICAGO]

I stayed over east We rented a house for years on 114th and Avenue H. It was my wife auntie house. I’ve never heard anyone consider that south Chicago. Always been east.

HERES WHERE YOUR CONFUSION STARTS...

1. NO ONE HAS EVER CALLED
THE SOUTH SIDE "SOUTH CHICAGO"

2. THERE IS ACTUALLY A NEIGHBORHOOD
NAMED "SOUTH CHICAGO"
AND A NEIGHBORGOOD NAME "EAST SIDE"
AND BOTH ARE LOCATED ON
THE SOUTH EAST SIDE OF THE CITY.

YOU LIVED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
NAMED "EAST SIDE".

WE CALL THE SOUTH EAST SIDE
OVER EAST FOR DISTINCTION.

THERE IS NO EAST SIDE OF THE CITY.

ILL BREAK IT DOWN FOR YALL
IN THE SIMPLEST WAY.

DOWNTOWN IS THE CENTER
OF THE CITY....

IF YOU HEAD NORTH OF
DOWNTOWN YOURE ON THE NORTHSIDE.

HEAD SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN
YOURE ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

HEAD WEST OF DOWNTOWN
YOURE ON THE WEST SIDE

HEAD EAST OF DOWNTOWN
YOURE IN THE LAKE.

YOU CANT EVEN GET OVER EAST
WITHOUT GOING DEEP INTO
THE SOUTH SIDE.


​

 

[Sir Richard Spirit]

HERES WHERE YOUR CONFUSION STARTS...

1. NO ONE HAS EVER CALLED
THE SOUTH SIDE "SOUTH CHICAGO"

2. THERE IS ACTUALLY A NEIGHBORHOOD
NAMED "SOUTH CHICAGO"
AND A NEIGHBORGOOD NAME "EAST SIDE"
AND BOTH ARE LOCATED ON
THE SOUTH EAST SIDE OF THE CITY.

YOU LIVED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
NAMED "EAST SIDE".

WE CALL THE SOUTH EAST SIDE
OVER EAST FOR DISTINCTION.

THERE IS NO EAST SIDE OF THE CITY.

ILL BREAK IT DOWN FOR YALL
IN THE SIMPLEST WAY.

DOWNTOWN IS THE CENTER
OF THE CITY....

IF YOU HEAD NORTH OF
DOWNTOWN YOURE ON THE NORTHSIDE.

HEAD SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN
YOURE ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

HEAD WEST OF DOWNTOWN
YOURE ON THE WEST SIDE

HEAD EAST OF DOWNTOWN
YOURE IN THE LAKE.

YOU CANT EVEN GET OVER EAST
WITHOUT GOING DEEP INTO
THE SOUTH SIDE.


​

Hegewisch is South Chicago.