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South Deering

Description


Primarily an industrial neighborhood, a small group of homes exists in the northeast corner and Lake Calumet takes up a large portion of the area. In recent years, many abandoned factories were demolished, leaving large tracts of polluted land behind. South Deering is a hot bed of gang activity and racial tension. Known for giving birth to the Latin Vice Lords and the King Cobra's these gangs still hold sway over many of the neighborhoods streets. The Jeffery Manor area includes another, smaller neighborhood, called Merrionette Manor. This sub-neighborhood is a unique break from the Chicago grid system as the streets curve and form loops, giving a suburban feel in the heart of an otherwise urban, industrial neighborhood. The area along S. Commercial Avenue between 104th and 100th Streets has been nicknamed "Slag Valley" by the locals for nearly 100 years, since large mounds of slag, petroleum coke, salt and other substances were left out in the open near homes and businesses. Though the mounds are now gone the residents still suffer from high levels of airborne manganese blowing over from the same areas that once stored petcoke. The air is thick with smog and the streets are foul and dirty.

Places of Interest