What do you value about Hyde Park?

Workshop participants consistently indicated that the aspect of Hyde Park they valued most was the:

• Diversity of the community– Remarks centered on the diversity of people in the neighborhood.

• Strong sense of community – Typical comments included: “the neighborhood feeling”, active neighborhood, family friendly, stable, urban neighborhood with a small town feel, and “nice people who don’t move”. “It is a real community where people know each other.”

Interestingly 61% of workshop attendees have lived or worked in Hyde Park over 10 years, including 43% who had lived or worked in Hyde Park for over 20 years! These high rates of tenure in the neighborhood contribute to the sense of community that people value. These numbers confirm the stability of the neighborhood and suggest a level of satisfaction with living in Hyde Park.

These were typically followed by mentions of many of the community’s assets:

• Parks and Lakefront location
• Cultural and educational institutions (University of Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry, etc.)

Participants also noted that they appreciated a smattering of additional attributes like: location, transportation and convenience, walkability, quality of architecture and housing, and mix of commercial and retail services.