Community Assets
Chicago’s Riverdale Community Area (#54)
The Riverdale Community Area is one of Chicago’s 77 official community areas and is located along the Little Calumet River at the city’s southern edge. It is distinct from the Village of Riverdale (located outside Chicago's boundary).
The Riverdale Community Area contains the Altgeld Gardens, Golden Gate, Riverside Village, Pangea Lakes, and Concordia Place neighborhoods. If you live in one of these neighborhoods, the collection of community assets that follows is especially for you.
Using the Maps
As you scroll down you'll find a variety of interactive maps highlighting community assets. The maps allow you to move both in/out and side to side as you explore in greater detail. Here are a few buttons that will help.
This button will expand the interactive map to fill your screen. Afterwards, use the same button (the arrows will reverse) to shrink the map to its original location.
The home button moves the map to its original extent. The plus and minus symbols zoom in and out. Clicking and holding on an interactive map allows you to move it in different directions.
Clicking on this button will display a map legend with information on the features displayed. Clicking on select features within the map itself will provide further information about community assets.
Elected Officials
This interactive map shows Chicago Community Area #54 (black outline), Zip Code 60827 (blue shading), and Chicago's 9th Ward (green shading). At the intersection of these three areas are the Altgeld Gardens, Golden Gate, Riverside Village, Pangea Lakes, and Concordia Place neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are bounded by Indiana Avenue on the West, the Bishop Ford Expressway on the east, the Little Calumet River on the south, and 130th Street on the north. Elected officials of these neighborhoods and the 9th Ward are as follows at the time of project development (click on links for more information).
- US Senate - Dick Durbin , Tammy Duckworth
- US House of Representatives - Bobby L. Rush (1st District), Robin Kelly (2nd District)
- Governor - JB Pritzker
- IL Attorney General - Kwame Raoul
- IL Secretary of State - Jesse White
- IL Treasurer - Michael W. Frerichs
- IL Comptroller - Susana A. Mendoza
- Chicago Alderman - Anthony A. Beale
- IL House of Representatives - Will Davis , Thaddeus Jones , Nicholas K. Smith , Justin Slaughter , Robert "Bob" Rita ( find your state representative )
- IL Senate - Emil Jones III , Napoleon Harris III , Elgie Sims ( find your state senator )
- Cook County Commissioners - Deborah Sims , Stanley Moore
Poster Map
Openlands gathered map layers on community assets for a poster about Chicago's Riverdale Community Area. The poster can be downloaded here .
The maps that follow are interactive and present community assets featured on the poster, as well information from a community based map , grouped into different themes. You can zoom in and pan the individual maps.
Recreation
Cycling with We Keep You Rollin' Bike & Wellness Group
Bicycling
We Keep you Rollin’ is a local bicycling group. It helps create a more livable, sustainable, and vibrant community by increasing wellness and quality of life in underserved communities through recreational projects, eco-therapy, & eco-tourism on bikes. Get involved by clicking here .
Divvy, Chicago's bike share system, maintains a station in the Golden Gate neighborhood. Click here for the latest map of Divvy bike stations.
The Riverdale Community Area is close to the Major Taylor Trail . The trail runs for more than six miles and includes a bridge over the Little Calumet River.
Bicycles trail connections have been improving in the area. Click here for a map resource to keep track of trail developments.
Paddling the Little Calumet River
Paddling & Boating
There are a variety of water trail access points on the Little Calumet River and other nearby water bodies. The African American Heritage Water Trail is part of this system. Some areas are suitable for beginners (shown as blue lines on the map), while others require more paddling expertise (shown as red lines).
Boating marinas offering access to the Little Calumet River are numbered west to east on the map. They include the following.
Parks, Preserves, & Open Space
The Riverdale Community Area has a variety of open spaces both within its boundary and nearby to relax in and explore. A maintained path runs between Carver Military Academy and Beaubien Woods’ Flatfoot Lake. It offers a peaceful walk through a wooded area and wildlife sightings are common. The creation of the path was a collaboration among the Field Museum, Forest Preserves of Cook County, and community partners.
Ton Farm
One unique site relates to the area having been a center of historic Underground Railroad activity. A safe house, The Ton Farmhouse, was located on the north bank of the Little Calumet River near St. Lawrence Avenue.
In 2019, the site was designated a part of the National Park Services’ Network to Freedom and a preliminary archeological study of the site was undertaken to see if any pre-civil war artifacts could be found. Chicago’s Finest Marina stands on the site of the Ton Farm today.
Archeological work at the Ton Farm site
Nearby there are community cultivated farms on the north bank of the Little Calumet River along 134th Place and between St. Lawrence and Corliss Avenues. These farms are on land cultivated by the Tons long ago.
The Chicago Park District's Indian Ridge Marsh
Additional Sites
Some of the green highlighted parks and preserves in this map are also included on the Openlands Get Outside Map , which has directions and a list of things to do at each site.
See below for one additional interactive map, where you can explore parks by clicking on their corresponding images or on the map itself.
Carver Park
Golden Gate Park
Needles Park
Park No. 576
Burnham Prairie
Blackburn Park
Cottage Park
Blackstone Park
Lawhead Park
Downey Park
Kandy Kane Park
Dolton Park
Town And Country Park
Joe Louis "The Champ" Golf Course
Calumet Woods
Calumet Park
Brigges-Ellis Park
Anthony L. McCaskill Park (formerly Streamside Park)
Mann Park
Kensington Park
West Pullman Park
Palmer Park
Indian Ridge Marsh
Beaubien Woods
Whistler Woods
Hegewisch Marsh Park
Dolton Prairie
Powderhorn Marsh
Kickapoo Woods
Carver Park
Golden Gate Park
Needles Park
Park No. 576
Providing a scenic stretch of shoreline on the Calumet River, this Chicago Park District land is not currently open to the public.
Burnham Prairie
Blackburn Park
Cottage Park
Blackstone Park
Lawhead Park
Downey Park
Kandy Kane Park
Dolton Park
Town And Country Park
Joe Louis "The Champ" Golf Course
Calumet Woods
Calumet Park
Brigges-Ellis Park
Anthony L. McCaskill Park (formerly Streamside Park)
Mann Park
Kensington Park
West Pullman Park
Palmer Park
Indian Ridge Marsh
Beaubien Woods
Whistler Woods
Hegewisch Marsh Park
Dolton Prairie
Powderhorn Marsh
Kickapoo Woods
Experiencing Animal Life
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) with fish at Powderhorn Marsh
The Little Calumet River and its forested edges act as a habitat corridor , providing places to live for a variety of animals.
Displayed on the map are points related to life in and along the river. Visitors to Beaubien Woods could see an Osprey feeding its young, paddlers on the Little Calumet River have a chance at glimpsing one of the 25 species of fish documented in a 2018 survey, and cyclists passing over the Major Taylor Trail bridge at dusk might notice one of 6 species of bats (documented by Friends of the Chicago River ) catching insects over the water.
Transportation
When traveling via public transportation community members and tourists can use CTA, Metra, and Pace services. Travelers should be aware that plans can be complicated by service accessibility and extended wait times. A down scroll will give you a tour of rail (CTA, Metra, South Shore) and bus (CTA, Pace) routes. Click on map features to see names of individual stops and routes. If the box that pops up looks blank when you click on a map feature, press the forward arrow near the bottom right of the box. If you click on a feature and the information box pops up behind the text box, scroll up and the text box will move up and off of the information box. Plan a trip or find a wait time using the following links:
- CTA Bus and Rail: https://www.transitchicago.com/planatrip/
- Metra: https://metrarail.com/
- South Shore: https://www.mysouthshoreline.com/
- Pace: https://www.pacebus.com/trip-planner
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Rail (the "L")
The nearest point of access to the L is the 95/Dan Ryan Station. This station is at the southern end of the Red Line, which travels north to the Loop in downtown Chicago. CTA has an online How-To Guide for new riders and a Google Maps based tool to help plan a trip .
Metra & South Shore Rail
The Metra Riverdale and Kensington stations offer access to the Loop, while the South Shore Hegewisch Station provides service to points east, like Indiana Dunes State Park .
CTA Bus
CTA provides bus service connecting the Riverdale Community Area to the rest of the City. CTA has a How To Guide for new bus users.
Zoom in and click on bus icons for stop name/location. Click on route lines for route names and weekday/weekend availability.
PACE
PACE is an additional transportation option offering regional bus service.
Click on bus icons for stop name/location. Click on orange route lines for route name/numbers. Lines may represent multiple routes.
Ventra
Ventra is an electronic fare system for CTA, Metra, and PACE. There are a variety of ways to purchase tickets through Ventra, including an app , station vending machines , and local retailers .
Health & Wellness Resources
Medical
TCA Health Clinic is the main medical facility, located on the northeast edge of Altgeld Gardens. There is also a CVS pharmacy in the Village of Riverdale.
Fitness & Excercise
Golden Gate Park is the site for We Keep You Rollin' bicycling events. The park also has baseball fields and a basketball court.
Nearby Carver Park has the Altgeld Garden Homes Community Center featuring a gymnasium, indoor swimming pool, fitness center, boxing ring, and multi-purpose rooms. Outside, the park offers baseball diamonds, a batting cage, sand volleyball court, and basketball courts.
Food
Food options in the heart of the area have been negatively affected by grocery store closings. Community organizations work to make food more accessible. Click here for more information on a project run by community members.
Financial
Credit Unions & Banks
The nearby communities of Dolton and the Village of Riverdale are home to banks and a credit union.
Use the map to find local financial institutions as well as automated teller machines.
Community Support
Community Organizations & Childcare
Use this map to find out about local community organizations both working to improve the area and providing services to residents. Also included are options for early childhood care.
The Community Beat is an additional internet resource currently being developed by the Altgeld-Riverdale Early Learning Coalition with information on events, services, and organizations in Altgeld Gardens, Concordia Place, Golden Gate, and Riverside Village.
Learning Resources
Chicago Public Library - Altgeld Branch
Libraries & Schools
Use this map to find information on local schools within the Chicago Public School system (CPS), libraries within the Chicago Public Library system, and the Village of Riverdale Public Library.
District-run CPS schools are organized into 17 networks, which provide administrative support, strategic direction, and leadership development. Network 13 serves local CPS schools.
Thank You!
Thank you for taking the time to explore these community assets. Hopefully you have been connected with new resources or have ideas for places to explore. If you have updates to this map, for example, if you know of a new grocery store in the map area or a new child care center, please tell us about it by emailing paddle@openlands.org
Paddling the Little Calumet River
