South Loop

South Loop is a Chicago neighborhood south of the Loop between Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. It is adjacent to Chinatown. Its boundaries are not precisely defined, and its southern boundary can be considered as far south as 26th Street. South Loop is part of the Near South Side community area of Chicago.^[1]

The Greater South Loop Association, a not-for-profit neighborhood organization, promotes the interests of residents and businesses inside a larger area bounded by Congress Parkway on the North, the Stevenson Expressway on the South, Lake Michigan including Northerly Island on the east, and the Dan Ryan Expressway on the west.^[2]

The neighborhood includes former railyards that have been redeveloped as microneighborhoods, such as Dearborn Park and Central Station. Former warehouses and factory lofts have been converted to residential buildings, while new townhouses and highrises have been developed on vacant or underused land. Dearborn Station at the south end of South Loop Printing House District is the oldest train station still standing in Chicago; it has been converted to retail and office space. A major landowner in the South Loop is Columbia College Chicago, a private school that owns 17 buildings.

South Loop is zoned to South Loop School and Phillips Academy High School. Jones College Prep High School, which is a selective enrollment prep school drawing students from the entire city, is also located in the South Loop.

The South Loop was historically home to Chicago's vice districts, including the brothels, bars, burlesque theaters, and arcades. Inexpensive residential hotels on Van Buren and State Street made it one of the city's Skid Rows until the 1970s. One of the largest homeless shelters in the city, the Pacific Garden Mission, was located at State and Balbo from 1923 to 2007, when it moved to 1458 S. Canal St. on the other side of the river.^[3]

• Greater South Loop Association

• Chicago Loop
• Near South Side, Chicago
• Printer's Row, Chicago