Living in Roseland & West Pullman: a neighborhood guide

The lay of the land

Dutch farmers settled the high ground here in the 1840s and named their village for the roses on the ridge; by the streetcar era Roseland’s stretch of Michigan Avenue had grown into one of the busiest shopping miles outside the Loop, and the housing spread in every direction, frame Victorians, brick bungalows, Cape Cods and Georgians on lots that give real yards. West Pullman, south and west, carries the same stock plus the industrial history of its namesake works. Pullman’s national park is the next neighborhood east, close enough to borrow.

The big news: the Red Line is coming

The Red Line extension, the largest CTA expansion in a generation, is under construction from 95th toward 130th, with new stations planned at 103rd, 111th, Michigan Avenue and 130th. For neighborhoods that have run on buses and the Metra Electric for a century, a one-seat L ride downtown changes the daily math, and it is worth knowing which blocks sit inside a short walk of the future platforms. Ask us; we keep the maps.

Parks and institutions

Palmer Park’s 1905 fieldhouse, pool and fields anchor the neighborhood at 111th and King Drive, West Pullman Park does the same further south, and the Major Taylor Trail, named for the great Black cycling champion, threads the area toward the forest preserves.

The housing stock

Frame Victorians and foursquares from the village era, brick bungalows and Georgians from the boom, and post-war ranches filling the edges, at some of the friendliest prices attached to solid housing anywhere in Chicago. Condition varies more than construction does, so inspect thoroughly: our foundations guide, older-homes guide and house systems guide are the homework, and the coming stations make the long view interesting.

The neighborhoods inside Roseland

Roseland is community area 49 of Chicago’s 77, on the Far Southeast Side. The names people use inside it: Fernwood, Kensington, Lilydale, Princeton Park and Rosemoor.

The community areas have been the city’s official map since the 1920s; the neighborhood names inside them are the ones people use. All 77 on one interactive map.

Guides worth reading before you tour here

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