Norridge, Illinois

Coordinates: 41°57′54″N 87°49′26″W / 41.965°N 87.82389°W / 41.965; -87.82389

Norridge
Village
Motto: The Community of "Compassion, Care, Hope."
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Cook
Coordinates	41°57′54″N 87°49′26″W / 41.965°N 87.82389°W / 41.965; -87.82389
Area	1.8 sq mi (5 km2)
- land	1.8 sq mi (5 km2)
Population	14,582 (2000)
Density	8,013.6 / sq mi (3,094 / km2)
Mayor	Ronald A. Oppedisano
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	60706
Area code	708
Location of Norridge within Illinois
Wikimedia Commons: Norridge, Illinois

Norridge is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,582 at the 2000 census. The current Mayor of Norridge is Ronald A. Oppedisano.

The village is completely surrounded by Chicago and Harwood Heights.

Name origin

The name "Norridge" was suggested by resident Mrs. Link. "Nor" comes from Norwood Park Township, and "Ridge" comes from the nearby suburb of Park Ridge.

Norridge is sometimes referred to as "Island Within A City", because along with nearby Harwood Heights, it is surrounded by Chicago on all sides.^[1] A history book of the same name was written by Norridge author Tom McGowen.

History

Located in Norwood Park Township, the first names of what would become Norridge were "Goat Village", due to a local residents goat farm, and "Swamp" due to a lack of streets and the area's swamp-like conditions. Norridge started out as an 80-acre (320,000 m²) subdivision that ran from Ozanam Avenue in the West to Olcott Avenue in the East and from Irving Park Road in the South to Montrose Avenue in the North. In 1948, Norridge was about to be annexed by Chicago when a local improvement association moved to incorporate as a village, ending the city's effort to incorporate it. That year, Karl Kuchar was elected the first President of the Village of Norridge. The 1950s was a decade of growth and development, encouraged by the construction of a waterworks system, the paving of sidewalks, streets, and curbs, and the installation of storm and sanitary sewers. In 1954 Norridge annexed land north from Montrose to Lawrence. Also that year, Norridge Youth Committee was established.

Norridge borders the Cook County Forest Preserves and was home to several horse stables including Happy Days Stables at Montrose and Cumberland. Most of the stables were gone by the late 1970s.

In 1969, WRHS Television opened. In 1977 WRHS Radio began playing music at Ridgewood High School.

Geography

Norridge is located at 41°57′54″N 87°49′26″W / 41.965°N 87.82389°W / 41.965; -87.82389 (41.965030, -87.823859).^[2]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 14,582 people, 5,727 households, and 3,991 families residing in the village. The population density was 8,013.6 people per square mile (3,093.5/km²). There were 5,842 housing units at an average density of 3,210.5 per square mile (1,239.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 94.84% White, 0.10% African American, 0.08% Native American, 2.74% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.23% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.79% of the population. Like many neighborhoods around O'Hare airport, Norridge has a large Polish population.

There were 5,727 households out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.3% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the village the population was spread out with 16.8% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 28.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $47,787, and the median income for a family was $57,007. Males had a median income of $41,310 versus $29,215 for females. The per capita income for the village was $23,431. About 2.9% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.2% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

As of the 2011 election, the current elected officials of the Village of Norridge are as follows:

• Ronald A. Oppedisano - President (since 2009)
• Judith Dunne Bernardi - Village Clerk (since 1996)
• Ursula A. Kucharski - Trustee (since 1981)
• Dominic S. Falagario - Trustee (since 1999)
• Jacqueline P. Gregorio - Trustee (since 2001)
• Dennis Stefanowicz - Trustee (since 2005)
• Dominic Sulimowski - Trustee (since 2009)
• Donald Gelsomino - Trustee (since 2011)

Mayors of Norridge

Mayor		Years
	Karl Kuchar	1949–1951
	Joseph Sieb	1951–1998
	Earl J. Field	1998–2009
	Ronald A. Oppedisano	2009-

Local culture and Media

The Harlem-Irving Plaza brought in sales tax that led to decreased property taxes. Begun in 1955 with 45 stores, the center had 140 stores by the 1990s.

WRHS-FM is broadcast on 89.7 FM in Norridge from Ridgewood High School.

WRHS-TV is on Comcast cable channel 19 Thursdays from 7 PM to 8 PM and Chicago Access Network CANTV Channel 19 on Saturdays from 10 AM to 10:30 AM.

Education

Public schools

Public elementary school districts serving Norridge include [1]:

• Pennoyer Elementary School District 79 [2]
• Norridge School District 80 [3] (Giles School and John V. Leigh School)
• Union Ridge School District 86 [4]

Public high school districts include:

• Maine Township High School District 207 (Maine South High School)
• Ridgewood High School

Libraries

Eisenhower Public Library District serves Harwood Heights and Norridge [5].

Notable Residents

Jeff Schroeder of the CBS hit series Big Brother. Jeff was on season 11 and season 13, where he finished 5th and 7th, respectively.

References

1. ^ http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/569.html
2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

• http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/896.html
• http://www.villageofnorridge.com/village_information/QuickFacts.asp

External links

Chicago portal

• Village of Norridge
• Norridge Park District
• Norridge School District 80
• Ridgewood High School
• Eisenhower Public Library District
• Old Timers' Baseball Association of Chicago, Inc.