South Side, Chicago - Boundaries

Boundaries

There is some debate as to the South Side's boundaries. The city's address numbering system uses a grid demarcating Madison Street as the north-south axis and State Street as the east-west axis. Madison is in the middle of the Loop. As a result, much of the downtown "Loop" district is south of Madison Street, but the Loop is excluded from the definition of the South Side.

One definition has the South Side beginning at Roosevelt Road (formerly 12th Street), at the Loop's southern boundary, with the community area known as the Near South Side immediately adjacent. Another definition, taking into account that much of the Near South Side is in effect part of the commercial district extending in an unbroken line from the South Loop, locates the boundary immediately south of 18th Street, where Chinatown in the Armour Square district begins.

Lake Michigan and the Indiana state line provide eastern boundaries. The southern border changed over time because of Chicago's evolving city limits; the city limits are now at 138th Street (in Riverdale and Hegewisch). Using the Roosevelt Road boundary, the South Side is larger than the North and West Sides combined.