Chicago as the city Poles chose to settle in America

Why did Poles choose Chicago as the city in which to settle in America?

I dont know why but they been here for decades and decades theres probably close
to 1 million or more now

Not sure personally - I am sure there is some strange reason that started it. Then once more there then flights, boats etc. I believe LOT only flies to NY, Chicago and Newark direct.

Did you try Google?

Check here

I thought it had something to do with the fact that there were lots of jobs at at places like Ford in Detroit and similar industries.........but I'm not sure myabe sledz will know a bit more. Think he hails from there....

We have a huge Polish neighborhood alot of good stores and restaurants

I found a new pierogi place last week..bardzo smaczna!!

Maybe they came here because theres always plenty of work in Chicago?

Theres quite a few PF members that live here.

Lot does fly nonstop from O`hare int

Doesn't Pulaski have something to do with it?

I think a trip to chicago may be on the cards for me then I can eat loads of pierogi and my Auntie can cook for me too.........lol


Look sledz if you keep mentioning pierogi and eating them you'll get fed up of them eventually <very big grin>

Pierogi are very, very tasty.......I agree :)

I know he was a patriot in the revolutionary war



Never I`m sooo addicted to periogis especially now that I found Alexandras!!!

Try the "chicago history" link ;)

thats a good site Mr. Z alot of info on it

Sledz - Any lists of places to eat would be greatly appreciated =)

Have you ever eaten at a place near Midway - Cuisine of Zakopane area?

No I never heard of it, I dont go to the Southside that much

Bobaks is down that way 5275 S. Archer

There is a Chicago restaurant thread that has a bunch of them already posted,
I have a couple of new ones to add

There are a couple of restaurants on Archer. The Polish Highlanders...and something that I will butcher the spelling of because I no longer have the 2006 calendar. I haven't eaten at either.

Poles flocked to Chicago because of the nearly unlimited supply of jobs for unskilled labor. This included Poles who may have originally settled near Pittsburg, which also had a great need for labor. The immigration acts of the 1920's greatly reduced the supply of immigrants, but by then Poles, as well as every other immigrant culture were well established in the city.

Why Chicago, as oppossed to say, Pittsburg, or Detroit? I don't know. I can speculate, though. Chicago had very segregated neighborhoods, which made it very easy for new immigrants to asssimlate. It was probably common in most big cities. Perhaps the Chicago Poles just had better leadership, and perhaps Chicago had a better political climate than other cities. It became the destination for Polish immigrants. While other immigrant communities began to lose their identity after World War II, the Polish community has maintained it's identity. This can be attributed to a few factors. Poland was probably the most populous country under Soviet influence. They had the community to start with, and it grew proportionally as people left Poland. People left Lithuania, Romania, Hungary, and Czechs and Slovaks too, and there were/are communities in Chicago for each group, but the Polish community only got bigger. The new blood kept the community vibrant. Whereas immigration has all but ended from the Scandanavian nations, Germany, Ireland, and Italy, Poles continued to head to Chicago.

I went to a restaurant called "Szalas", it is a highlanders place. The food was great and the restaurant is very unique inside, it has kind of a log cabin look. That's a place where you get smalec (pork fat) for your bread, not butter. :)

and why is it that all they do is complain about the weather? :)

I don't, Wilczyca :)
Little bit too warm this week (90's), but it's for only a week or two...in the winter, a week or two of severe cold, and the rest is to my liking...no complains here.

thanks Eurola, you made me giggle :-)

the emotion Police are going to you sooner or later!

Poles go to Chicago because there are many jobs there where a person can get by without knowing the english language. The Polish will help out other Poles and being surrounded by the Polishness of Chicago, they don't feel so home-sick.

...you mean, you heard other versions of Chicago weather?

Seriously, the weather in Chicago seems harsh. I wonder why they stayed there. Everyone that I know from Chicago wants to leave. Is the weather similar in Poland?

I guess they rather not live in a cloud of smog..hahhahaha

Yeah, the weather is almost the same as in Poland.
But here, up north, we get more snow, that's why our Friendly Illinois Brothers visit us on their snomobiles. O.o

Its going to be 98 this weekend, sunny with lake breezes

Beach weather, enjoy it while you can

As the old saying goes if you dont like the weather in Chicago wait a few hours.
it will change

Just a matter of time well have the snowmobiles out

And if you can't anymore - ROAD TRIP to VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but its a dry heat..lol

98 degrees? yikes.

yeah , its not so bad but with the heat comes the humidity

The lakefront will be cooler its a free air conditoner

lake water is still only in the 60`s... with the breeze blowing
off it, should be only in the 80`s along the shoreline

Chicago has more like one and a half million Poles now and Chicago was built where it is because of its location on the seaway. It grew as a centre for tree felling and cutting.