A Swedish horse, painted in the colors of Sweden, stands across the street from the popular bookstore, Women and Children First.Andersonville is not just another pretty face.
The North Side neighborhood, headquartered along Clark Street north of Foster Avenue, offers up a smorgasbord of tree-lined streets and unique, attractive businesses, but its longtime Swedish heritage is just a starting point for understanding the neighborhood today.
It is progressive almost beyond all imagining and has instituted the first environmental program for small businesses in the nation. It has welcomed families of all persuasions and today has a significant gay population.
It is well aware of its history and roots, and still clings to its Swedish background even as some of the vestiges of that heritage start to fade. The residents now are a combination of old-timers and new-timers, traditionalists and artistic types, a mix that brings with it the push-pull of ideas and attitudes.
Still, somehow it all works, says Ellen Shepard, director of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce and the Andersonville Development Corp.
“Even though we are within a great city, Andersonville really functions like a small town,” she said. “The community here is very tight knit and the block clubs very engaged in their neighborhood. It’s easy to meet people and get involved. And because we have this great commercial district, it’s very comfortable and safe. The cool thing about Andersonville is that almost every single business is locally owned and is one you won’t find anywhere else.”
A matter of civic pride
In fact, the dearth of national chain stores is a particular source of civic pride in Andersonville, where 92 percent of the businesses are owned by residents. Officially, any retailer will be welcomed by the chamber of commerce, but unofficially residents prefer their own homegrown businesses, and the closer to home, the better.
Among the many local retailers with names you don’t hear anywhere else are: Svea Restaurant, home of the Viking breakfast and where, if you order the lutefisk during the Christmas holidays, owner Tom Martin will sing you all five verses of “O Lutefisk”; Simon’s Tavern, which dates back to Prohibition and has the original interior; Swedish Bakery, which offers well-loved Swedish favorites marked with little blue and yellow flags, as well as other delicacies; Erickson’s Deli, which is a Christmas-season pilgrimage destination for Swedes who have moved away; Women & Children First Bookstore, a leading feminist bookstore; the White Attic, offering refinished vintage furniture; Brown Elephant Resale Shop; On the Rocks Gems, Jewelry & More; Toys Et Cetera and many more.
Because many of the retailers are also neighbors, they tend to support each other and have created a mindset of shopping locally among many of the residents. Residents would “shop local” anyway because they take pride in doing so. But a recent study commissioned by the Andersonville Development Corp. has given them even more reason for keeping their dollars in the neighborhood. The study found that money spent in local businesses has significantly more impact on the local economy than money spent on the same street in chain stores.
“If a business is locally owned,” explained Sara Dinges, the corporation’s managing director, “more of that money stays in the community. They tend to hire more local employees and that supports the community, too.”
According to the report produced by Civic Economics, for every $100 in consumer spending with a local store in Andersonville, $68 remains in the Chicago economy, while of the same amount spent at a chain, $43 stays local. The study also found that local businesses generated more revenue per square foot than the neighborhood’s chain stores.
Overall, the entrepreneurial spirit creates an energy that has become self-sustaining in Andersonville, which is a square of land bounded by Lawrence, Bryn Mawr, Ravenswood and North Glenwood avenues.
“Andersonville has always been a trailblazer and has always had that spirit,” Dinges said. “It goes back to being a community that is made up of local business owners and residents who really want to support them. That high level of investment is like a petri dish for trying new things and responding to the new economic climate.”
During this last economic downturn, Shepard added, “the retailers have had multitudes of people coming in to say, ‘If I cannot find it in Andersonville, I’m not going to buy it.’ ” Because residents can find almost everything they need within a few blocks, it is quite possible to live in Andersonville without a car, Shepard said. Those who need to venture out of the neighborhood can take the No. 22 Clark Street bus or nearby Red and Brown line trains into the Loop.
Historic streetscape goes green
Not only are the shops mostly locally owned, most of them have never been significantly altered. That original streetscape this past spring earned the Andersonville Commercial Historic District a place on the National Register of Historic Places, sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The designation was bestowed due to the neighborhood’s significance to Chicago and Swedish immigrant history and because it has 116 buildings that together contribute to a distinctive, turn-of-the-century architectural style.
Three years ago Andersonville was named one of the country’s “Top 10 Eco-Communities” by Natural Home Magazine for its commitment to the environment and its walkability. Since then Andersonville has become only greener.
“People here really care about our effect on the planet,” Shepard said. For that reason, a committee of local residents and environmental experts decided to start an environmental program for Andersonville businesses. They wanted something like the national LEED program (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an internationally recognized green building certification system) but nothing was useful for small business owners. Most were too expensive or were designed for companies with lots of employees, buildings and vehicles.
“It took us a couple of years to synthesize the best of the programs that existed and add in our own metrics, and then more importantly, figure out how to measure success,” she said. The committee set up a program that awards three stars based on the greenness of the business, but it is tough to win even one star, Shepard said.
“We didn’t want to make it easy to do. For any level we require you to track your garbage and give us a year’s utility bills before and after to see how your actions change the amount of energy you use,” she said.
Businesses get on board
One might expect that during a tough economic time the program would be a slow starter, but that has not been the case. Already seven businesses have earned at least one star and four have earned three stars.
Among the three-star businesses is the enthusiastic – and occasionally over the top – Hamburger Mary’s Chicago, which has made huge changes and seen enormous savings so far.
At Hamburger Mary’s all carryout packaging is made from renewable sources. The restaurant purchases only non-bleached, high recycled-content paper for napkins and tissue; has converted nearly all lighting to CFL and LED bulbs; recycles all glass, plastic, cardboard, paper and metal; installed dual flush toilets; and has developed extensive energy management procedures.
“My twin brother [Brandon] and I have always been active environmentalists,” said co-owner Ashley Wright in an interview with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “We helped start one of the first recycling programs … back in high school in the late ’80s. When we opened Hamburger Mary’s Chicago, we wanted to have as little impact on the environment as possible, which is hard for restaurants. When [Andersonville Development Corp.] first mentioned the idea of green certification, it was a no-brainer for us.”
Another eco-busy business is the three-star Green Genes. Only a couple years old, the children’s eco-clothing store opened on Earth Day and started out living the green dream with bamboo floors and counters, low-VOC paints, recycled and biodegradable materials used in packaging. When customers order clothes online, their items usually arrive in reused boxes and packing materials. The other two three-star businesses are the home products store GreenSky and the Coffee Studio.
In addition to starting Eco-Andersonville, the community also has instituted an unusual recycling program for the street bins used by shoppers in the commercial district and spent the week of July 12-16 celebrating its efforts with events and programming for the neighborhood’s first Green Week.
“A lot of people think it’s just big corporations like Wal-Mart that have to create the sustainability index,” Dinges said. “But our small businesses are already doing so much. Even small things, such as a chiropractor whose office faces south, installed solar blinds. We’ve found that small local businesses can do a lot with a little.”
