Bellwood

Bellwood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located 13 miles (21 km) west of Chicago's downtown Loop. The population was 18,789 at the 2020 census. The municipality took its name from one of the village's early subdivisions, "Bellewood". However, in later years, the final "e" was dropped. The black population of Bellwood jumped from 1.1 percent in 1970 to 35 percent in 1980 and 70 percent in 1990. Bellwood has a total area of 2.40 square miles (6.22 km²), all land. The current mayor is Andre F. Harvey, who is the first African-American mayor and Bellwood's first African American-American School District 88. The school district has an average enrollment of 88 students per year, making it the nation's second-largest school district. The district has a graduation rate of 80.9%. Bellwood is home to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which has an enrollment of 8,000 students. The village has a high school with an average graduating rate of 75%. The school's mascot is the Fighting Irishman, which means "Fighting Irishman" in Irish slang. The town's motto is "The Fighting Irish" meaning "the Fighting Irish are the people who stand up for what is right". The town has a strong tradition of community service, with many members of the community serving as firefighters, police officers, firefighters, and other emergency responders.

History

Bellwood was incorporated on May 21, 1900. The municipality took its name from one of the village's early subdivisions, "Bellewood" The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railway and the Chicago & North Western Railway provided rail passenger service. The black population of Bellwood jumped from 1.1 percent in 1970 to 35 percent in 1980 and 70 percent in 1990. The community saw some new development as a result of various minor industrial and commercial organizations. A few major firms exist in Bellwood today, but the collapse of many other large sectors has resulted in a decrease in employment and tax revenue. The village's population of 4,991 persons in 1930 is due to the annexation of territory west of Mannheim Road in 1926, as well as ongoing migration. The 1970s saw racial upheaval and inclusion in a Supreme Court case in the United States. Bellwood sued a local real estate company in 1975, alleging racial discrimination. Four years later, the Supreme Court issued a historic decision allowing governments to utilize testers and sue when discrimination occurs. In 1980, Bellwood saw the creation of the Bellwood Police Department. The Bellwood Fire Department was established in the early 1980s. It was the first fire department in the Chicago area. It has been the largest fire department since the Chicago Fire Department in the 1940s. The fire department has been in existence since the 1950s, when it was created. It is the oldest fire station in the city of Chicago. The city's fire department was founded in the 1880s.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Bellwood has a total area of 2.40 square miles (6.22 km²), all land. Bellwood is located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The town has a population of about 2,000. The population of Bellwood was 2,200 in the 2011 census. The community has a history of violence against women and men. The city has been the site of several violent incidents, including the shooting of two women by a gunman in 2011. The village has been home to a number of high-profile figures, including former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Joe Biden. It is located near the town of Wounded Knee, in the state of Montana, where it is also home to the University of Wyoming and the College of Veterinary Medicine. It also has a small portion of the town's downtown area, which is known as the "Bellwood Historic District" The town's population is about 1,200, with the majority of its residents living in Bellwood and the surrounding areas. It has an estimated population of around 2,400, with most of its land being made up of wooded areas. In the town, there are no suburbs and the majority of its residents live in or around Bellwood, a small section of which is called the "West Virginia Town Center" It is also known as "The Village" or "The Township" by locals.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 18,789 people, 6,059 households, and 4,310 families residing in the village. There were 6,757 housing units at an average density of 2,817.76 per square mile (1,087.94/km²) The village's age distribution consisted of 23.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median income for a family was $69,730. The per capita income for the village was $27,244. About 8.3% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race. The U.S. Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. The village is located in the state of New Hampshire. It is located on the New Hampshire Turnpike, which runs through the town of Doylestown. The town's name is derived from the word "turnpike" which means "turning point" or "point of the road" in English. It was the site of the turnpike's first railway line, which was built in the 1800s. It has a population of about 18,000.

Government

Andre F. Harvey is the current and Bellwood's first African-American mayor. He has been in office since 2008. He is the first black mayor in the city's history. He was elected in 2008 after a three-year campaign. He took office in 2008 following the death of his father, a former mayor, in a car crash. He also served as mayor from 2003 to 2008.

Education

The Bellwood School District 88 comprises seven schools. Some portions of the district are zoned to Berkeley School District 87. MECA Christian Academy is a private school in Bellwood. The district also includes Lincoln Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School. It is located in the Bellwood section of Bellwood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. The school district was established in the 1950s. It was once part of the Birmingham City School District. It has since become a separate school district. The Bellwood area has a history of racial and ethnic diversity. It also has a strong African-American population, with many African-Americans living in the district. In the 1970s and 1980s, the district had a high school graduation rate of over 80%. The district has a high-achieving student population of about 2,000. It had a low-enrollment rate of about 1,000 in the 1990s and 1,200 in the 2000s. In 2008, the school district had 1,856 students. It now has 1,902 students. The District has a budget of more than $1,000,000 for the 2010-11 school year. It includes seven schools: Grant Primary School, Grant Elementary School, Lincoln PrimaryEarly Childhood Center, Lincoln Elementary. School, McKinley Elementary and Thurgood Marshall Elementary School. Some of the schools are also zoning to Berkeley District 87, which has a similar number of students. They include Roosevelt Middle and Roosevelt High School. They are all in the same district.

Infrastructure

The village is serviced by a Metra railroad station with commuter service to Chicago. In November 2011, Union Pacific Railroad announced plans to renovate and upgrade Bellwood's Metra station and add a third rail line. The project, estimated at $4 million, was expected to be completed by the fall of 2012 at no cost to residents. Bellwood formerly had a station on the Chicago Great Western Railway main line before it was abandoned in 1968 by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad runs through Bellwood, but does not host any commuter rail traffic. The village is located on the Illinois Turnpike, which runs from Chicago to Springfield, Illinois. The turnpike was built in 1883 and has a total length of 2.5 miles (3.5 kilometers) The village has a population of about 1,500 people, according to the 2010 census. The town is located in the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the cities of Chicago, Bloomington, and Bloomington-Normal, as well as portions of Bloomington and Bloomingdale. The population of Bellwood is about 2,000. The city's population was 2,100 in the 2010 Census, and it is expected to grow to 3,000 by the end of the year. It is in the northern part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the southern part of Chicago's northern suburbs. The community is located near the Chicago River, which flows through the village. It also has a small section of the Illinois River.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Bellwood, Cook County, Illinois = 6.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 31. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Bellwood = 3.6 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 18,789 individuals with a median age of 34 age the population dropped by -4.93% in Bellwood, Cook County, Illinois population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 7,835.28 residents per square mile of area (3,025.05/km²). There are average 3.18 people per household in the 6,108 households with an average household income of $59,752 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 10.80% of the available work force and has dropped -4.37% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 20.46%. The number of physicians in Bellwood per 100,000 population = 255.4.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Bellwood = 32 inches and the annual snowfall = 23.5 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 109. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 188. 86 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 14.1 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 47, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Bellwood, Cook County, Illinois which are owned by the occupant = 71.27%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 53 years with median home cost = $63,160 and home appreciation of -9.70%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $16.10 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $3,789 per student. There are 21.8 students for each teacher in the school. 29785.53% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 8.37% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 3.53% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).