This film documents the cultural and ethnic diversity found along the 400 mile stretch ending in Chicago's Halsted Street. Beginning in quiet, rural, predominantly white Illinois along Route 1, the film continues north to the outskirts of Chicago, where gang violence brews and local residents are primarily people of color. The journey takes viewers through the Stockyards District of Chicago, Bridgeport, Pilsen, Maxwell Street, Cabrini Green, Lincoln Park, and, finally, all the way up to BoysTown on Chicago's north side. The film incorporates footage from a 1932 Documentary Films on the same subject. The film is compelling because it clearly shows the differences in socioeconomic status, cultural celebrations, gender specification, and racial composition of the communities that lie along a street that winds its way through 14 different counties.
Director/Producer: David Simpson
Production Company
Chicago Filmmakers
Release Date
January 1, 1996