Little Village, often referred to as the "Mexico of the Midwest," is a dense community in the western and central areas of South Lawndale, with a major commercial district along 26th Street.

[4] The Mexican population of the Near West Side moved southward into Pilsen and westward into South Lawndale after the expansion of the University of Illinois Chicago campus in the mid-1960s which razed numerous blocks of housing.

[5] Scholar Juan C. Guerra notes that "the contiguous communities of Pilsen and Little Village merged and emerged as the newest and largest Mexican neighborhood in Chicago.

[7] Little Village is also a significant economic engine for Chicago, with its 26th Street constituting the second highest grossing shopping district in the city.

Washtenaw Park has a baseball diamond and offers a variety of arts and crafts classes for adults as well as day camps for kids.

Famous past residents of Little Village include former Mayor Anton Cermak, who lived in the 2300 block of S. Millard Avenue, across the street from Lazaro Cardenas Elementary.

[10] In 2011, a music festival called Villapalooza was founded to promote non-violent spaces for arts, culture, and community engagement.

On April 11, 2020, the city of Chicago permitted the demolition of an old smokestack at the Crawford Generating Station in Little Village by Hilco Redevelopment Partners to proceed.

[14] As reported by Mauricio Peña, community activists in Little Village had called upon mayor Lori Lightfoot to stop the demolition before it was carried out, concerned with exposing residents to asbestos and lead, especially during the 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic.