Popular restaurants line Randolph Street, including Girl and the Goat by Stephanie Izard,[4] and Leña Brava, founded by Rick Bayless who has since departed the establishment.

[6] A former manufacturing and warehousing area, many of the buildings have been converted to loft condominiums, restaurants, bars, and art galleries.

Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios were located on Randolph Street;[7] the site is now the recently constructed corporate headquarters of McDonald's.

The related Fulton Market area extends west of the Kennedy Expressway as far as Union Park.

The district is a former manufacturing and current transportation corridor turned mixed-use commercial and residential neighborhood.

The Fulton River District is the home of the Ogilvie Transportation Center (formerly Chicago & North Western Station), a major commuter rail terminal.

In the late 19th century Greek immigrants settled the area and competed with nearby Italians for business and jobs.

The blocks around the intersection of Maxwell and Halsted Streets, the heart of University Village, once served as a weekly outdoor market.

In the 2000s, UIC led a redevelopment of the area, which included new dormitories, parking garages, commercial buildings, and housing.

The University of Illinois at Chicago's origins in the District can be traced to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, founded in 1881.

In 1917, the State acquired the vacated West Side Park located at Polk and Wolcott for the university.

The neighborhood is also home to the Chicago Technology Park research center as well as the West Side Center for Disease Control, the office for the Medical Examiner of Cook County, and Chicago Hope Academy (a private Christian high school that opened in the former St. Callistus School in 2005).

The United Center opened its doors in 1994, replacing Chicago Stadium, which was located on the opposite side of Madison Street.

The area around the United Center used to be known for its notoriously high crime rate and housing projects off Lake Street and Damen known as the Henry Horner Homes, also known as "the Hornetz nest".

The Near West Side community area has supported the Democratic Party in the past two presidential elections.

The St. Charles Air Line, at the area's southern edge is also a major passenger train route.

[33] The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, another company that built the "L", opened several branches of rapid transit in the area in 1895 and 1896.

The Logan Square branch was replaced in revenue service by the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway in 1951,[36] but was retained for non-revenue linkage to the rest of the "L" system as the "Paulina Connector"; it was renovated in the 2000s and reactivated as part of the Pink Line in 2006.

Union and Ogilvie stations, major terminals for Metra and Amtrak trains, are on the eastern edge of the Near West Side.

[44] K-8 schools serving the Near West Side include W. Brown, Calhoun North, Dett, Herbert, Washington Irving, King, Mitchell, Otis, Plamondon, Skinner, and Smyth.

By the 2013–2014 school year this declined to 46%, and Linda Lutton of WBEZ stated that Irving "is largely ignored by the families who live here.

"[48] Moses Montefiore Academy, a CPS special school for at-risk youth, was located in the Near West Side.

St. Ignatius College Prep is an elite Catholic high school located in the Near West Side.