[3] Major shifts continue to happen due to forces such as rapid gentrification, selective corporate investments, and unequal distribution of city resources.

The city's annexation of land beyond the original western border at Wood Street gave way to the development of the West Side.

As demographic maps from the 2010 U.S. Census show, the Black community on the West Side is bordered to the north and to the south by Latino residents.

As the 1860s came, less affluent residents replaced the wealthier families around Union Park and increased immigration from Europe transformed the Near West Side into an ethnically diverse area.

The resulting migration toward other parts of the city created very densely populated and overcrowded areas on the Near West Side.

Sears, Roebuck and Company was founded in 1893, and in 1906 built its merchandise and catalog center in Lawndale near the intersection of Homan Avenue and Arthington Street.

However, a dramatic change in the city's population occurred with the Great Migration of Blacks from the Southern United States into the urban North.

Black residents began moving in small numbers to East Garfield Park, being met with even more housing discrimination than they faced in the Near West Side.

Many residents moved into housing projects that were built throughout the West Side the previous decade, the main housing projects being ABLA and Henry Horner Homes in the Near West Side, Rockwell Gardens and Harrison Courts in East Garfield Park, and Lawndale Gardens in Lawndale/Little Village.

Long stretches of businesses along Madison Street in Garfield Park and Austin and along Roosevelt Road in Lawndale, the majority of which were owned by whites, were looted and burned down.

"[41] During the late 1960s, the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party had its headquarters on the West Side on Madison Street near Western Avenue.

[42] Hampton was murdered in his sleep in a planned raid by Chicago police and the FBI on the party's West Side apartment on Monroe Street in December 1969.

Black representation of the West Side in Congress began in the 1970s with the placement of George W. Collins in the seat of Daniel J. Ronan who died in 1969.

[48] The Young Lords, a former street turf gang from Lincoln Park, turned into a human liberation group, becoming warriors for the community by fighting further displacement and holding sit-ins at the Wicker Park Welfare Office and takeovers of institutions to implement free breakfast programs similar to the Black Panther Party.

[50] La Villita, the neighborhood to the west of Pilsen and Heart of Chicago was being populated by even more Mexican-Americans, and the business corridor along 26th Street became the busiest after the Loop.

[51] During the 1980s and 1990s, the communities of the West Side continued to struggle, but hopes were being held together by social organizations, movements, and programs.

[54] Property taxes rose thus raising rents, forcing poorer Puerto Rican and Black residents to move yet again.

However, these areas are now mainly populated by younger, white, middle-class to upper-middle class professionals whom have been displacing the poorer residents at a rapid rate.

In 2014, Redfin named Humboldt Park to be the nation's 10th hottest neighborhood, demonstrating high interest in gentrifying the community.

[56][57] The new Chicago High School for the Arts has moved from the South Side into the closed Lafayette Elementary building in Humboldt Park near a growing community of gentrifiers.

[59] The West Side is home to the Puerto Rican Parade and Festival or Fiestas Puertorriqueñas held annually along Division Street and Paseo Boricua in Humboldt Park.

In Little Village, the Festival de la Villita takes place along 26th Street celebrating the community as well as a Mexican Independence Day Parade.

In 1968, the West Side community urged the city to rename the college after Malcolm X, who was assassinated three years earlier.

In January 2016, Malcolm X College is planning on completing a new, larger facility across the street on Jackson Boulevard with a new health science center and auditorium.

The West Side, due to its large population and high density, has many political representatives at the city, state, and national level.

[70] Due to its proximity to the downtown area, the West Side has extensive mass transit as well as highways and roads.

The Stevenson Expressway runs just south of Pilsen and Little Village giving residents access to the Southwest Side and Midway Airport.

Union Station, the main railroad terminal of both Metra and Amtrak trains is located just west of the Chicago River and downtown.

In West Town, there are many institutions representing the large Polish community in Chicago as well as other Eastern European ethnic groups.

The West Side is home to the United Center sports arena, located near Madison Street and Damen Avenue.