The two census tracts along Armour Boulevard that contain portions of Forest Avenue and Harrison Boulevard have seen better days. During the 1950s, it was a densely populated area, outfitted with many grocery and drug stores to serve the nearly 20,000 residents within just these two tracts. 82% of those residents lived in the many apartment buildings in the area, as many as 6 within a four block radius. 99% of these tracts’ residents were Caucasian. By 2000, the landscape had dramatically changed, nearly all of the previous apartments being demolished, and the population shifting to an almost even distribution of white and black. This period of 50 years saw the population decrease by almost 5,000 people. As disinvestment crept in, so did crime of all kinds which made the area even more undesirable. By 2010, the area’s population density had sunk to just 5, 219 people per square mile on average (it was an average of 26,862 in 1950). The population had become so small in fact that the two tracts that had contained Harrison and several other streets to its West for 50 years were consolidated into just one tract in 2010. Though this area was and is still blighted, promising signs of revitalization are appearing. A community center at the intersection of Armour and Forest that sat abandoned for more than 40 years has been purchased and is currently under construction, and an Operation Breakthrough Center has opened at 31st and Armour.
