Homes for sale in
Riverdale.
- Active listings
- 2
- Median list
- $158K
- Avg time on market
- 63 days
- Sold · last year
- 10
Active listings
2 homes on the market
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About the community
Living in Riverdale.
Riverdale is Chicago Community Area 54, sitting roughly 16 miles southeast of the Loop on the city's far South Side in Cook County. As officially designated, the community area runs from 115th Street south to the city boundary at 138th Street, and from the Illinois Central Railroad tracks east to the Bishop Ford Freeway, taking in the neighborhoods of Altgeld Gardens, Eden Green, Golden Gate, and Riverdale proper. It is one of Chicago's least populous community areas, with about 7,536 residents as of 2023 estimates and a population that is roughly 96 percent Black. The area was an industrial district long before it was residential. In 1945 the Chicago Housing Authority opened Altgeld Gardens, a large public housing development built to house African American veterans returning from World War II, and the population climbed from around 1,500 in the 1940s to a peak of just over 15,000 by 1970. Today more than half of Riverdale's land is taken up by a water reclamation plant, rail yards, landfills, and industrial sites, with residential pockets and large stretches of forest preserve along the Little Calumet River. For buyers, Riverdale is among the most affordable corners of the city, a tight-knit and historically significant community where housing is limited and market activity is thin, paired with real challenges around services and amenities.
At a glance
Community Area 54
Riverdale is one of Chicago's 77 official community areas, located about 16 miles southeast of the Loop on the far South Side.
Population
Riverdale is one of Chicago's smallest community areas by population, with about 7,536 residents as of 2023 and a population that is roughly 96 percent Black.
Altgeld Gardens
The Chicago Housing Authority development of brick row houses, opened in 1945 for African American World War II veterans, dominates the area as a renovated complex of roughly 1,541 units.
Beaubien Woods
A Forest Preserves of Cook County site on the far South Side with prairie, woodland, and wetland habitats centered on Flatfoot Lake.
Flatfoot Lake fishing
A 19-acre former strip mine, up to 15.4 feet deep, with a barrier-free fishing pier, stocked fishing, and a designated ice-fishing area.
Carver Park
The 19.24-acre Chicago Park District park beside Altgeld Gardens offers a gymnasium, indoor pool, fitness center, boxing ring, and ballfields.
Environmental justice
Altgeld Gardens is widely regarded as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement, home to activist Hazel M. Johnson.
Area median sale price
As of early 2026, the ZIP 60827 area, which spans the Chicago community area and the adjacent suburb, had a median sale price of roughly 129,000 dollars.
What it’s actually like to live here
Daily life in Riverdale is shaped by its far South Side location and its history as a place built around public housing rather than a commercial main street. The community is overwhelmingly residential where it is not industrial, anchored by the Chicago Housing Authority's Altgeld Gardens and Philip Murray Homes and by the Eden Green development, one of the nation's first majority Black-owned and operated townhouse and apartment communities, completed in 1968. Housing leans toward row houses, townhomes, and modest single-family homes, and prices are among the lowest in the city. Amenities can be limited, as the Altgeld Gardens area in particular has long been described as a food desert with no grocery store or restaurant within a mile of its boundaries, so residents rely heavily on cars and buses for errands. Transit options include CTA bus route 34 along 131st Street and connections that residents use to reach the CTA Red Line at 95th Street, and a long-promised Red Line extension would add a 130th Street terminal near Altgeld Gardens.
What sets Riverdale apart for an outdoors-minded buyer is its access to open space. Beaubien Woods, a Forest Preserves of Cook County site at the eastern edge of the area, offers prairie, woodland, and wetland habitats, picnic groves, birding, and Flatfoot Lake for fishing and ice fishing, plus a boat launch and accessible canoe landing on the Little Calumet River. The river itself anchors the African American Heritage Water Trail, a paddling route that launches from Beaubien Woods. Closer to the housing developments, Carver Park provides a nearly 20-acre recreation hub with an indoor pool, gymnasium, fitness center, boxing program, ballfields, and a recently renovated playground, and just over the city line the Whistler Woods preserve and the Major Taylor Trail extend the network of riverside trails and woodlands. Community life is closely knit and civically engaged, anchored by churches, the park district fieldhouse, and grassroots groups like People for Community Recovery.
Neighborhoods
Riverdale neighborhoods
1 neighborhood in Riverdale, each with its own page covering market stats, schools, and what the buyers there are optimizing for. Featured neighborhoods have hand-curated content; the rest auto- update from MRED listing data.
This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC for the period October 26, 2025 through October 26, 2026. Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC does not guarantee nor is it in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by Midwest Real Estate Data LLC may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
Around town
What there is to do in Riverdale.
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
- Recreation
Beaubien Woods Forest Preserve
A Forest Preserves of Cook County site on the far South Side blending prairie, woodland, and wetland habitats around Flatfoot Lake. Visitors can fish, kayak, bird, and picnic, with restored oak savanna and wet prairie that draw species from yellow warblers to the occasional bald eagle.
- Recreation
Flatfoot Lake Fishing Pier
Flatfoot Lake is a 19-acre former strip mine up to 15.4 feet deep with a barrier-free accessible fishing pier. It is a designated ice-fishing lake and a popular spot for local anglers and youth outdoor programs.
- Parks
Carver (George Washington) Park
A 19.24-acre Chicago Park District park beside Altgeld Gardens with a gymnasium, indoor swimming pool, fitness center, boxing ring, ballfields, and a newly renovated playground. It serves as a community hub with day camp, sports leagues, and family events year-round.
- Recreation
Little Calumet River Boat Launch
The Beaubien Woods boat launch on East 132nd Street provides trailered access to the Little Calumet River for canoes, kayaks, and small boats, plus an accessible canoe landing. It is the launch point for the African American Heritage Water Trail along the river.
- Parks
Golden Gate Park
A Chicago Park District park on South Eberhart Avenue that gives its name to the Golden Gate neighborhood, one of Riverdale's open-space anchors. It is among the notable parks within the community area alongside Beaubien Woods and the Calumet marshes.
- Recreation
Whistler Woods and the Major Taylor Trail
Whistler Woods is a 137-acre Forest Preserves of Cook County site on the Little Calumet River just south of Riverdale, with old oaks, strong birding, and the southern end of the Major Taylor Trail, a six-mile route named for the pioneering Black cyclist.
By the numbers
Riverdale taxes + market stats.
Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.
Median sold price
$152,500
MRED · last 12 mo (10 sales)
How Riverdale got here
A bit of history.
Riverdale became a community area almost by accident, growing up as an industrial district where far more people worked than lived. Its first non-native residents settled along the Little Calumet River in the 1830s, farming and running a toll bridge along the Chicago-Thornton Road, and a second settlement formed at Kensington in 1852 where the Illinois Central and Michigan Central railroads met. Most of the swampy land was zoned for manufacturing, and from the 1850s onward railroads claimed large pieces for rights-of-way and yards. The Pullman Land Association controlled significant acreage along Lake Calumet, home to the Pullman Farm and brickyards, while the Calumet Paint Company, later bought by Sherwin-Williams, grew into one of the largest paint factories in the country. Jobs at these plants, along with the Chicago Drop Forge, Illinois Terra Cotta Works, and ice plants, made Riverdale a place where workers commuted in rather than lived, and the area was annexed into Chicago in 1889.
The community was transformed from industrial zone to residential one by government action. In 1945 the National Housing Agency, the Federal Public Housing Authority, and the Chicago Housing Authority opened the massive Altgeld Gardens development, built to provide improved housing for African American veterans returning from World War II, with the Philip Murray Homes added in the 1950s. Riverdale's population jumped from about 1,500 in the 1940s to a peak of 15,018 in 1970, a rapid growth that overtaxed limited services. Because the development sat in a heavily industrial pocket later nicknamed the toxic donut, surrounded by landfills, factories, and contaminated water, it became the focus of a landmark environmental fight. In 1979 resident Hazel M. Johnson founded People for Community Recovery to confront environmental racism, and her organizing, later joined briefly by community organizer Barack Obama, helped make Altgeld Gardens widely regarded as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement.
The questions buyers actually ask
Riverdale FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Riverdale. If yours isn't here, text 224-385-8779, same-day reply.
- What kinds of homes are available in Riverdale?
- Riverdale's housing is dominated by the Chicago Housing Authority's Altgeld Gardens and Philip Murray Homes, which are public housing rather than for-sale stock, plus the Eden Green townhouse and apartment development built in 1968. For-sale inventory in the surrounding neighborhoods skews toward modest single-family homes, row houses, and townhomes, and it tends to be limited. Prices are among the lowest in Chicago. Anyone shopping here should expect a thin market and should work with an agent who knows the far South Side well.
- How is the commute downtown from Riverdale?
- Riverdale sits about 16 miles southeast of the Loop, so commutes are longer than from most of the city. There is no rapid-transit station inside the community area today, so residents typically take CTA bus route 34 or other connections to reach the CTA Red Line at 95th Street, then ride north into downtown. A long-promised Red Line extension would add a new 130th Street terminal near Altgeld Gardens, which would significantly improve access. Most households rely on cars for daily travel.
- What are the schools like in the area?
- Riverdale is served by Chicago Public Schools, with several elementary schools in and around the community including George Washington Carver Elementary, Aldridge, Dubois, and the CICS Lloyd Bond charter campus. The area high school is Carver Military Academy, a four-year public military high school near Altgeld Gardens. Families should research individual school performance and programs directly, since options within the immediate area are limited. The Chicago Park District also runs after-school and summer programming at Carver Park.
- What is there to do outdoors and in nature?
- Riverdale is unusually rich in open space for its size. Beaubien Woods offers prairie, woodland, and wetland habitats with birding, picnicking, and Flatfoot Lake for fishing and ice fishing. The Little Calumet River runs through the area with a boat launch and accessible canoe landing at Beaubien Woods, the launch point for the African American Heritage Water Trail. Just south of the city line, Whistler Woods and the Major Taylor Trail add more riverside woods and a six-mile bike path.
- Why is Riverdale historically significant?
- Riverdale is home to Altgeld Gardens, opened in 1945 as housing for African American World War II veterans and one of the earliest public housing developments in the United States, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2022 as part of the Altgeld Gardens-Philip Murray Homes Historic District. The community is also widely regarded as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement, where resident Hazel M. Johnson founded People for Community Recovery in 1979. A young Barack Obama worked alongside that campaign during his years as a community organizer. The area's industrial past shaped both its economy and its long environmental struggle.
- What is the community character like?
- Riverdale is one of Chicago's smallest community areas by population, with about 7,536 residents as of 2023 and a population that is roughly 96 percent Black. It is a close-knit, civically engaged community anchored by churches, the Carver Park fieldhouse, and grassroots organizations. At the same time, it faces real challenges, including large stretches of industrial land, limited retail and grocery access, and a history of environmental and service inequities. Buyers drawn to affordability, history, and proximity to forest preserves will find a community with deep roots and an active sense of identity.
- Who is the real estate agent for Riverdale?
- Joe Keegan is the local licensed Illinois real estate broker who covers Riverdale in Riverdale, IL through Subdiview, a neighborhood-first home search for the Chicago suburbs and collar counties. Joe prices and negotiates from the live MRED sold comps for Riverdale specifically, not national averages, and can help you buy or sell here. Reach Joe at 224-385-8779 or joe@joekeeganhomes.com.
Nearby
Neighborhoods near Riverdale.
If you’re cross-shopping the area, these are the neighborhoods right next to Riverdale.
Your local agent
Your local agent for Riverdale
Most agents will list anything. I focus on the places I actually know, and the things that move value here don't show up in the MLS write-up: which streets and buildings hold demand, what the HOA or assessments really cover, how the comps read once you account for condition and location, and where buyers consistently want to be.
When you're ready to tour or list, you want someone who has read the last 50 closed comps in this specific market, not a national average, and can tell you what they actually mean for your price. That's how I work. Text or call any time, and I'll give you a real take, not a brochure.
- Licensed Illinois broker
- Comp-driven pricing
- Riverdale specialist
- Honest local market take
- Brokerocity
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