By YOLANNE ALMANZAR
The UNITY News

Changes have occurred throughout the years – some more noticeable than others. But Pilsen, on the Lower West Side of Chicago, is still a predominantly Mexican neighborhood where people are proud.

The aroma of Mexican food seeps into the air.

Copper Aztec calendars are embedded in the streets, and murals color the buildings. The Mexican coat of arms, an eagle with a snake in its beak, is a fixture on lamp posts and gates throughout the neighborhood.

“This is my first home,” said Daniel Gutierrez, owner of Nuevo Leon, one of the oldest restaurants on 18th Street.

Pilsen has been the first stop for many ethnic groups including Czechs, Germans and Polish. It became increasingly Mexican in the 1950s. Now, as citywide efforts to restore buildings have raised rent and property costs, there are new faces in the neighborhood. Some are worried. But not Gutierrez.

“This is a tradition here,” Gutierrez said. “We’re still here.”