What's in Your Soil? a Comparison of Soil Quality in Two Chicago Neighborhoods.

Cities have complex land use histories that give rise to heterogeneous soils that are often compacted, lacking in organic matter, and contain high concentrations of nutrients and heavy metals. This poster presents preliminary results of a comparison of soil quality in two disparate neighborhoods in the City of Chicago – Lincoln Park and Greater Grand Crossing. Lincoln Park is located on the north side of Chicago, contains abundant green space, and is among Chicago’s most affluent neighborhoods. Greater Grand Crossing is a low-income African American community on the south side of Chicago characterized by a food desert and a lack of green space. Soils in both neighborhoods developed in Wisconsin-age ground moraines and/or lake plains. Samples were collected from thirty eight single-family properties in Lincoln Park and from four abandoned homesites (n=116 samples) in Greater Grand Crossing. Soil pH ranged from 6.0 to 9.3 in Lincoln Park and from 7.4 to 8.8 in Greater Grand Crossing. N-NO₃  and SRP concentrations ranged from 7 to 71 mg kg^-1 and 20 to 995 mg kg^-1 in Lincoln Park, respectively, and from 1.6 to 44 mg kg^-1 and 26 to 818 mg kg^-1, respectively, in Greater Grand Crossing. Total soil Pb concentrations ranged from 3.2 to 2125 mg kg^-1  in Lincoln Park and from 46 to 1591 mg kg^-1 in Grand Crossing. Total Pb concentrations in Lincoln Park increased from southwest to northeast concomitantly with increasing building density and height and toward a convergence of major transportation corridors and passenger train lines. The highest total Pb concentrations measured in Greater Grand Crossing occurred in a vacant homesite that once served as a fly dump for lead-acid batteries. The high nutrient and total Pb concentrations in both neighborhoods could be ameliorated by the use of green infrastructure technologies and practices including rain gardens and bioswales.