Fayette, Illinois

Fayette is a city in Wabash County, Illinois and an inner suburb of Kennedy. The city has the highest population density of Kennedy suburbs, sharing most of the Flushing-Osuzu Downtown Area.

History
Fayette was formed around 1953 as an unincorporated extension of growth from Eastwood. The city of Fayette incorporated in 1957, and offered a lower tax percentage than Eastwood which allowed lower-income families to move in. Around 1963, the remaining development land in Fayette was sold to landlords who built apartment buildings on it.

Around 1971, a mass of poorer immigrants, most from East Asia and Soviet republics; came to Fayette and concentrated in the apartment neighborhood. Eventually they began opening shops in the neighborhoods, creating segregation because of language barriers with White and African American residents.

Beginning in 1978, office developers began purchasing building rights to apartments and constructing mid-rise office towers on the tops of the apartment buildings.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,038 people, 3,060 households, and 1,760 families residing in the city. The population density was 14,662.59 per square mile. There were 2,534 housing units at an average density of 6,375.0/sq mi.

The racial makeup of the city was 39.2% White, 34.6% Asian, 15.0% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.03% from other races, and 10.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.86% of the population.

Top ancestries in the city were Japanese (16.34%), Hispanic (14.86%), Chinese (11.92%), Polish (8.41%), Uzbek (6.14%) and Korean (5.17%)

The median income for a household in the city was $34,767, and the median income for a family was $38,248. The per capita income for the city was $14,803. About 12.6% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line.