The biggest community area in Chicago
South Deering is the largest of Chicago’s 77 community areas, and most of it isn’t residential. About 80 percent is zoned industrial, wetland or park, and Lake Calumet covers a big share. People live in a few pockets, and those are where our pickups happen. The area is served by parts of ZIP codes 60617 and 60633.
From 13720 S Lowe Ave the truck heads to Indiana Avenue and 130th Street, gets on the Bishop Ford Freeway (I-94) north, follows Stony Island Avenue and turns onto 103rd Street: about 9 road miles, 16 minutes in light traffic. It’s the longest drive on our list, and the free tow still applies.
The neighborhoods, block by block
- Jeffery Manor runs from 95th Street to 103rd Street, between Torrence Avenue and the Norfolk Southern rail yard just west of Van Vlissingen Road. Building started in 1947. The homes are mostly duplexes, with bungalows and two-story houses around the edges.
- Merrionette Manor, inside Jeffery Manor, breaks from the Chicago grid with curving streets and loops. It’s easy to confuse with the village of Merrionette Park, which is a separate place on the far side of the South Side.
- Vet’s Park sits between 95th and 103rd Streets, from Torrence Avenue east to the Norfolk Southern tracks past Commercial Avenue. Many of its houses went up right after World War II.
- Irondale, the original settlement, is along and west of Torrence Avenue from 103rd to 109th Street. The Trumbull Park Homes are just west of it.
- Slag Valley is the local name for the stretch of Commercial Avenue between 100th and 104th Streets.
On a call, a neighborhood name plus the nearest cross street is all a driver needs. Calumet Fisheries, the seafood spot that opened in 1928, and the original Calumet Bakery at 2510 E. 106th Street also work as landmarks.
Duplexes, side drives and the street
Duplex blocks mean two households share the frontage, and cars end up in side drives, behind the building or on the street. Before pickup day, check that the truck can reach one end of the car. If the car sits between two others at the curb, tell us, because it affects how the driver approaches. Our guide to flatbed versus wheel-lift towing explains why the position of the car matters.
The city pound is in South Deering
The City of Chicago’s Auto Pound 2 is at 103rd Street and Doty Avenue, inside this community area, and it’s one of the two places the city takes abandoned vehicles. If an abandoned car isn’t redeemed by its owner, it’s sold for scrap.
The city’s Streets and Sanitation department classifies a vehicle as abandoned when it’s too broken to drive on a public way, hasn’t moved for more than seven days and looks deserted, has been on the public way without registration for two or more days, or is a hazardous dilapidated vehicle in public view. Winter adds risk: cars on the city’s designated arterials are towed during the 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. overnight ban from December 1 to April 1, with a minimum $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket and $25 a day in storage, and those cars go to Pound 2 or the West Side pound.
A junk car that’s already headed toward the pound costs you money. Sold to us first, it pays you instead.
What we pick up
Non-running cars, wrecked cars, rusted and stripped cars, and pickups, vans and SUVs. The driver checks the car matches your description, you sign the paperwork, and you’re paid on the spot by cash, Zelle or Cash App. If the title is missing, tell us which papers you have; Illinois rules decide which work for a scrap sale, and we’ll confirm on the call.
Around South Deering
To the south, past Lake Calumet, is Chicago’s Altgeld Gardens and Riverdale area. Dolton is further south across the Little Calumet. See the full list on the towns page.