Our trucks start on S Yale Ave, inside West Pullman
The base is at 11616 S Yale Ave, on the stretch just south of 116th Street. That puts it inside West Pullman, a short way from the Roseland line. Our trucks start from there, and nobody needs to bring a car to it. For most West Pullman addresses the drive is around a mile.
A run to the middle of the community goes south on Yale Avenue, west on 119th Street and onto Parnell Avenue. Blocks out toward Ashland, or down by the river, add a few minutes. That’s the whole advantage of living near the base: less waiting.
Where West Pullman begins and ends
115th Street is the northern edge. The east side follows the old Illinois Central tracks, the south end reaches the Calumet River and Riverdale, and on the west the community meets the suburbs of Calumet Park and Blue Island and, farther north, Ashland Avenue.
Inside those lines sit older settlements that kept their names. Kensington was founded in 1852 where the Illinois Central and Michigan Central railroads crossed, and its commercial strip along 115th Street grew up around the station. Gano was settled by Pullman workers who wanted to own their houses instead of renting from the company town next door. Most addresses here carry the 60628 ZIP; roughly three in ten fall under 60643.
Rail lines and side streets: what changes a West Pullman pickup
Railroads shaped this place, and they still decide how a truck reaches some cars. The Metra Electric Blue Island branch crosses West Pullman with four stops: Racine, State Street, Stewart Ridge and West Pullman. If your block is hard to describe over the phone, naming the closest of those stations helps the driver. Kensington station on the main line sits just across the northern boundary at 115th.
The area grew up along several rail lines and the Calumet Sag Channel, and much of the heavy industry that once ran here is gone. Some of that land has been cleaned up; one brownfield became a community garden. West Pullman is also home to a 10-megawatt solar plant spread over 39 acres, which came online in early 2010, and it’s a handy reference point on the map.
Habitat for Humanity has been building single-family homes across the community, so newer houses stand next to much older ones. When the car is in a rear garage, on a side lot or squeezed between two buildings, tell us on the call how a truck gets close. A minute of description saves the driver a lap around the block.
A dead car sitting on a West Pullman street
None of the Winter Overnight Parking Ban streets in the city’s list run through West Pullman. The nearest, 103rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, are well to the north.
The rule that catches people here is the abandoned-vehicle one. Chicago can treat a car as abandoned when it hasn’t moved for more than seven consecutive days and looks deserted, or when it sits on the street without state registration or a temporary placard for two days or longer. Anyone can report it to 311. Once towed, it goes to pound 3S or 3N, and if nobody redeems it, it’s sold for scrap.
Selling before that point keeps the money with you. Our guide to an abandoned car on your block explains what to expect if a neighbor has already mentioned 311.
Papers, keys and cars that haven’t started in years
Plenty of the junk cars we collect near the base haven’t run in a long time, and that’s fine. We buy non-running cars as they sit, and missing keys don’t stop the sale.
If the title has gone missing, tell us which papers you do have: a bill of sale, an old registration or an insurance card. Illinois rules decide what counts for a scrap sale, and we check your situation on the call before the truck goes out. The page on selling a car without a title has more.
Parks and buildings a driver can use
Parks make the easiest meeting points. West Pullman Park has the indoor pool. Kensington Park, Gano Park, Morgan Field Park and Cooper Park are spread through the neighborhood, and the six-mile Major Taylor Trail passes through as well. The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center is another spot most drivers know, and St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church dates from the years when many immigrant groups built churches here.
Next door to West Pullman
North across 115th Street is Roseland. The base sits close to that line, so Roseland pickups are nearly as quick. Pullman, the company town Gano’s first homeowners moved away from, has its southern edge on 115th Street too. West of Ashland Avenue below 115th you’re in Morgan Park.
When you’re ready, send the details through the offer form, or read how a pickup works first.