Classmate's blog

I clicked on a couple of blog links before deciding to focus on Troy Ingram's blog (700south). I chose it based on one thing: he had taken the time to photoshop a Blue Line map into a logo for his blog. Right away, he gets kudos for creativity.

Troy's writing is of excellent quality. He is concise and articulate without being wordy. I especially like the way in which he brings his own experiences into a topic that may not seem to be directly connected to him. He covers varied topics: everything from the CTA repairs to the threat of the Children's Museum possible move to Grant Park (compromising the "open, free and clear" provision of the Burnham Plan) to his recent dining experiences. Like me, he lived in the Northwest suburbs and I think that there is a sort of universal feeling that the city gives those of us who hail from those parts- a feeling that I think is manifested in his blog entries. Also worthy of note is a very heartfelt discussion of the recent shootings at NIU (apparently, he knew one of the victims which makes it all the more heartfelt) and his photographs of the city.

Biking around Chicago

I must say that I haven't ridden my bike in the city for a couple of months. Living in the suburbs, this means that I have to take my bicycle on the Metra train during the hours that it is allowed. My schedule this semester has prevented this for the most part and coupled with the frigid weather and above-average snowfall we've been having has prevented me from enjoying the city's many bicycle-friendly streets. Spring is closer than it seems (and it isn't it that way every year?) and by then I'll bring myself to ride again. For in Chicago, there is a system of bicycle lanes that are comparable only to Montreal in North America with over 100 miles of them and more to come if Mayor Daley's plans are followed through. His actions have been much criticized in the media, such as the photo-op of him riding a bicycle from Paris's bike rental program that he hopes to bring to Chicago...in the midst of the CTA budget crisis last fall, but this is one of very few things that I can agree on with the man. Riding bicycles in relatively dense areas such as Chicago is to be encouraged as it is both environmentally friendly and cost-efficient. It can also be faster than public transportation. There have been times that I have outrun my friends (who were in a car) to a destination while riding a bike. I once saw a man in a very flamboyant yellow jacket zipping past me near the Monroe Blue Line stop. I took the Blue Line to Western (Bucktown stop) and when I got off I saw the same flamboyant man riding his bike down Milwaukee Avenue. Bicycles will not replace cars in American culture, particularly given how spread out much of suburbia is, but they can be coupled with public transit to curb traffic jams, clean up the air a little and provide Americans with some much-needed exercise...at least when the thermometer rises over 35 degrees.

Immigration Factbook

The Immigration Factbook was compiled by researchers at Roosevelt University in order to try to understand the effect of immigration upon the Chicago metropolitan area. One aspect that they mentioned is the changing areas that immigrants are using as "ports of entry". In 1990 about 12.5% of immigrants arriving to the Chicago area set up residences in the suburbs. By 2000 the percentage of immigrants whose port of entry was in the suburbs rose to 29.2 (almost a third). Such a change is probably majorly due one major factor: many low-skill jobs (in factories, for example) are now located in the suburbs. However, there are immigrant groups (particularly those coming from Asia) that are highly educated and they too contribute to the increased number of immigrants in the suburbs as companies and businesses who employ these immigrants are also located in the suburbs.

Chicago 2016?

By now, most everyone has at least HEARD about the city's bid to host the 1016 Summer Olympics. Chicago is now the official United States bid city for those games, having beat out San Francisco. Are the odds stacked up against a city with a decaying transportation network from a country that has already hosted 8 games (if the Winter Games are counted)? The competition is formidable: Tokyo, Rio De Janeiro, Madrid, Doha, Baku and Prague. Mayor Daley has invested heavily in attempting to bring the games to the Windy City but in the end, only time will tell if Chicago will get to host the Olympic Games...although in 1904 Chicago was meant to host the games only to have them moved to St. Louis to coincide with the World's Fair in that city. Since then, Chicago has maintained its national and global importance while STL's has sunk considerably. Perhaps the city jinxed itself?

Property taxes and TIFs

Tax Increment Financing districts are ubiquitous in Chicago today. These funds take property tax money that would go directly into local parks and schools and are redirected into a general fund controlled by the Mayor. The general concensus in City Hall is that TIFs do not increase property taxes but, as any homeowner or renter whose housing bills have skyrocketed can attest, these taxes actually have increased. As property taxes increase so does the cost of living which can ultimately lead to the gentrification of the entire city since lower-income residents could no longer afford to live in the city. The effects of this are being felt already as many of those people pushed out of public housing have been unable to find housing within city limits due to exorbitant rents. This of course, weakens the very essence of the city of Chicago, a city that has always been a cross-section of diverging classes, not just those of higher-income. Of course, lower-income residents still live in the city and will continue to do so for some time but the less than visible push to eradicate them is already palpable.

Gentrification

Growing up in the suburbs I was not able to see gentrification slowly take hold but rather I have seen it more or less drastically change a particular location. Two parts of Chicago that I can specifically remember having gentrified since I have lived in the Chicagoland area (summer of 1997) are Wicker Park and Pilsen.

Wicker Park has obviously been gentrifying for quite a while now due to its location (near the Kennedy Expressway and served by the Damen Blue Line). I cannot speak for its state prior to 2003 but I have noticed that in the past few years independent businesses are giving way to either higher-scale businesses (high-end clothing boutiques) as well as to chain stores (Urban Outfitters, a bank where a coffee shop used to stand). The population has changed noticeably to include many more young urban professionals.

Pilsen is a location that is changing ever more rapidly, particularly the portions to the North (just south of the 16th St. viaduct). The first time I was ever in Pilsen in 1998 I remember it being dingy and dirty. These days, new condominium complexes are constantly going up and old two-flats are being remodeled and replaced. The ethnic character is changing as well, for every time I venture into Pilsen I see many more white people (apparently most are art students) than I ever would have a few years ago. However, Pilsen is still in the midst of change and remains a Mexican community for the most part, just as it was a Bohemian neighborhood prior to that.

Mexico City

I stumbled upon this site of aerial photographs of Mexico City while looking for a picture of a particular area to show a friend. The area is called Las Lomas and is visible in the picture to the left. I lived in Mexico City from November of 1990 to July of 1995 and I have many fond memories of the place (I was 8 years old when I left). More than anything else it is living in the ever-congested albeit relatively safe Narvarte-Del Valle neighborhood that has given me an appreciation for large cities and would eventually lead me to take this course. Mexico City holds almost 9 million people within its city limits (roughly equal to all of metropolitan Chicago) with an additional 20 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area creating the most populous urban area in the Americas.


As befits a city of such size, there is a little bit of everything with vibrant cultural scenes, industry of all kinds, shopping (both high and low-end), crime, pollution (the city lies on a valley surrounded by high mountains that trap smog) and breathtaking monuments and parks. Though the size of the rapid transit system dwarfs that of Chicago's it does not serve the entire breadth of the city and, much like Chicago and other world cities, it is the poorer areas that get shafted in terms of service. I have not been back since, as my family did not until recently receive permanent legal status in the United States, but I plan on doing so as soon as it becomes financially feasible. I yearn to again see a city filled with so many contrasts: old colonial districts and ever-growing skyscrapers, architecturally adventurous buildings and simple shacks built by squatters on the hillsides, tree-lined boulevards and crowded vecindades.

CTA Gray Line

This is a short post focusing on Mike Payne's proposal for the CTA using the Metra Electric line to serve as part of its system. Currently, the line is underutilized with in city limits because it is direct competition to CTA buses and does not run with the regularity required of CTA service. Getting the CTA and Metra to agree on such a project is rather daunting but, in my opinion a necessary step toward a world class transportation network, particularly with the upcoming Olympic bid on the line. This proposal would create direct access via CTA rapid transit from, say Grant Park to Hyde Park. Such an arrangement would be more easily conducted in cities such as Boston and New York, where city and commuter rail are managed under one agency. Additionally, as Payne is not an insider the odds are stacked against this plan ever occurring. More info available at the CTA Gray Line site.

Friday night lights

Last night I went to a show, a concert if you will, with some friends. Hardcore punk shows such as this are based on the DIY (do it yourself) ethos. That is, whenever possible the traditional music club circuit is eschewed in favor of off-the wall locales such as bingo halls and art galleries. Over the past year The Galaxie has become one of the show spaces of choice. Located near the intersection of Belmont, California and Elston in a former industrial warehouse which has been converted into an multimodal space hosting dance classes, art workshops, music classes as well as the occasional all ages hardcore show. It was somewhat of a momentous event because Vitamin X (from the Netherlands) had not played Chicago in about 5 years. Nick Baran- a hardcore elder statesman at the age of 34- had planned this show with low expectations due to the decreasing popularity of the particular substyle of punk that Vitamin X plays and the fact that the past few shows he had organized had been less than stellarly attended.


However, those fears were put to rest when show time came and it was well attended (by underground standards) with close to 200 paying. Chicago's hardcore and punk scenes are not exactly united, with its distinct subsets rarely playing together. This is not only because of the musical differences (though to people not familiar with punk, hardcore and metal it all sounds similar) but also due to geographic differences. There is a South Side scene centered in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods made up largely of Spanish speaking bands, a separate scene grew around the (now defunct) Albion House in Rogers Park and there are of course bands from the suburbs and Northwest Indiana that are all loosely interconnected in the umbrella of DIY. Baran attributed the success of this show to having bands from distinct subsets play in order to maximize the turnout: Cold Shoulder (from Northwest Indiana aka the far Southwest suburbs) brought along carloads of their friends; Intifada's niche was being a band made up of younger kids from the city; Poison Planet brought out a group of friends that have at least a working knowledge of the straight edge lifestyle; and Sin Orden is a band most commonly associated with the aforementioned South Side scene (and quite aptly as all their lyrics are in Spanish). The show itself was one of the best in recent memory with the bands receiving much crowd participation and singing along, two things that are most important in this genre. It made for an enjoyable start to my weekend. Additional pictures can be found here (all photos by Ryan Lowry).

Photographs of Chicago.

For this blog entry, I visited three image sites featuring Chicago as their subject.

First up is the site Revealing Chicago: An Aerial Portrait by Terry Evans. This is a collection of photographs taken from the air all around Chicagoland. The pictures are subdivided into themes: the lakefront, commerce and culture, infrastructure, city neighborhoods, chilling out, suburbs, farming, saved places in addition to maps showing the extent to which humans have changed the landscape in the past 200 years.
The concept behind taking aerial pictures is not unique to Evans but it is quite well executed. These photographs allowed me to see places from a vantage point that is not readily available. The varied themes create a breadth and scope that is hard to summarize but includes everything from run down, empty lots on the West Side to carefully manicured private yards in the northwest suburbs to a golf course built on a former landfill to a yard where containers are transferred from boats to trains and/or trucks. Captions are another strength of the website as I was not aware that "Chicago is the third largest intermodal port in the world, behind Singapore and Hong Kong." Most striking is the relative absence of people from the photographs, rendered insignificant by the distance between an aircraft and the ground. However, the effect of man upon the landscape is readily apparent- even in the section devoted to protected lands.

Next up is Picturing Chicago, an ongoing project by Carla G. Surratt. It is quite an ambitious overview of the city shot in stark black and white and more often than not focusing solely on the landscape (whether artificial or natural but mostly man-made). I did not have the patience to look at all of the photographs but they are very good at capturing the architectural and spatial integrity of the city and will undoubtedly serve as a great resource on the city of Chicago at the turn of the 21st Century.

For seeing pictures of the past is far more interesting than seeing pictures of places that you see regularly and are downright pedestrian as a result. The Chicago Imagebase, though fraught with broken links and pages in construction, is a collection of images within Chicagoland from the 19th Century to the present. These pictures come from varying sources but seem much more interesting to me, for the reasons I already mentioned.

As far as the pictures I enjoy taking within the city, I would have to say that I once approached it from the purely landscape based mindset that Picturing Chicago seems to take but grew increasingly bored with the compositions that resulted from it. What did I turn to? I modified it to include people, though not in the tourist "look-I-went-to-Millenium-Park" sense but rather of people milling around in their everyday business. This is much more easily achievable in Chicago between April and November as you can imagine...

Segregation in the City of Chicago

John Hagedorn has created a nifty little .gif file that plots the racial divide within the city of Chicago across the 20th Century, it is available here. To someone unacquainted with Chicago's history it might seem strange how drastically the ethnic makeup of the city's 77 community areas changes from decade to decade. The map is read as follows: blue denotes majority white population, red denotes majority black population, yellow denotes majority Latino population and green denotes majority Asian population while purple denotes no single ethnicity is in the majority. The black population grows from a corridor along South State St. following the Great Migration during World War I to a much bigger swath following the Second Great Migration during World War II to an even bigger area that includes much of the West Side after many (white) returning veterans took advantage of federal loans that encouraged home construction in new suburbs and particularly in "racially homogenous areas". This phenomenon is commonly referred to as white flight. In class it was pointed out that these policies were short-sighted as they effectively changed the makeup and economic vibrancy of the city in many ways.
In the last 3 decades of the 20th Century the segregation of the city changed from a purely black/white paradigm to one that included pockets of Latino population (particularly in Pilsen, Little Village and Humboldt Park), one community area becoming mostly Asian (Armour Square, which includes Chinatown) and many community areas, particularly in the North Side, having no ethnic majority by the end of the century. Some such as Rogers Park are the result of neighborhoods consisting of various ethnic groups sprang up in close vicinity and thrived while others such as West Town (which includes Wicker Park and the Ukrainian Village) and Logan Square have lost ethnic majorities due to gentrification, which usually consists first of young artists and students (typically white) and then of young professionals (again, typically white).
This map is using data that is already 8 years old and as such, it is slightly outdated.