Fall is Among Us
When thinking of my favorite block in the city, I had some trouble trying to choose between my favorite in the terms of things to do on the block and my favorite based on the way it made me feel. Mind over matter though, so inevitably I chose the block that made me feel like I belonged. This specific neighborhood reminds me of one back home called Maplewood, so that also influenced this decision. My decision to walk in Rogers Park was a decision I do not regret; an eclectic, residential area with an excess of charm is exactly the place that I want to be.
I started my adventure at 3:50. Walking off the L at the Morse stop, I was once again greeted by the brilliant murals that can be seen on nearly every wall in sight. Birds were chirping quite loudly, and the residents were walking at leisurely paces. From the get-go I could tell the streets themselves were not busy with car traffic, or foot traffic for that matter either. The main block I walked was Glenwood Ave., to Morse Ave., to Greenview Ave, down Lunt Ave. and back to Glenwood. On our walking tour with Wendy during immersion week, this was a block that Wendy mentioned was one of her favorites, and it has now become one of mine as well.
I walked along a narrow back road that gave cars a way to their alleys, with an uneven sidewalk along one side and a stretch of murals along the other. I am not too sure what I expected, but there were a notable amount of people walking around; from families to couples, to students on their way home from school. Down Morse, there was many small, “hole-in-the-wall” type restaurants and clubs; one in particular was a Chinese restaurant, and the smell of fried rice was overwhelming as I passed by. This road felt like much more than just a back road, the character it held from the murals to the brick road, to the small businesses, Morse was different, it was a place that not only knew and accepted its flaws and individual style but it embraced it and welcomed anyone willing to do the same.
Staying on the west side of the CTA, I began to walk down Glenwood. Across the street you can see Morse ‘L’ Drugs, to my right I passed multiple ethnic restaurants, mainly Mexican and East Asian, and the occasional barber or tattoo parlor. Not going to lie, this side of the block smelled strongly of weed, I could not tell you why since it did not anywhere else. Eventually, I got to the grocery store that Wendy walked us through the day we went on the walking tour. We walked through it so quickly that I did not get a great feel of it, so I decided to go in and explore it once again. Outside they were ready for fall; with a cart that held 10 pots of mums and 2 huge containers filled to the brim with pumpkins. I am a sucker for anything related to fall, so I almost caved and bought one of everything until I realized that I couldn’t even keep my succulent alive and that pumpkins are not allowed in the dorms.
Once I got over this depressing realization I decide to enter the store, and an immediate sense of community engulfed me; I heard at least 3 different languages being spoken between customer and worker, one of them I recognized as Spanish. It is not necessarily right in your face noticeable, but the diversity in different foods differed greatly in this grocery store than in any I have ever been in before; I could swear there were 20 different types of rice alongside the 20 different types of bagged beans, and there were two sections of wall hooks dedicated to Hispanic spices, some of which I have never heard of. Exiting the store, I saw the pumpkins again and had to avert my attention to the road instead, I am sure I would have cracked if I looked at them a second longer.
Turning down Greenview, it felt like an entirely new block. Instead of stores and restaurants, it was all residential; brick apartment complexes lined the street, each with their own individual security gates. This is where it became for family centered, mainly medium-sized dogs were out and about dragging their owners down the sidewalk and kids were outside playing in their school uniforms. I would also like to give a shout out to whoever was jamming out to Rolling in The Deep in their yard, they were killin’ it! No single-family homes were in sight, no driveways, no garages just the street available for parking and a sidewalk for kids to play on. Each fence seemed to have one of two signs, either a “No Loitering” sign or a “No Trespassing” one. Despite the lack of suburbia that I am used to, there was just enough green space behind the security gate to where I can associate it with the feeling of home.
Then it came time for the last street to complete my block, Lunt Ave. I can once again see the CTA ahead of me, and the murals reappear in my line of vision (oh how I missed them). On my left were more apartments, still in the standard light colored brick with the metal security fence. Over the course of my walk, I saw more and more uniformed school kids making their way home, trying to fish their keys out of the bottom of their bags. Along with this stretch there were more “No Loitering” and one that said “Do Not Feed Pigeons”, that is one sign that I never thought I would see. To my right, however, the view was entirely different; the majority of the block was taken up by the Heartland Cafe. A quirky restaurant to fit the quirky vibe of the neighborhood; with a small convenience store inside with organic options and the menu having variety of dishes ranging from vegetarian to gluten-free options, it truly caters to the area of eclectic people. While sitting outside of the patio seating for the Heartland Cafe I overheard a guy talking about a petition he was passing around; I am still not sure what it was for since he got into an argument with someone else over Trump’s election.
“Why is a good steak house usually in an old building?” Why indeed? Based on your reading of Jacobs’s article, why is a good steak house usually in an old building? Are there any good Chicago steak houses in old buildings?
Jacob’s talks about how a street where everyone congregates on is one that is comprised of both new and old buildings. New construction is normally extravagant and mostly built to fulfill the purpose of an office building; old buildings, however, are more quirky and difficult to change to modern aesthetic, yet are normally pricier to rent space in. Along these major streets, there are stores and restaurants with all types of yield, yet every owner holds a great amount of pride in their establishment. Most of the time, a good steak house is a higher-end, fancy place; the building is beautiful, lights dim, and the aroma is not hidden. These types of restaurants are normally found in older buildings because it pertains to the type of setting they wish to give off, a comfortable, welcoming vibe that matches the price you will be paying. This concept of a store matching its placement can go hand-in-hand with other establishments as well. For example, an art gallery is normally found in a smaller “hole-in-the-wall” place in an eccentric area, which directly relates back to the perceived artist culture. I am not from Chicago and I really do not like steak, but I have a feeling that there are some good steak houses along major streets in the Loop like Michigan or State.
