Paws of ChiTown

Paws of Chitown

I step off the plane, it’s 4:35 P.M. The air is hot to my surprise, and the wind is cool. It makes for the “most beautiful day of the summer”, a lady in my hotel elevator said to me. It has been my first day in Chicago, and also- my first time in Chicago. I imagined Chicago to be a city where the grey 1000 foot skyscrapers dominated the views and downtown was the place to be if you wanted to experience the night scene in the city. I imagined Chicago to have hotdog stands on every corner and for the sound of screaming Cubs fans to echo from street to street. What I got, however, was so much more. I define Chicago as a place where every neighborhood tells a story. It is a place where you can walk to wherever you want, and if it’s too far- take public transportation and walk some more. It is a place where walking has made me feel genuinely good. In The End of Walking by Antonia Malchik, she claims “…Nearly everything our family uses daily is within about a mile’s walk of home and well-served by wide, uncrowded sidewalks,” this had an impact on me specifically because sidewalks have been a tool that have allowed me to explore this city I now call home in a safe manner. It is a city where every individual neighborhood and even street has a unique flare that interests, educates, and entertains. Chicago is a place where opportunity lay and within every step you take- you a create a story. Since I first stepped off the plane up until now, writing this essay in my dorm I have officially considered myself settled into, I realize that there has been a common (yet uncommonly thought of) thread. Over all of the many, many streets I have walked, the one thing that I have noticed that has been everywhere in all different shapes, sizes and forms, is a thing that I believe can help me tell a great story of Chicago. This thing, is Dogs.

This expressive art of walking has taken me to a place in my mind where I have come to realize the strong connection of dogs to neighborhoods. It is something that has been right in front of my face and yet I have chosen to ignore the obvious signs. The main point of my map and overall structure is the relationship between the demographic area, culture, and individuals residing in the neighborhoods to a direct correlation of the type of dogs that live within. In Krygier & Wood- Ce n’est pas le monde, the author exclaims “The map’s implicit challenge is not simply to find an instance of a this or a there, but to find that this is there precisely where there is this,” showed to me that when making my map, it was critical to walk with an open eye and discover a deeper meaning to the streets and what is is exactly that I chose to map, dogs. I decided to do this my aligning 7 streets across (Western, Damen, Ashland, Racine, Halsted, Stewart, and State) and 8 streets long (Diversey, Fullerton, Armitage, North, Division, Chicago, and Kinzie) which will give a view of the neighborhoods and demonstrate how I commuted to each one. The journey of my map has taken me to four of my favorite neighborhoods in Chicago. Lincoln Park, or “Lincoln Bark”, which is the new name I have adapted for it now as I like to call it, River North, Wicker Park, and last but not least- Humboldt Park. These neighborhoods have truly left their paw mark on me, both metaphorically and physically. I noticed so many different things about the types of dogs in each neighborhood. I have decided to use these observations about the specific, different types of dogs as a main symbol in my map. Included in the key, I decided to form the symbols by firstly, the types of dogs seen prevalent in each neighborhood I explored. The second thing I decided to do to contribute to the symbols in my map is sidewalks and walkable areas on the streets signified by a paw to tie into the theme of the map, dog’s, public water fountain signified by a dog water bowl, and parks signified by a park sign with a dog next to it. I felt that it was crucial to include these public goods on the map because they are things that help us all walk around Chicago fluidly. These public goods are contributions to the city and to the people of Chicago that make all of our walking that much more enjoyable and efficient. Walking with a purpose, or walking aimlessly- a story is being told, and with public goods such as a park, water fountain, or sidewalk- it helps stabilize healthier communities and promotes mobility- something I have learned Chicago is all about. In Jacobs’ Downtown Is For People, he states “…They will be stable and symmetrical and orderly. They will be clean, impressive, and monumental…”, in relation to discussing new additions and improvement to downtown, which contests for the fact that Chicago’s streets are utterly manicured- whether it be Downtown where flowers are planted on every sidewalk, or in Humboldt Park where paintings and illustrations resemble the Puerto Rican influence and contribute to the character in the streets.

I have come to experience this place called Chicago by learning the true nature of each of my chosen neighborhoods. In Lincoln Park, the dog’s that I have come to see the most of have been an Airedale Terrier and Bernese Mountain Dog. Why might this be? Well, owners of Airedale Terrier’s and Bernese Mountain Dogs can expect to pay anywhere between $2700- $3000. That is a pretty pricey pup, and what I can conclude from this relates back to the neighborhood. Lincoln Park, a historically significant neighborhood, has very high priced reality. This would explain the reason that the residents living in these beautiful, historical, premiumly crafted homes frequently own these two types of dogs. With these dogs being particularly large, it is reasonable to assume that the people in these homes have a big enough house to shelter these dogs, and have a certain income to have a big enough backyard for these dogs, or enough income to hire a dog walker. These characteristics about the neighborhood are more than just stereotypes of the area, they help showcase the demographic of the area and how that ties into the type of dog/breed of dog that the population of the area would own. In River North, the common type of dog I saw in this area was an American Cocker Spaniel. Similar in price range of the previously listed dog breeds, purebred American Cocker Spaniels range from $1500-$3500 depending on fur color and specific type. From the observations of the dog in every aspect, from type of leash, owner identity, and environment in which I saw them in, it helped me to better understand the economic class of the residents in River North. I thought to myself, why might the residents in this area choose an American Cocker Spaniel over a Bernese Mountain Dog, or an Airedale Terrier? Thinking further into it, I learned by walking that in the neighborhood of River North, there are a lot fewer single family homes and a lot more apartments, and even shabbier, penthouse style apartments. The very glamorous neighborhood and residents may choose to own a smaller dog in preference to a larger dog, due to living situations. Humboldt Park, ever since we first explored it on Discover Week, has honestly been my favorite neighborhood. This was the easiest neighborhood to go back and walk around because of the Puerto Rican influence that interests me greatly. The Puerto Rican influence that has been seen in Humboldt Park since the 70’s, explained to me why when I walked in this area I saw an abundance of Chihuahuas. The hispanic influence in the neighborhood directly connects to the preferred dog of choice, a chihuahua. The beautiful area, unfortunately, has a higher crime rate ranked as the 12th most dangerous area of Chicago out of 77 communities. This explains why the residents pay a huge difference in price for reality in the area as compared to the other neighborhoods I explored. Last but certainly not least, Wicker Park: which I now know as the trendy, hip area of Chicago with cute cafes and hipsters. The common dog seen in this area? Pitbull. At first, I couldn’t understand why this might be. Why did so many residents in this area own pitbulls? Then, I came to the realization: This trendy area hosts residents of a certain kind: hipsters looking for a cause. While it may sound like a generalization, it is not a statement I mean to be too blunt, rather informative. A lot of young, millennial hipsters reside in Wicker Park, and something that hipsters and young people in this generation are well known for, is protesting for social justice and a lot of the time, hipsters represent a very liberal view on certain topics. In this case, the pitbull phenomenon is a controversy everywhere due to a myriad of reasons. Pitbulls have gotten a horrible rap over recent years due to viscous attacks leading to society deeming them too dangerous to be around children and in public in general. A lot of people now days are dismissing this view with an upper hand claiming that these dogs are just as capable of being great dogs to own as any other. The confusion may lie where social justice and dogs don’t really coordinate, however, I believe that a lot of younger people, especially people who live in a hip area in a Metropolitan city, are more likely to have this breed of dog than in other areas due to the Millennial tendency to preach for social justice and protest, even if it is about an animal.

What walking through these streets can tell me is that based on certain factors of lifestyle, people choose their dogs accordingly, and by choosing a certain type of dog, it shows the commonality of a neighborhood. This, has helped me learn about the neighborhoods of Chicago, the differences, characteristics, and history, and therefore has helped me personally map my own Chicago. In conclusion, I have learned ultimately that no matter the time frame of when I went to these neighborhoods, I always walked back home with a sense of purpose and a sense of feeling like I had come up with a resolution for myself. What I mean by this, is that Chicago’s streets, and more specifically these four neighborhoods I have chosen to map intently, produce so much character that it inspires me daily to try new things, meet new people, and explore new places and through the sight of dogs I have gained a better understanding of the environment in which I surround myself in.

Works Cited

Malchik, Antonia. “Step by Step, Americans Are Sacrificing the Right to Walk — Antonia Malchik | Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon, 24 Oct. 2017, aeon.co/essays/step-by-step-americans-are-sacrificing-the-right-to-walk.

Tseng, Nin-Hai. “Downtown Is for People (Fortune Classic, 1958).” Fortune, Jane Jacobs, 18 Sept. 2011, fortune.com/2011/09/18/downtown-is-for-people-fortune-classic-1958/.

America, By: PEN. “John Krygier/Denis Wood: Ce N?Est Pas Le Monde.” PEN America, 7 Mar. 2012, pen.org/john-krygierdenis-wood-ce-nest-pas-le-monde/.