Dark vs Night

When I go on walks now I find myself not feeling like a stranger whatsoever. The first time versus now seem very different to me. I’ve lived in Chicago for about two months now and I already feel a part of this beautiful city. It all feels very normal to me now and one of those contributing factors is going on these walks. Walking around and just looking at things, at the moment you have no idea but it creates this sort of connection with you and the city. You have things you remember now and can feel yourself getting more comfortable. When you think of yourself as a citizen you now feel as if you have the right to go wherever you feel. Finally go do the things you have already wanted to do and see. It makes the places and people around you a lot less intimidating and brings you inside a little community. You never feel as if you are truly a part of something unless you actually go put yourself out there no matter what it is. You always have to try something different in order to truly find yourself and what you like as a person. Public spaces are a great way to just become more aware of the city and what it has to offer. The people, events, scenes, whatever it may be, public spaces provide a lot of interaction and can really help someone feel more comfortable with wherever they may be.

Krygier and Wood say, “Maps are propositions in graphic form” (123). A map is just affirming what there already is. Whether it is a street or a restaurant the map gives us affirmation that the place is there. They question whether maps are representations of anything. When you think of a map you feel as if it is a representation of the city or state or whatever it may be. So saying that maps are propositions and think of it as more of a statement is very interesting. All that a map is doing is just letting you know where stuff is and nothing else. It can tell you where a church is with a little marking but not much else. The way I view Chicago hasn’t really changed, you can’t see the diversity and emptiness of streets on a map but something that I already had in mind. People make maps to help people navigate around the city or country. Maps are political because they show you the boundaries of a city’s streets and towns, the waterways, churches and everything in between. This reading kind of adds on to show you that you have to actually indulge yourself in the city to fully understand all of it and not just look at pictures and get to know everything.