Immersive Week In Chicago
“She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time.” — Mark Twain
The most influential day I had in immersion week was when we started our walk on the gold coast and ended in Humbolt Park. We started our journey with a bird’s eye view of the city. The beauty of the skyline was oddly deceiving, we thought we could see it all, but the most important part of the city was missing, its character. We left the sky deck of the Hancock building and went to the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is a little hideaway for the rich and powerful here in Chicago. The streets are quiet and clean, the stores are designer brands, The people look rich, and the houses are immaculate. There was something dystopian about the neighborhood. It almost feels too perfect, but this perfection comes at a price. There is no feeling of community, no soul, no passion.
Our journey then led us to Old Town. A younger, more vibrant part of the city. The streets are filled with nice restaurants and fun boutiques. Out of all the neighborhoods we walked through in the city this is the one I could see myself living in the most. The youthful energy of the neighborhood really drew me in. There was a taco restaurant with beautiful graffiti and art on the side. It felt like the neighborhood was designed for 20–28-year old’s, this really drew me into the vibe of the neighborhood. Old Town felt like home. I am from an incredibly young and high-energy city and the energy of Old Town, and my hometown of Ann Arbor Michigan just matched. Which made me love this neighborhood even more.
Our walk then led us to Humbolt Park. Humbolt Park is a lower-income Puerto Rican neighborhood Southwest of Lincoln Park. My biggest takeaway from this part of the walk was the sense of community. I have yet to see a neighborhood come together and work together as I saw in Humbolt Park. It is like one big family. Humbolt park is a lower-income area, and it is starting to see the effects of gentrification. The neighborhood still has all the local stores that you would expect and the strong Puerto Rican population but mixed in with the thriving community is a new wave of luxury apartments and corporate chains. The locals are trying to fight off this off as this will lead to rises in rent and overall prices and some families will be priced out. Overall Humbolt is the strongest community I have seen since living in Chicago and I am extremely interested to see what happens there over the next ten years.
