been around the block

for my favorite block in chicago, i chose the area around ogilvie train station. i circled around washington blvd, canal street, madison street and clinton street. i chose this block as my favorite because i’ve been so many times. nearly every time i came into chicago when i was younger, we would take the metra from our town into ogilvie. a few times my friend and i would drive to oak park and take the blue line into the city, but whenever i went with my family and we didn’t want to drive we would come in this way.

i love ogilvie train station because it seemed really big and magical when i was younger. i went to ogilvie on sunday afternoon, even though i wasn’t planning on going back home. i walked around by each of the restaurants but didn’t get anything. however, i did buy a poke bowl in the french market underneath ogilvie station, which i did not know about until last year. it’s my favorite place because there are so many different restaurants and foods and types of produce all in one cramped area.

lots of people come from work to get dinner or coffee, or to grab something right before they get on the train. i really like the pirogi place because the one lady i always see there is so nice and sometimes she gives me some extra pirogis for free.

after i went to the french market, i went back up to street level and took a right on to canal street. apparently i had come at a busy time (or maybe that area is always busy, with all the trains from ogilvie and union station coming in constantly) because a lot of people were waiting to cross the street with me. it always smells nice on that corner because of the dunkin donuts, although i’ve never actually been to any dunkin before. my mom works at starbucks so i usually get free drinks from her, and i’ve just grown used to their brews and coffees.

as i walk down canal street i try to pay attention to my surroundings, but it can also be hard because everybody is rushing to get to where they’re going, and if you’re too slow they either shove you, make an aggressive comment, or angrily walk past you.

although it’s pretty cold (at least for me) there are lots of touristy looking people, or people just out enjoying themselves. i’ve bundled myself up in a puffy jacket i just bought from a thrift store the other day, a scarf, a hat, and expensive gloves my mom made me buy because she didn’t want me to take hers when i moved to college. even though it’s chilly there are still lots of people, which reminds me of the prompt for this exploration.

what i think makes this block so walkable is because its intention is to capture the attention of people making their daily commutes. there are coffee shops for people who are exhausted from their jobs or are on their way to study somewhere. there are lots of amazing restaurants, because since this area is kind of tourist — or at least ‘explorer’ — heavy, people know they can make a lot of money off of really good food, which also leaves a good impression for chicago in general.

although it’s not exactly the prettiest, the architecture is really admirable. i’ve always been a city person so i like the tall buildings. because a lot of people track through this area, there is also a general cleanliness, although sometimes people will toss aside cigarette butts or empty coffee cups carelessly.

i pass union station, which i’ve only been inside of once, when i was meeting my two roommates in person for the first time. i don’t really like union station, i think it’s because i’m so used to ogilvie. i don’t like union because the ceilings are very low and it’s really dark, and they don’t have panda express, unlike ogilvie, which is my favorite restaurant. the space outside union station tends to be a little dirtier, too. maybe it’s just the same but the impression that the buildings give off is different. ogilvie is made of tall, sparkling glass, and union station is made of dark, bland stone with creepy pillars. union station also feels a lot more cramped than ogilvie, because of how it’s laid out, and it makes me uncomfortable.

i find myself noticing more negative things as i walk past union station, like more trash littered by the curb of the street, or a man experiencing homelessness calling out for me, and i end up walking faster. as i turn on the next corner, i see a divy bike station.

i think this also gives off the impression of a more ‘walkable’ space, because whenever i notice divy bikes i think it makes people think about how it’s probably easier to navigate that area and trust drivers (although, can you ever really trust drivers in the city?). i’ve never used one of the divy bikes before, but i really want to try them sometime, especially since there’s a station right outside my dorm.

finally, going down washington blvd, i go through the underpass. i’ve always been scared of underpasses because it’s harder to see and you don’t always know what could be hiding in there. if i have to go under one, it’s always during the day, and i walk close to other pedestrians or my friends if i’m not alone.

it’s really loud because the cards bumping around echoes off the walls, and i quickly exit the underpass tunnel thing and end up back by ogilvie, where i take an uber to the nearby red line station and make my way back to my dorm.

field notes:

• lots of cigarette butts (i lost count)
• a party bus trying to get groups of people, which reminds me of when my friends and i took a ride on one when we were going to a cubs game
• a business man smashing his briefcase in the revolving door on accident
• large groups of people boarding trains inside the ogilvie station
• a man experiencing homelessness outside union station
• the smell of really sweet coffee outside dunkin donuts
• a weird trash smell in the tunnel on washington blvd
• a crowd of people leaving union station, probably because a train arrived
• an important looking business woman on the phone while walking really quickly
• a man pushing a stroller with two kids in it

According to Jacobs, why are “punctuations” and “focal points” important to the life of the street and downtown? What are some “punctuations” and “focal points” around DePaul’s LPC and/or Loop campuses?

jacobs claims that ‘punctuations’ in the city are important because they give the everyday pedestrian something to look forward to, or distract themselves. in a sense, these punctuations are small pockets of joy, like entertaining sculptures or nice areas of greenery.

some punctuations i find in the lincoln park campus are obvious things like the quad, but also the nice area outside of the arts and letters hall. i really like that space because it looks very garden-esque, even though it’s in a very academic-centric area. i also think that the ufo garden is a really nice punctuation. i recently joined ufo, which stands for urban farming organization. i love going there because i used to garden a lot with my mom, so here i can do the same things with her like pull weeds and bring home produce from the garden. it’s by the cta, which is funny because when you’re in the middle of the garden it feels like you’re in the suburbs, until you hear the train roaring past every few minutes.