Irish It Wasn’t So Irish

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walking chicago: a windy city atlas

6 min readOct 24, 2018

The story of my map is simple. “What’s Edison Park?” is a question that usually follows when asked where I live. And of course, my go to answer is “It’s the Irish-Catholic white suburbia of Chicago.” People usually get the idea. I thought about that and I figured I would put my own statement to the test. I decided to ask people what their heritages were in order to see if the people I talked to were Irish. In addition, I decided to look up statistics to compare my experience to the factual side of things. The results were both unsurprising and expected.

My shows Edison Park the way I see it. The stars on my map are places where I encountered the people I spoke with. It also shows. The way I took was on my way home while walking my dog. My map’s purpose is to shows the information gathered. It shows where I met people of different heritages in Edison Park. “As we walked, we began to talk to each other; newly bonded through song, we went in search of what we had in common, swinging across the river and plunging into darkening streets.” (Hollis). This is kind of what I did when investigating my own neighborhood. Even with the first person I spoke to, we automatically hit it off together. She spoke with me about her experiences in Edison Park and what we liked that we had in common. She was kind, sweet, and wise. The mood, in all obvious reality, is investigative. I investigated Edison Park and its roots.

I made this map in Edison Park during the hours of 2–5:30 pm. It was exciting and nerve-racking. The people I spoke with were all very kind and understanding when I told them about my project. Everyone was accommodating and willing to tell me all about their heritage. Once people realized why I was questioning them, they all got excited to tell me what was going on and where they were from.

Northern most of Edison Park is Howard Street. To the Southern border is Devon and Palatine Avenues. The Eastern border is Harlem. Finally, the Western border is mainly Ozanam Avenue, and the rest of the borders are in between streets, unable to be named. The Eastern border is touched by Brooks Park. Olympia Park is in the South, as is the Metra. Stock School is in the North. Touhy Avenue cuts through practically half of Edison Park. I included the roads that mattered in my map, including the one I live on, the main streets, the ones that I travelled on, and the ones in between the cut of the border. Edison Park has many small streets, so listing all of them would have been a little difficult and tight on the paper. I listed a compass that pointed in the direction that made most sense, since that’s what it looked like on google maps.

I starred where I spoke with people about their heritage, as well as other notable places in Edison Park. These places include my home, Olympia Park and Stock School. The parks in Edison Park are there because they matter to the people who use them. They’re there because people love using the space given to them. Stock is a school for children, some of which have disabilities. I almost shadowed there my junior year when in the practicum program at my high school. My house is in Edison Park because it’s a house. I live there. No other explanation. “Every one of these projections comes with trade offs in shape, distance, direction and land area” (Vox). Of course, my map is not exact. No map ever is. I know for a fact that my map is a little too wide and a little too short. That is why many maps are not all the same.

“Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness,” written by Carl Sandburg. My map shows how strong and diverse Edison Park can be. It shows that it is not just the Irish capital of Chicago. It can also be just like any other suburb or neighborhood in Chicago. Edison Park itself is different. Walking Edison Park is a whole different ball game. It’s quieter, nicer, and sometimes more fun than downtown itself. The map itself gives off the impression that there is more to Edison Park than the rumors told about it. Chicago is more than just the Bean and skyscrapers.

My neighborhood is a walkable, breathable neighborhood. It is small yet large in certain aspects. When I first started walking, I was nervous to ask people in my neighborhood where their ancestors were from. Everyone was so accommodating that in no time, I was talking to people left and right. It was easy to speak to people and most times, a simple question led to full on conversations. However, my thesis was wrong. Although Edison Park is not entirely Irish, 26% of those I spoke with were. When doing research, 88.8% of people were documented as white. Of those 88.8% could be any number of Irish descended citizens living where I do. Other heritages include Swedish, Japanese, Mexican, and many others. It was interesting to see how diverse people can be. With one small glance, many people in Edison Park look to be a race that which they are not. And yet, when you investigate, you see that it is both the same and different at the same time.

Living in Edison Park has made it very livable and very walkable. I have no regrets growing up where I did. Therefore, I walk with confidence, feeling safe and well protected. I feel happy and privileged to grow up in a tight knit, safe, close community. The map I drew accurately describes the community I am a part of, even if that community can be seen as something else to those who live outside it. I am glad I chose to do this project the way I did. I learned a lot more than I would have if I had simply walked my way through Edison Park. I have learned from my experiences throughout this quarter, especially during immersion week. I got to experience and know my neighborhood a little better while also seeing sides of the city itself that I never would have seen otherwise. For that, I’m grateful.