A Field Guide To New Neighborhood
When I was around six years old, my family would move around a lot. The reasons depended a lot, it was usually because the place was too small for our growing family or there were issues with the landlord. Eventually when I was eight years old, my family settled in an apartment in Albany. Whenever I think of home, I think back to that apartment. I was very close to the children that lived in the same apartment complex as well as the neighbors because we did not have a fence separating our backyards. We would go around the block playing dig dog ditch or hide and seek. I gained my independence in that apartment.
Due to the resources available in that neighborhood, we had a Family Dollar less than a block away. I was trusted to go and get us a soda whenever my mom was too busy. I always loved walking to the store. The difference between the block I lived in and the one between the store was very interesting. My block was just full of apartment buildings but the other block was full of houses. Whenever I walked by, I would stop to admire the houses and think of when I will have a home of my own.
I was also trusted to go to school by myself. Even if there was a high school and middle school a couple blocks away from my house, I choose to attend a school located in the Belmont Cragin. I did this because I knew I would have more opportunities opened for me, and I was not wrong. I would have to walk a couple of blocks to wait for my bus, so I took the Kimball bus. I was usually waiting for the bus at 7:15 because I hated packed buses and it made me feel claustrophobic.
It is about to be two years since I moved from that apartment, since then I have moved two times. The first day I moved, Chicago had the worst weather. It was freezing cold, it was the coldest day for a really long time it had been in the negatives. I then moved during the summer right when I started my last year in high school. I now live in a suburban area, Norridge.
It has been a hard adjustment from the busy Chicago I know. I grew up being able to hear the cars pass by at all times, the sound of a siren going off, or a police car passing by. In this neighborhood, everything is so quiet. It feels like a ghost town, for a period of time I was convinced that no one lived in the houses around us. It was so funny to my family because we are very loud people. I once went outside to get something and I was able to hear the Spanish music my mother had been playing. I honestly did not feel comfortable in this new house. It did not feel like home and I felt as if I was an intruder in the neighborhood.
The first time I took the bus home, I did not get off on the right stop. I felt so embarrassed that had not happened to me in such a long time. But eventually I realized my mistake and got it right. Being able to manage the bus transportation was important because it was sort of a connection to my old home and something I can continue doing here.
Anyone should be able to feel at home. Anyone has the right to the city, no matter your background. I felt that this was denied to me by my neighborhood. In Week 8, the Folded Project portrays the differences between the north and south neighborhoods from the same areas. The south tended to be more beat up and lack of resources while the north was thriving with life. It seems it’s because Suburbs and gated communities have the ability to deny access. They are able to do this because most of the people living in the homes. These people are older, have lived longer in the community and have more money and resources. When I started to walk more, I felt denied and pushed back at first. But the more I got to know the neighborhood the more I felt a connection form. I was not going to be pushed back from this neighborhood just because of some people. I sort of had this moment when I saw the cute tiny house I liked very much was demolished and was being built for a newer look.
In Week 9, focal points and punctuation were discussed, both How to make an Attractive City and Downtown is for People bringing up that people are attracted to go out if there is something to see. I think the lack of people in my neighborhood is based on there being nothing to go look. I think this is why it has such a closed off environment, not open to others. The neighborhood does not allow people to come in because there are no stores, everything is more of a car errand.
After the many walks I took, I had another moment when I realized that it wad dumb of me to feel bad about being part of this neighborhood. I noticed that the houses were very similar, the structure to them. That made me think that even if the people living in the homes are different from me, our homes bring us together and that is one thing that we can share. That is why I took pictures of different homes that whenever I passed by them they caught my attention. I thought to myself if the house is the same from the inside as my home. I thought about how much care the family put into the home because some had gardens. These little things helped me feel more at home, like I was back in Albany Park because I have always admired houses. These small things from the walks were key takeaways for me that I will always appreciate.
