Appreciating My New Home, Chicago
Cassopolis is where I lived before coming to Chicago. Cassopolis is a rural Michigan town that has a population of about 1,700 and is so small it is considered a village. Moving from Cassopolis to Chicago was a huge change. When I moved into Ozanam Hall, I knew that I had fallen in love with my new home. From that day on, I have come to appreciate and love my new home even more. Throughout this essay, I have linked pictures with descriptions and their significance to me and my essay. In my opinion, to appreciate a place, you have to know it. You have to walk around the area you live in and pay attention to the details around you, to truly know the place you call home. I have attached a picture from the train station of my new home.
Before I moved to Chicago, I was constantly told that I should be careful, that Chicago is dangerous, and that I should never walk alone. These comments did not scare me nor make me reconsider my decision, they simply annoyed me and got me thinking. I began to think, are people trying to scare me? Granted, I knew that some of these people have only lived in rural Michigan but still, where was this idea of fear and danger created? As I have continued to walk with these thoughts, I have found how wrong these people actually are. Chicago is an amazing place that is full of experiences and is something that should be explored. It is not a city full of scary, dangerous people, it is a community with scary, dangerous individuals but it is filled with kind, welcoming people. This is best portrayed through a photo I took while walking through Lincoln Park. This is one of many positive affirmations that are spread around Lincoln Park.
Knowing the city can start with more than just walking, you can start with research. Looking at websites of places nearby or city websites can be a great way to get to know your city. One website that allows people to obtain knowledge of their city and neighborhoods is chicago.gov. This is a website that gives you a tremendous amount of information. You can look at the government and its happenings, programs, history, and so much more. In my opinion, the facts and statistics page gives the best information. From this page, you can learn so much about Chicago as a whole and begin to learn about the different neighborhoods. This is another way to begin to know where your home is and appreciate it. Below I have attached a picture that I truly appreciate from my new home. It is a view of the skyline from a bridge in Lincoln Park
While walking, you begin to notice how much the city offers. It offers community, homes, family, friends, and whatever else you are looking for. In Rebecca Solnit’s “The Solitary Stroller and the City,” she writes, “Cities have always offered anonymity, variety, and conjunction, qualities best basked in by walking” (p. 182). The city has offered me so much as I continue to walk and explore every single day. I experience anonymity every day that I walk. When I walk, I am just another person, just someone who other people are ignoring and looking past. I can remain anonymous to everyone around me. The variety that Solnit mentions is the main reason why I fell in love with the city. Each neighborhood is different and to focus even more, each street is different. The city offers a variety of things to see and do. All of these experiences in Chicago have given me so many reasons to love where I live. They have made the city seem less scary and more welcoming. Below this paragraph, you will see a picture of my favorite experience in Chicago, my first time seeing the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool. It is a relaxing, quiet garden with so many hidden nocks.
Walking goes along with a variety of things. Eating, drinking, sightseeing, and so many other things. This is similar to what Rebecca Solnit expresses in “The Solitary Stroller and the City.” She says, “Cities are forever spawning lists” (p. 202). Solnit implies that cities go along with walking and lists, which is true in my experience. Walking in cities goes hand in hand with lists because when you walk you look around. When you look around you, you notice the city around you and from that, you create lists of what you see. Walking around Chicago, I have made lists of a variety of items, restaurants, parks, shops, homes, and so many other things. When I walk, I make lists of the things I see, smell, touch, and hear. During Immersion week, when we walked down Division Street, I made lists about each neighborhood we walked through. Making these mental lists has allowed me to remember small details about my neighborhood and start to become a citizen. Below is a picture of a little pond in Lincoln Park that could be made into several lists.
Being a citizen can mean a lot of different things to different people. To some, it is based on legal documents, while others see it as how active you are in the community. This is an idea that author Leo Hollis writes about in his article titled “Cities Belong to Us.” Hollis writes about how it is the duty of the people who live in these cities and neighborhoods to show up and know where they live. People need to know about their homes and neighborhoods to truly appreciate living there. This is shown through something Hollis wrote, “It shows ordinary citizens how, just by doing something, ‘that’ problem turns into ‘our’ problem, and eventually into ‘our neighbourhood’.” Hollis explains my point of having to be involved to be a citizen. You have to be involved and know your home to appreciate it. A major issue in many neighborhoods is gentrification, this fight is best depicted in various neighborhoods through murals and public art pieces. I have attached a picture of a mural in Old Town depicting people of color supporting the LGBT.
When I began this class, I decided that I would walk every day. This is partly because I enjoy walking and partly because I need to know my new neighborhood. As I have continued to walk every day, I have noticed a few things. I am excited to walk and excited to see new details about the world around me. I enjoy taking new routes. This is similar to what author Lauren Elkin says in her article titled “Radical Flâneuserie.” Elkin says “The flâneuse is someone who gets to know the city by wandering its streets, investigating its dark corners, peering behind its facades, penetrating its secret courtyards.” Elkin is saying discovering your city can be more than getting lost. You can get to know a place by having a purpose and knowing what you want to look for. This is just another way to know the city you live in. Below is a picture of a courtyard that I was not supposed to be in but the gate was propped open. I was punished by the universe when the cat appeared.
People should walk around and get to know where they live for a variety of reasons. You should walk around and get to know where you live to become part of the community. Being a part of the community you live in brings joy and people to connect with. Knowing your city makes you a citizen, it makes you someone who cares about your city and the development of it. Walking can allow you to see things you have never seen before or see things from new perspectives. While knowing your city and appreciating it can be different things to different people, to me you have to walk and immerse yourself in the city to truly feel this way.
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Works Cited
“Chicago.” City of Chicago, www.chicago.gov/city/en.html. Accessed 19 Oct. 2023.
Elkin, Lauren. “Radical Flâneuserie.” The Paris Review, 31 Oct. 2016, www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/08/25/radical-flaneuserie/.
Hollis, Leo. “Cities Belong to Us.” Edited by Marina Benjamin, Aeon, 18 June 2013, aeon.co/essays/cities-thrive-when-public-space-is-open-to-all.
Solnit, Rebecca. Wanderlust: A History of Walking. Granta, 2000.
