The Color Walk -Week 5
6:28 pm I begin my walk with the colors Blue and Gray. Arriving at the corner of Belleplaine and Octavia, in Norridge, my hometown, I notice the street sign pole matches really well with my gray.
6:29 pm It’s slightly drizzling and the cool, crisp air and smell outside reminds me of the upcoming fall season.
6:32 Walking down Octavia, we approach the Rolling Stones building, which matches one of my colors.
6:34 pm As we’re walking into hip parking lot, there is a lot of pigeon poop. The parking lot has an old, musty smell to it too.
6:36 Heading further into the parking lot, we arrive at Best Buy, and the sign on the automatic sliding doors matched my blue pretty well.
6:38 We decide to go into Best Buy, looking for more opportunities. As I enter, there’s a large blue sign that just says best buy with a nearly identical blue, perfect for another picture.
6:41 pm While passing the line at the register, I noticed a man standing in front of me. He kept playing some sort of noise from his phone, catching my attention. After taking a glance, I noticed there were blue gift cards in front of him, presented on a gray rack. I was able to match both colors in one spot. It was a twofer. The blue with the gift cards and the gray with the rack
6:50 pm we leave Best Buy, returning back through the parking lot where we came from, but instead of going fully outside, we decide to go back through the mall. As we walk into the mall, we pass the elevators that lead to parking and I notice it’s gray color, kind of similar to my gray.
6:52 pm We leave outside the front entrance of the mall, now going back to my house. As we’re walking back through the always stinky front alley, I notice a Panda Express worker walking out the back to throw away trash. The gray paint color of the building matched my gray color pretty well.
6:54 pm We arrive back at my house, and the adventure is over.
My response to the question: Why is it important for people — including walkers — to think of themselves as citizens? What is the relationship between walking, citizenship, and public space? What does it mean to be a citizen? How is walking tied to your understanding of yourself as a resident and citizen of Chicago
It’s very important for one to think of themselves as citizens within their city, as it brings a sense of belonging and a sense of community. Walking in a city will build familiarity with the area, developing a cognitive map, building your knowledge as a resident of that city. To be a citizen, is to participate. To roam and explore, leaving behind a trail of yarn, forever leaving a piece of yourself with the city. More specifically, public spaces, an area that is open and accessible to the general public. Like a park for example, or bench on the sidewalk. It’s here you see many other citizens, just like yourself, going on about their day and activities, leaving behind their thread of yarn as well. A city is just one big playground, and the the city’s citizens are always, constantly playing. That is what builds the sense of community and belonging; seeing the other, many citizens just like you.
