Vine Leaf Green and Celestial Blue
Field Notes:
October 2nd
5:26 PM
North Sheffield Ave
Leaving my dorm, I walked up Fullerton and over to North Sheffield. I had to dodge areas of construction that had left the sidewalk unusable. So, crossing the street to avoid these non-pedestrian friendly conditions, I found my first color match of the day. My paint sample is a dark green called “vine leaf.” So, it felt natural that my first color match of the day was a clump of assorted leaves whose vines and branches wound their way up a fence. The fence was segregating the sidewalk from what was presumably a residential space on the other side. I worried I would not be able to find anything other than plants to match this specific shade of green as I had been walking for about ten minutes already and the only item even remotely similar to my paint sample were plants.
5:32 PM
North Wilton Ave
Looking at the time stamps of each photo now is a bit shocking. While I was walking, I was so hyper-focused on finding the next color match that when I went a block or so without finding one, it felt like ages had passed. But in reality, it was only six minutes later when I found my next subject. I was now on North Wilton Ave. This portion of North Wilton is a residential neighborhood directly to the left of the CTA. The houses were beautiful but were most definitely in direct earshot of passing trains. I wondered if after living in one of these homes for a while you start to become deaf to the rumbling of the trains or if the disruption never becomes background noise. At 5:32 I walked past a tall, narrow blue home that nearly matched my “celestial blue” paint sample. The house was nice and had visibly been modernized and renovated from its original build. The neighborhood itself was nice. Quite, if you disregard the trains. Residents lounged on porches soaking up the crisp fall weather before it soon gets too cold to do so.
5:34 PM
West Diversey Parkway
Only a few minutes later I located my next object. Upon turning off North Wilton I proceeded up W. Diversey where I soon stumbled upon a mailbox that had seen better days. Through breaks in the rust, I was able to tell that the mailbox was once a deep green like my paint sample. I wondered if this mailbox was even in service anymore. It sure did not look like it had received any maintenance in the past few years but perhaps the physical upkeep of mailboxes is not a priority of the USPS. As I was taking my picture of the mailbox, I felt self-conscious. I found myself waiting for breaks in crowds to take my phone out to take a picture. However, I thought back to the Rebecca Solnit reading we did a few weeks prior. Solnit presented the idea that cities offer anonymity. I kept this in mind as I continued my walk, using it to embolden my picture-taking. Anyway, it was not as if someone was going to stop me and tell me it was odd that I was holding a paint sample up to objects and snapping photos. They may have thought it, but I did not need to fear confrontation like I was.
5:55 PM
North Clark Street
I come from a family of fast walkers. It is in my blood to walk fast, if not due to genetics due to the fear that I would fall behind. I now found myself wandering North Clark Street. I challenged myself not to rush past slow walkers but instead match their pace. I stayed behind a painfully slow elderly man for a couple of blocks. Typically, I would have jumped on the first acceptable opportunity to speed past him but not today. I took this rare moment of leisure to peek into the windows of the many businesses I passed, and I even ducked inside a couple. My newfound deliberate laziness prompted me to look up and recognize my next color match. It was a retro blue tile that encased a furniture store called “Affordable Portables.” According to Google Affordable Portables is a wheelchair-accessible 4.3-star “furniture store stocked with all of the basics such as futons, sofas, desks & dining room sets.”
5:56 PM
North Clark Street
Not even a minute later had I located my next subject. It came in the form of the green netting of a fence that enclosed a construction site. The fence, like the green mailbox, had seen better days. The fence itself was leaning at a concerning angle in places and looked like a strong wind might be able to knock it over. The netting was torn and becoming unattached in places. Regardless of the condition of the fence, the sun was beginning to go down and it was getting cold outside, so I was grateful to be able to check off my third and final green item.
6:03 PM
Corner of North Clark Street and West Fullerton Ave
Starting to head back to campus, I quickly found my next blue item. On the corner of North Clark Street and West Fullerton Ave, I located another mailbox. Only this time the mailbox was a dark blue and had been kept in much better condition than the one I found on Diversey. This one was void of any rust or chipped paint. It has directions and schedules posted on it. Having seen at least two mailboxes in not that long of a period I wondered how many mailboxes I passed by each time I walk and did not pay recognition to them. While I do love handwritten notes, all things considered, mailboxes are irrelevant in my life. However, today they were a recurring theme.
Malchik “A Walking Life” Response:
A community that has good social capital would be one whose attributes include: stores, restaurants, parks, schools, etc. Social capital is proven to increase productivity, trust, civic engagement, and prosperity and decrease rates of depression, suicide, heart attacks, cancer, abuse, and crime. Communities that have social capital are communities that are connected. Connected communities are walkable communities. People connect through social interaction. In the reading, there was a particular quote that summed this up: “Once we became bipedal bonding and social interaction took on a totally new value.” The ability to walk and to be seen in your community allows you to connect with your peers and supports healthier networks of relationships. In a sense, a neighborhood’s walkability reflects its connectedness.
In comparison to Chicago, a city with amazing walkability, my hometown cannot compete. While there are some stores within walking distance of my house, a car is needed to go almost anywhere. Depending on where you live in my town, the school you attend could be far away or it could be next door. Some neighborhoods have high social capital while others have not even a sense of it. My town is big both in population and physical size. This creates a disconnect between the separate areas. Having separate neighborhoods with distinct feels and history can be an amazing thing that promotes cultural authenticity. However, this is not how it feels in my town. People do not really leave their bubble. The town is essentially segregated into factions. None of the separate neighborhoods are within walking distance of each other, which I think is where the issues lie. If everyone had more access to the whole town there would not be such a divide between the residents of each area. ((290))
