Donovan Armstrong

Walking Chicago

11/2/2020

• Instead of a separate walk this week, let’s begin brainstorming for the final project. In short, the project asks you to create a walk and a field guide around a theme about your city, town, or neighborhood. Begin thinking about what you might want your theme to be: What story do you want to tell with your field guide and map?

In my neighborhood, the vibes are, most of the time, pleasant, and the atmosphere is warm and enjoyable (even through Milwaukee’s bitter winters). There are some times when I never feel 100% comfortable when outside in my neighborhood, but I am not fearful of injury or loss of personal property (at least not necessarily) either, unless I walk too far from the East side. It makes me feel good living in my neighborhood, I see many different people in my area, and don’t have to travel very far from home to find something entertaining to do. I have many friends in the area, so I never really feel lonely, though I have not been seeing most of them recently due to the global pandemic. The most beautiful thing I’ve seen near my part of town is the sunrise on Lake Michigan from Bradford Beach with my friends Carlos and Sam, although the view of the sunset from the top of the hill at the intersection of Maryland ave. and Park place, as well as the view of the city’s skyline from a certain cliff over the shore of the lake are not very far behind. I love my neighborhood.

(205)

• How does your understanding of Chicago change (or not) after viewing the maps depicting Chicago?

The work of the Map Twins, and after viewing the maps, which depicted numerous gaps in business and educational opportunities between communities, reinforced some of the ideas and views of Chicago that I obtained earlier in the quarter from other readings, such as Zach Stafford’s Privilege, policing, and living while black in Chicago’s white North side. I am a person who has an outside perspective of Chicago, as I have never spent much time at all in the city. Therefore, these readings are, for the most part, leaving very prominent impressions on me about what life is like in Chicago. In this context of social inequality and racial discrimination, I am getting a picture of Chicago as a racially segregated city, riddled with selfishness and unequal opportunities. The map which depicted the variation in quality of schooling between Chicago’s North side and South side was especially appalling, as it clearly showed that a greater number of low quality schools exist on the South side, by a large margin, and vice versa. I believe that the education system that a person grows up in and is, in part, raised by, plays a large role in that person’s development as a growing human being. Because of this, I believe that improvement of the quality of schools in low income areas is important to economic improvement going forward into the future (a strong educational foundation can be paramount to a generation’s ability to make progress and take big steps forward as a people, which Ancient Greece can be seen as an example of). Education reform in schools in privileged areas is also important to a change in the attitude of society, and the mindset of some close minded people.

(269)