Jane Addams

Nice website about who she was and also links to other websites dealing with her. http://www.sittingbull.org/americanwest/BUFFALOBILLCODY.NET/americanwest/hallofusa/virtualmuseumofhistory.com/hallofwomen/JANEADDAMS.COM/

Miltary Establishments Around Chicago

I've always wondered why there are no military establishments around Chicago, like an armory or a reserve base. Anyone got an answer?

The Olympics in Chicago

I think having the Olympics in Chicago would raise awareness of Chicago throughout the world, but I also think we can spend that money more wisely to help struggling communities in Chicago. I don't think the city is ready for such a world event, with the cost of CTA on the rise, and poverty levels still rampant in many neighborhoods. It seems that the reason why they want the World Olympics to be in Chicago only for commercial reasons.

Chicago's Gang

A nice website I've stumbled upon related to gang research is: http://www.chicagogangs.org/

Chicago's River

The Chicago's River I believe plays a significant role in Chicago. It winds right through the city and gives it a natural feel. I went to Northside College Prep for high school, and the river is right in the backyard of the school. I always had wondered if the water is even drinkable, but now, I highly doubt that's a good decision. I knew some of my friends had a meeting by the river to see who could swim across the river and back the fastest. I don't think any of them had any side effects afterwards, so it won't kill you, but still, the water isn't all that clear.
I read a Red Eye article about fish in the river. Apparently, you can eat the fish that lives in the river, but be aware of how much you consume. Most of them are contaminated with small amount of mercury and other chemicals.

Sewage Plant

There's a sewage plant on McCormick and Touhy in Lincolnwood and heard it is closed down but there is sometimes always this funky smell around the area, especially when there is an East bound wind. Sometimes during the winter or when it is cold, billows of steam would come up from wholes that probably leads to sewage. Pretty disgusting. Overall, just wondering if this plant is still functioning or not.

Ahmad's Blog

In response to Ahmad's blog about parking meters, I didn't think about the numbers of parking meters on the Sazouthside being less than the number on the Northside. It sort of makes sense though because more attractions are located on the Northside rather than the Southside. This did bring up my memory of an article in the Red Eye about parking meters and towing vehicles. Last year the city of Chicago collected about 200 million dollars in fees and tickets (estimate; I don't really know but it's up there). With all that money you would think they won't be such a stickler when someone goes past their meter by a few minutes.

Gentrification

I have seen a different gentrification, where instead of building over impoverished lands, it renovated the area. Back where I used to live, was on Ashland and Grace (Addison). About 10-15 years ago, the neighborhood was predominately single homes and small businesses. But the influence from Wrigleyville and other neighborhoods surrounding it gave birth to many new condominiums. Young, predominately Caucasian couples, starting a new family took interest in the community. I left the area about 4 1/2 years ago and when I pass by several times over the years, I saw a new condominium with its huge "For Sale" or "Many Units Available: from $250,000 to $500,000" being erected over what used to be a diner, or a small auto dealer, or a movie store. It saddened me to see this because it was like my old neighborhood is being exterminated. The rise of condominiums has taken over.
Another place of gentrification is areas North of IIT on State and 18th and further south. I see condos being built up across the streets from public housing buildings, on my way to ROTC on the train. I have a feeling sooner or later, those public housing buildings will be demolished and built over with luxury condos. The residents of the public housing will be forced to live elsewhere.

The Great Chicago Fire

I always wanted to get the story of the Great Chicago Fire straight. I pulled this info out of a wikipedia page(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1871_Great_Chicago_Fire). Basically, the myth that everyone knows is that apparently a cow owned by Ms. Catherine O'Leary, had kicked over a lamp and the fire started. The website said what really happened was a shed caught on fire near Dekoven street. Due to the construction of the surrounding areas, the wind, and lack of coordination to put out the fire, the fire raged on for nearly three days. It destroyed much of what we see today as downtown. But because of the fire, plans for skyscrapers and commercial buildings took affect. Now we see the magnificent aftermath of such a dreadful tragedy in Chicago's history.

The University of Chicago has a very unique page about Chicago. The link is: http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/legendsmyths/City/index.html

In this link, you can find a different picture and information about them in each category explaining Chicago's commercial, entertainment, and culture aspects.

Census Tract

For my census tract, I typed in my area code. My area code is 60645. I am around a predominately Jewish community and also near an African American community. The statistics on the census tract shows that with a population of around 44,000, more than half (27,000) are Caucasian. About 5,000 are African American and 7,000 are Latino. I was mostly shocked by the number of Asians in the area, which is nearly 7,000. For the 4 1/2 years I've been living here, I see mostly Caucasians, but rarely wold I see Asians.
Another interesting fact is that about 16,500 are foreign born. If I had to take a guess, I would guess around 10,000 to be foreign born. This fact shows that immigration has made a huge affect on the population

The Metro Chicago Immigration Factbook

I chose to talk about the immigration issue in Chicago. They had charts and graphs that showed a steady increase of immigrants moving to Chicago since the 1980s. The decline of immigration to Chicago started back in early 1900sprobably due to the Great Depression. What I found interesting in this article is the talk about "port of entry." I've never heard of the term so I decided to look further into it. It is the neighborhood or region of the city where immigration is more common than other places. Apparently, Edgewater is the leading neighborhood in immigration in 2000. I live in West Rogers Park but come by Edgewater a lot. I really never notice an immigrant population in this neighborhood. The statistics say it's around 3,000 immigrants that live there since 2000. Other neighborhoods that follow it is Albany Park , Union Square, and West Ridge. Overall, it's interesting to find these port of entries in Chicago because it can definitely tell you where dense or sparse concentrations of immigrants are present.

My Photos

If I had to photograph pictures of Chicago, I would focus on the aspects that Chicago is less known for and what tourists would less know about. Many non-Chicagoans are familiar or know of Chicago's skyline and sport teams but not of the neighborhoods itself. The neighborhoods in Chicago are what gives Chicago that authentic feeling of a "melting pot"; where all the races of the world collide. Unfortunately Chicago is also one of the most race segregated cities in America. Truely, that melting pot, in a sense, isn't a melting pot at all. Still some of the photos I would take shall glorify what Chicago is all about; their culturally enhanced neighborhoods. I would take photos of Devon street, where many Middle Eastern cultures, ranging from Pakistani to Indian, come together to establish storefronts and community enhancements. Another neighborhood of mixed culture but yet same race, is Argyle. This small strip is predominately a Vietnamese and Chinese cultured area with a variety of storefronts and community programs. Both these areas represents why Chicago is so diverse as a city.
Another aspect of Chicago I would like to capture is its public housing. There are many public housing areas in Chicago but most of them are on the Southside. I know of one that is placed right on Diversey and Damen. When I first saw the "Diversey Projects," I thought it was an odd place to have housing projects there because the surrounding neighborhoods were different. I would take pictures of this to show the inconsistent borders of Chicago relating to economic housing.
Also, I would take pictures of the surrounding suburbs because they too, are a part of Chicago. It shows the history of Chicago after World War 2, where many Caucasians left the city (especially veterans) to settle in cheap houses around the city. This was known as "white flight." Also my pictures of these suburbs will show how some suburbs are mixing races.

Chicago's weather

Chicago's weather is ridiculous. You can safely say that Chicago doesn't have seasons. A good example of weather fluctuations in Chicago is the Marathon today. Almost 250 people were sent to the hospital and one pronounced dead due to heat related issues. I remember last year during the Chicago Marathon, it was a chilly October day and I had to close my dorm window. Another time, I forgot which April, actually two Aprils, when it snowed... It was April!!! Birds should be chirping, tulips should be growing, and that snow should have been rain! And of course, when it's cold, it gets bone chilling cold, and when it gets hot, it get scorching hot. It might sound like I'm complaining, but everyone who has lived in Chicago for a while can relate with me.