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I blame it on the Beloit years, living in a town that was rapidly being overshadowed by its northern neighbour. A place that was loosing industry more rapidly than other cities its size. A city that not only had a dead downtown but couldn’t even keep its shopping mall afloat.

Living there and returning for the next 30 odd years to watch the decline slow – there was nothing left to leave - pathetic attempts at bringing the city back the bike path along Lake Beloit, the Angel Museum and finally trying to shift the centre out toward first Prairie Avenue then I-90. I used to say Beloit was Lake Wobegon gone horribly wrong.

I think the place inoculated me against other depressing cities – remember wandering through Gary and while impressed not horrified as it seemed simply a Beloit on steroids.

That changed. Ever since we moved to Peasants Pissoir, I kept wanting to photograph Kenosha, but really couldn’t get up the effort to do it. I mentioned in a previous entry my wanderings downtown and at that time bemusement of the area. After an outing in Logan Square, I decided to hop in the bike, head downtown and walk every street giving the new digital marvel an extended test run.

Parked by the Uncommon Grounds – ok so lets see how many bad coffee clichés we can have for a coffee house – and determined to do very methodical walk down each east west street both sides of the street then up every north south street again both sides starting at a park where again all the benches were aimed everyway but at the band shell. A lone soul was sitting under a canopy out of the sun. she would be one of eight people I would see this outing.

The trolley that does a circle of downtown – I should mention that it takes about ten minutes too walk not only downtown but out to the lake which is a good eight blocks east of the centre – was starting its large loop of the area empty.

Kenosha could only hope to be Beloit. Most of the windows were painted for Kenosha Blooming Days which had taken place a good month earlier – no one – not even most of the businesses that were still open – had bothered to remove the paint and decoration – for decoration think what a high school student would do to their car the night before homecoming.

Most of the places were empty, most had businesses who had planned to move in but gave up.

The trolley passed.

Blocks were condemned, there was a pathetic skywalk over non-existent traffic from an under used car-park to an empty “skyscraper”. Bands of people would migrate en mass to from steps to parks to stay out of the sun.

The height of activity seemed centred around the Subway and the Walgreens.

The two competing coffee houses that I saw last time were still empty of customers although there were two people – one at each café sitting al fresco, waiting…

I wondered who came to eat at the upscale restaurant with a roof garden. While wine wouldn’t have seemed out of place, a wine bar would be but there is was beside a clothing shop that looked like it imported all its goods from 50’s Florida.

The trolley passed.

Even though in realising that this was a mistake I dutifully carried on and did every street in the area. Was spoken to once by a man who made a boxing pose and wanting me to take his picture.

Thought that I would make a day of it and headed just north to a residential area – passing an art supply store and gallery – who knew? Obviously no one as it was empty.

A bit less depressing as there was a semblance of neighbourhoods. Photographed corner taverns – as they seemed to be the only thing that was still open – every other business having thrown in the towel long ago.

A large circle the most distant point occurring when I reckoned that I had punished myself enough. Back to the bicycle passing a lone fisherman in the harbour.

The trolley passed.