michigan avenue mosey

the first time i headed to the south side it was with a friend from beloit whose sister lived in kenwood - wherever that was. remember getting down from the greyhound and taking the number 1 bus down passing my uncle’s house but also empty lots, vacant and boarded shops and bars on any window where someone lived. when we walked into kenwood, i said that when the next riots come people won’t have to go far. down the block from l’s house lived elijah mohammed, mohammed ali and now supposedly barack obama. it was the first time i encountered burglar alarms.

i remember getting down from the el at tech 35 heading up to teach in the i.d. and being told that the glass in the windows overlooking the robert taylor homes were bullet proof waist level down. i found this a pity as the south side always seemed more interesting than the north when i would venture down and then there was hyde park.

i did walk across 87th street - state street to the lake in 2000.

so when i said that i would meet someone at the southside community arts centre. i thought of walking. walking for many reasons. while winter isn’t bad it is convincing myself of that. when people say how horrible it is and seem to be one step removed from hypothermia. the morning walk from the train to the world’s third greatest art school wasn’t promising, my fingers were yellow from the cold the bald spot, stinging. i also hadn’t been on a wander for sometime.

it was a wander of curiosity and arrow straight, i was heading down michigan avenue not deviating from the street 38 blocks. curiosity as looking south now one can see the new utopiaville being built between the green line and the lake. while west of the loop there are tall buildings here it seems that chicago is trying to imitate hong kong with the highrises.

chicago is always trying to imitate something - what originality the city had is no longer apparent. i was looking for the transition from the brave new city into the old black one. it was further south than i thought, chess records is now surrounded by urban pioneers in fake loft like buildings. the chicago defender building boarded up awaiting the defender lofts. odd how these new living areas in the city feel like suburbs, no one out, no shops with anything useful to the neighbourhood - unless everyone is over 20 stone and need their nails done. everything is so regular and regulated that if one came across something by chance one would suspect that it was placed there for that effect.

my search for the local didn’t happen, crossing the stevenson while it was definitely more tawdry, there was now a buffer of mercy hospital, a car dealership and the i.d. what few people i met greeted me. it was only when i passed 35th that remnants of the old southside tried to appear - a store front church, mansions alternating with vacant lots but then there was the dunkin’ donuts. one last outing with the leiquinha as the term is over i can head back to the usual suspects. not a good one to end on as snaps were forced. made more poking around the art centre than on the walk.