Random: final words on UPP! Blog 30

So, with the final post I just wanted to talk about some of the things I've learned from UPP202! I liked how class was very integrated with our readings but also taught us things that have to do with how and where we live. One of the most memorable things was the visit to the Hull House. I honestly have been at this school three years and never saw the inside of that place until our trip! It was nice to learn about the history of that place and Jane Addams.

In the beginning of the semester, I learned a lot about why 'cool' neighborhoods were so high in density and successful. It requires solid housing, an immigrant population, crime, and drugs (oh no!). Actually, these things remind me of why New York and Chicago are such popular cities. Starving artists and the post graduate crowd both look for cheap housing and an efficient transportation system along with creativity.

Aside from that, I remember the carbon footprint and how the United States produces so much extra CO2 waste. I remember an event in New York that gathered a bunch of famous musicians in the effort to acknowledge people in saving our environment. Live Earth was a huge hit and energy efficient lightbulbs flew off the shelves!

Either way, I learned tons of things aside from what I just blogged about, it's been a great semester and I know I'll take things with me that I never thought about before! :)

Random Rogers Park Blog 29

In my sociology class my group is focusing on Rogers Park. That part of town is located far north where the Loyola main campus is- the Red Line is off of Loyola to Howard. In class we are learning about different parts of Chicago, and I am focusing on the community organizations of Rogers Park. I found that we have something called "CAPS" (Chicago's Alternative Policing Strategy). It has police officers working with residents of Rogers Park in order to discuss trouble crime areas or current problems within their neighborhood. They meet in places such as schools, libraries or churches to discuss every so often.

Aside from their organizations, have any of you been to Rogers Park? I'm assuming you have if you have friends that go to Loyola or live in the city of Chicago. It's a big chunk of the northside, its not very far away from Evanston either! The interesting part of this city is that it is far enough away from the madness that is the loop, but close enough that it is possible to hop on the EL and get there. Some areas may seem a little bit sketchy at night, but that comes with the territory when we talk about Chicago as a whole.

Random: ryan adams. Blog 28

Ryan Adams has a song about Chicago. It is obviously metaphorical but I still think it relates to our great windy city.

Dear Chicago,
You'll never guess.
You know the girl you said I'd meet someday?
Well, I've got something to confess.
She picked me up on Friday.
Asked me if she reminded me of you.
I just laughed and lit a cigarette,
Said "that's impossible to do. "
My life's gotten simple since.
And it fluctuates so much.
Happy and sad and back again.
I'm not crying out to much.
Think about you all the time.
It's strange and hard to deal.
Think about you lying there.
And those blankets lie so still.
Nothing breathes here in the cold.
Nothing moves or even smiles.
I've been thinking some of suicide.
But there's bars out here for miles.
Sorry about the every kiss.
Every kiss you wasted {bad / back}.
I think the thing you said was true,
I'm going to die alone and sad.

The wind's feeling real these days.
Yeah, baby, it hurt's me some.
Never thought I'd feel so blue.
New York City, you're almost gone.
I think that I've fallen out of love,
I think I've fallen out of love... with you.

UIC development. Blog 27

I really enjoyed class today! It was funny the things students mentioned as being an issue at our school. I for one agree completely that the buildings are depressing, dreary and dark. Whenever I'm in a classroom, there are either no windows, or the windows are tinted and weirdly shaped so it always looks like there is bad weather outside. Aside from that, we have an excellent location. It is a short ride from the madness of the loop, and compact. All of our lecture classes are in really close proximity, and there are busses that will take us to the blue or red lines.

There are only a few things we COULD add or subtract from our school. We pretty much have no more room for expansion, so with changes, it would mostly be just appearance of our campus. At night, especially around south or east campus, there aren't enough lights so students feel safe to walk around. It is pretty nice around south campus though! We could also use a splash or two of color with art deco or brighter exteriors. If it were possible, it would be nice to have more food options and maybe retail shops that cater to the interests of students (cheap retail chains, not the exspensive ones we have now on south campus that many students aren't able to afford.)

Random Walking Blog 26

So as a side job I help an indie music magazine promote upcoming bands, movies, and certain products. I had received materials to go to random music stores, shoppes, and restaurants to distribute these stickers and posters. Today was a perfect day to go on what they call a field run. You see, I've been living in the city of Chicago for over three years. I take the Halsted bus (#8) from school to the N3200's and beyond. I am constantly on the EL or on different busses, and I thought I knew every part of the city inside and out. Boy was I wrong. I ended up around the clark and fullerton area and was trying to get back near halsted. I felt like such an idiot when I had to ask where halsted is and the man just told me a block east. It's funny because I walked for miles and miles and eventually just got lost. I thought everything there was had been seen already. Yet on today's walk I find more record shops and restaurants for me to enjoy. I passed near a crepe place actually... yum.

I love discovering new things in Chicago. It makes me like the city more and more!

Governing Magazine: State grades Blog 25

Illinois received a C+. We had a lot of negatives when it came to the people: the workforce stratgies, training, and development. We are currently going under "damage control" by budgeting and consolitdating agencies and departments into the Central Management Services Agency. Since we had started the early retirement plan, we also had a lack of 11,000 people in the workforce. That's a huge number!

Louisiana received a B. Governing magazine claimed that they had a ton of people living in poverty, but large amounts of money coming in at a rapid rate due to oil funds. They neglect the appearance of the state and workforce planning, but is very strong in contracting and purchasing. No one there wants to spend money on facilities and control.

For the amount of people in Illinois versus Louisiana (rank 5 vs. rank 22), I feel as those the grades aren't that accurate. With that many more people, it is harder to resolve some of the current problems that we already have.

Lisa's Blog 24

So in our assignment sheet, our second check has to include a post on another student's writings. This time around I took a look at Lisa's blog. I love her pictures! I don't know where she finds them all, but the ones that have to do with Chicago it seems like she took the pictures from my memory and stuck them onto her blog. Especially the ones from Little Italy, Metro, and the shopping in the loop. I read her entry on the suburbs and metra and fond it strikingly familiar to myself. You see, I went to high school in Schaumburg, and actually knew Lisa back in the day! It was in fact easier to get around with a car like she said, but for the most part, I don't like the Metra too much! Every time i'm on it going back to the suburbs, I run into some weird person who is talking non-stop or tries to read my palm or borrow my magazine. I never even have that problem on the EL! Aside from that, metra is gas saving on those long trips to and from the suburbs, and easy to avoid those nasty highways that are always congested!

She also seems to have a connection with a certain city: Denver. To me, the city I feel very attached to is Vancouver. I have some relatives there, but every time I go I find something esle that I like more about it. The last time I was there, I remember going to a crepe restaurant where I laid my hands on the best nutella banana crepe ever, alongside a delicious honey lager. I still think about it once in a while. Next time I'm there, my stomach is probably going to hate me!

Random: Pick up your garbage! Blog 23

So I have visited New York City before, over the summer. Every part of town seemed clean if not CLEANER than Chicago. Then I stepped off the subway and smog heaven was what was called Times Square. It was DISGUSTING. I was actually on my way to MTV studios and to meet up with a friend; I don't know what it's called when gum on sidewalks turn black (tar?), but there were tons of black spots all over the concrete and it didn't help that it was 95 degrees that day I was there! So anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that all the Chicagoan's think that Chicago is so clean compared to New York... they are so wrong. Sure times square is pretty nasty, but so are parts of wicker park or michigan ave. YUCK! New York subways are also so much better! No smells, quick service... did i mention NO SMELLS? It's also frighteningly clean on said subways. Chicago transportation however, I always see newspapers and food and random garbage. I think Chicagoan's should probably pick up their garbage and stop telling people how dirty new york is. :)

Random: when work disappears Blog 22

In one of my sociology classes we talked about the urban poverty and why people can't find jobs. In "When Work Disappears" by William Wilson, he has a chapter on how race determines one's abilities to find jobs. In chapter 5, he talks about how a person's race, where they live, and how employment is effected. There have been studies on how African Americans face more negative employer perceptions than any other race. In this chapter, they include many interviews with Chicago workplaces, and how owners of shops have had their share of "lazy" black men who aren't serious about their job, or quit often. Another reason why they don't get hired is because of where they live. Employers are afraid that the community of people in certain areas are involved in working together to rob the said businesses. Some employers believe that African Americans believe that they are minorities, in turn they are owed something. They don't work as hard as other races, and their work ethic in comparison to others are weak.

This article shows me why people are unemployed and how it effects where they live, on top of how people see a sense of community in different areas. When I live on UIC campus, I know there are thousands of people around me that are the same; we tend to live in areas that best suit our wants and needs.

Random. Blog 21

I was running late to class a few days ago so I didn't have time to really check the weather on my way out. I grabbed a light jacket and almost FROZE on my walk from south campus to the behavioral sciences building. It was interesting to see many students that were just like me - unaware of our abrupt weather changes in Chicago. I see a huge difference in the number of people who are out when it's cold, windy, rainy and dark as opposed to when it's at least sunny and dry out! When I am using public transportation, I see more panhandlers sleeping on the trains than when it's warmer out. The coffee shops line up with people as the ice cream shops empty out. It makes me believe that weather makes a huge economic difference in the city of Chicago. But hell, I go and grab hot soup or chocolate constantly when it's cold out.

Chicago Metropolis 2020. Blog 20

Oh man, what a reading! The Chicago Metropolis talks about two different plans, the commercial club, and the metropolis plan. the metropolis plan is more ambitious and has broad plans to better the economic and social state of Chicago. To enhance these situations, they came up with three problems and solutions.

1) They need to foster better education and skill training. There is a great problem with taxes and for people to get adequate education with a lack of teachers.

2) They should consider reverse policies that encourage sprawl. Our region is dispersed and stratified. There is a problem with overcrowded schools and underfunded services.

3) They need to change the social conditions of communities. There are those who are too poor to afford housing, and zoning prevents affordable housing.

All three of these problems could be fixed if the city could work together as a community, and to increase the amount of jobs available with facilities and training.

Richard Florida reading. Blog 19

"Why cities without gays and rock bands are losing the economic development race."

In Richard Florida's "Rise of the Creative Class," he examines economic growth by the creative class of people, people who look for a music scene, cultural diversity, and nightlife to decide which job they should accept in different cities. He states that the key to economic growth is not just a cities' ability to attract diverse types of people, but to also have an advantage in new businesses and regional growth. These types of people "create meaningful new forms" and includes technicians, editors, writers, entertainers, and more.

I agree with his theory on how creativity helps for cities to flourish. I believe it has received so much attention because many people like me agree with him and scholars have looked into cities with different types of new jobs and innovations. I feel that Chicago should have been on the top 10 list though!

Nashville, TN. Blog 18

I recently took a road trip to Nashville to visit a friend. The drive down was incredible - aside from the lack of... ANYTHING in Indiana. There were Cracker Barrels every 5 minutes! So, Nashville is home of country music and it is always amazing to see the differences between Chicago and other cities. They have a main street there, Broadway street; it is the nightlife central of the place! I must admit I felt a little out of place because the population seemed to be 99% white and 1% black. I even went into a shoppe and the man (decked out in cowboy hat and boots, of course) asked me if I were from Hawaii. Out of all places, Hawaii? I wasn't offended or anything, but wanted to say "not all Asian people are from Hawaii." Guess that was a culture shock on both sides. Nashville was how I imagined it to be, and I'm sure they have pretty accurate thoughts of how Chicago might be; busy, loud, to the extreme.


This is a picture I took from Across the street of Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe.

Olympics. Blog 17

In the summer of 1972, Munich was the city to host the 1972 Olympics. Unfortunately that year there was a "Munich Massacre" in which several athletes were killed by terrorist groups. I have looked up some post Olympic problems and all of them seem to be how a city prepares for an Olympics and the amount of money that has to be put in. If we were to have an Olympics in Chicago, I feel that it would create many more problems for us than we already have. As a city that is already facing economic issues regarding our public transportation, housing, etc. , how would we be able to cater to tens of thousands more people for this event?

Our city taxes are already at 9% and with planning and preparation, our sales and property taxes would only go up. As of right now we are facing a 'doomsday' with the public transit system. Without proper accommodations for large numbers of people, that would make Chicago a place that isn't suitable for such a large sports event that is televised and a huge part of our society's culture.

Top 5 places in Chicago. Blog 16

There are five places that I like to go to often when I'm in Chicago.

1) The Metro. It is my favorite rock venue in Chicagoland. They have anything from local acts to mainstream popular artists that play there! It is in the Wrigleyville area, so it's convenient to grab food or drinks after concerts.

www.metrochicago.com

2) De Pasada. 1519 w. taylor street. They don't have a website, but they serve up some of the best tacos, burritos, and guac and chips... and it's close to UIC campus!

3) Millennium Park. This is a no-brainer. Who doesn't love just walking by and seeing the bean? In the summer or spring it is great to lay outside and read a book, or experiment with photography. It's a perfect spot to get a view of the loop, plus it's beautiful at night!

http://www.millenniumpark.org/

4) Bongo Room. 1152 S. Wabash. Okay, so I love breakfast food. This place is modern and serves up some mean potatoes and omelettes. It is usually packed on weekends, but the service is quick!

5) Reckless Records. Yes, independent record shops still exist! I love going into one of their three locations in Chicago and seeing what's up and coming, plus they sell used dvd's and cd's and have lots of free posters and stickers to give away to music lovers like me!

http://reckless.com/

Random Blurbs Blog: 15

I was walking around in the loop today to visit a friend who goes to Columbia. She lives on the corner of Van Buren and Wabash. The weather was perfect tonight and we had walked from her apartment to the House of Blues. I can't really explain it but seeing all the buildings and attractions at night blow me away. I am so lucky to get to see the Sears Tower every morning while walking to class, and learn about all the things that Chicago brings. A lot of my friends ended up at schools in the middle of a farm, like University of IL Champaign or Southern Illinois. At first, I wanted to experience the full 'college life,' that those people get in farmland schools. But I am so glad that I got to experience something different: going to a good school surrounding one of the most brilliant cities there is today. I remember walking down by the Chicago Theater and the news station on lake and state for the very first time years ago. It blew me way, the excitement and entertainment of Chicago.

In the past few years that I've lived here, Chicago has taught me many things from patience (those darn cta busses and trains!), loyality (you've got to give it up for the sports fans), and much much more. I've interacted from the richest to the poorest of them all. A lot of my high school friends ask me what the 'city life' is like, and all I can really say is that there are NO words for it.

Funny Post. Blog: 14

I read a really funny article about Chicagoan's and their habits. These points made me laugh the most.

-You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois. You become irate at people who do.
-You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
-You can distinguish between the following area codes: 847,630,773,708, 312, & 815.
-Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
-Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
-You have two favorite football teams: The Bears, and anyone who beats the Packers!

For the entire article, go to:

http://www.windycityart.com/fromchicago.htm

Gentrification Blog: 13

Every time I go to my friends' apartments on Taylor Street I know that I am seeing gentrification happen all around UIC campus. I live on the corner of Roosevelt and Halsted, and years ago, the stukel towers and university village didn't exist! In this class and one of my other soc classes, I've learned a lot of things about gentrification. I feel like when we look at the term, we just think of places being torn town and they become innovated and rebuilt into more expensive places to live. I actually looked up the definition of 'gentrification' on wikipedia and on there it said that gentrification is linked to reducing crime rates, increasing property values and renewing community activism. If you walk past Little Italy on Taylor and Racine, you see a lot of local shops and restaurants and new housing. A lot of apartments have been built there and mostly college students live in them, since the working class that was once there may not be able to afford it now.

My and my friend thought about gentrification and this is what we came up with:

"Gentrification is when white people with too much time and money on their hands get bored in their upperclass neighborhoods. they look for new ways to make money and expand their urban power by buying up cheap property in urban areas and giving new life to the region via renovation and construction of new buildings/business districts that cater to a growing populace of young urbanites. the newly built areas offer the the possibility of great financial returns on the real estate investments because the well-to-do white folks who buy up the property buy cheap and sell high after they fix up the neighborhood. these border neighborhoods tend to be very popular with the "hipper" young adults in cities. said hipsters are concerned with two things when looking for housing - 1. the cheapest rent possible so they can afford their expensive smoking and designer jean addictions and 2. being viewed as on the "cutting edge of trend setting". freshly revamped (gentrified) neighborhoods give hipsters the best of BOTH of these worlds. the new neighborhoods aren't established enough to demand expensive rent price tags but also maintain cultural integrity of the former lower-income inhabitants, thus adding a "flavor" and "flair" to the area, producing that perfect blend of urban intriguing chic that hipsters are so fond of. the changing of formerly undesirable neighborhoods into trendy hot spots has really taken off in recent history and is quite controversial as it displaces thousands of lower income inhabitants out of their homes and eventually the gentrified neighborhood grows so popular that it becomes another rich white hood, and the new generation of inhabitants start the whole process over again and the cycle repeats at nauseum. in essence, bored white men kick poor people out of their neighborhoods, turn dumps into hipster chic apartments/condos, and create hip neighborhoods in the outskirts of urban areas."

I think our definition beats wikipedia's.

Chicago Music. Blog: 12

I figure as we talk about the great city of Chicago that I mention some bands that came from around here. One band is Wilco. They have a song called "VIA Chicago" and this is just a short lyric from that song:

I know I'll make it back
One of these days and turn on your TV
To watch a man with a face like mine
Being chased down a busy street
When he gets caught, I wont get up
And I wont go to sleep
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Via Chicago

I like how music can make me think of the great windy city. Their album cover was a painting/portrait of the honeycomb marina towers! When I get to thinking about it, a lot of artists refer to Chicago and whenever I hear them, I usually know exactly what they are talking about.




Everytime I see the honeycomb towers, I refer to them as "the Wilco tours."

Some other good music that came from the windy city!
-The Smashing Pumpkins
-Styx
-Andrew Bird
-The Smoking Popes
-Kanye West

Jill's Blogger. Blog: 11

So I was lurking around the blog post list and decided to look at Jill's blog. We've been in a bunch of communication classes together before, and I thought " why not!" She has some funny blogs and some insightful ones as well. I cracked up when she said "Sorry I wasn't in class today... I was sick. Well, not really." Either way, I especially liked the random entries she wrote on urban cities (and sex and the city!)

One of the entries was on 9/11. She brings up an interesting point to whether or not we are safe in our own country. Cities are cracking down on immigration, but at the same time, I feel like immigrants are a large part of what makes our cities so vast and keeps economic standards up. I also agree that immigrants should follow the rules our elders have, and they should learn our language and traditions in order to work in our country.

She had also written down a list of cities she had been to. I've been to some of them and know exactly what she means! I was in New York and spent $100 dollars in one day's (and nights) worth of drinks, food, and transportation! Just don't ask me how much of it was on drinks. ;) Most of the other places she had been do, I haven't. With the exception of Louisville, which was a very quaint and calm town. I'll end this post with a list of cities i've visited.
-New York City
-Portland, Oregon
-Vancouver, BC
-Seattle, WA
-Tampa, Florida
-Hong Kong, China
-Osaka, Japan

There are so many more, but I won't bore you with a list of every town I've been in. Those are just some of my favorites!

The Metro Chicago Immigration Factbook Blog: 10

The factbook that I am about to discuss talks about the trends and patterns of immigration to Chicago. The topic I would like to go over are the ports of entry. In class we had discussed Edgewater as a major one today. The major area is north of Sheridan street and an upwards of 5,500 immigrants have settled there since 2000. In the 1990s,' one dominating place for immigrants to arrive was in Lincoln Square. The main area is the cross street of Western and Lawrence. Since the 1990's there has been a shift of immigration entry ports to the suburbs of Chicago. All the major ports are located within several miles of each other, mostly all on the north side.

As more immigrants come into the city, the socioeconomic conditions of houses lower. High schools become less competitive. Some of the reasons the factbook noted was that perhaps immigrants didn't have time to get well educated or a well paying job when they moved here at first. At the same time, you see a sense of communitiy with local shops and churches. Immigrants help each other out for those who seek advice and assistance.


This is a picture of approximately where Edgewater is.

The Hull House! Blog: 9

How could I forget our visit to the Hull house! Jane Addams was the first woman that ever received a Nobel Peace Prize. She spent the majority of her life at the settlement house in Chicago - the Hull House. I had never been inside the Hull House until we had our tour a little while ago for class. The one place I had been in before was the 'conference' room. It was in a SOC class I had last semester and people hold musical acts or traditional meetings in there all the time! I found it fascinating that they were able to preserve, or at least keep what they could of the building. It gives you a real sense of what the place was like when it was first built.

I thought the painting of the Hull House was funny, because it was just what the artist had imagined it to look! I didn't know that the pillars and the '3rd' floor didn't exist in the original foundation of the house.

The girl who talked us through the different parts of hull house was very good at giving us examples of how life was lived.

At the end, there was an entire question on Addam's friendship with Mary. I don't know what her 'lifelong companion' Mary Smith had to do with it all. I wish we had more information on Mary Smith and exactly what she helped with at the Hull House.


An early picture of the Hull House.

Funny thing on Chicago accents. Blog 8.

Not too long ago, when I had a friend visit from South Carolina, I was reminded of our "Chicagoan" accents. How we unnecessarily drag out our "ahh's." Having lived here for so long, I neglect the fact that my accent may be very noticeable to those who don't live in the Midwest! My friend Adam just reminded me of this. I was talking about Madison, Wisconsion to him when he said "mAAHHHHDAHsin" in a joking matter. I told him I didn't say it like THAT but he assured me that me and everyone around Chicago had the same accent. That's when I really listened to what he was saying. We do indeed drag out our A's, because when he spoke, he says "Chicago" instead of "Chacaaaahgo."

I was recently also in New York City. The Long Island accent is spectacular. My friend's mother had it, and I was so amused by how she spoke. Even my friend Erica has a bit of an NY accent, even though she's lived here for several years of her life. Anytime I hear accents, British, Southern, foriegn... anything... I get very entertained.

Revealing Chicago, PIcturing Chicago, Chicago Imagebase Blog: 7

This has to be one of my favorite blog posts! Photography is one of my favorite hobbies and getting to view different parts of Chicago is a treat! This picture is actually one that I took on a walk around millennium park.

Revealing Chicago: This website is very interactive and I liked how you can choose from many different neighborhoods. I actually clicked on an area and it was a picture of UIC from west to east. They mentioned how it was a great research school that was founded in 1890. From the beginning, they admitted minorities and women where other universities wouldn't! Another thing I really enjoyed about this website were all it's views from up high. It gives a perspective on what the city looks like as a whole, not just bits and pieces that we see. There were pictures of more rural parts of Chicago, and it was great to see other perspectives of this vast city.

Picturing Chicago: I was clicking through and saw a lot of pictures from the magnificent mile in the past few years. It's always very nice to see different perspectives; I myself have seen the same buildings and streets, but the way the photographer makes them look makes me think that every individual sees our great city differently.

Chicago Imagebase: Our very own UIC came up with lots of digital maps of our city and this is actually very helpful in getting around.

In Chicago, whenever I have my camera with me I tend to take pictures of interesting artwork - whether it may be graffiti or local shoppes or restaurants with cool decor. I would actually be interested in taking a day around Chicago just to take in the nightlife around wicker park. I would photograph these aspects of Chicago because you can't find anything like it in other places, and especially not the suburbs.

An interesting CTA ride. Blog: 6

Yesterday I had taken a ride on the red line from roosevelt to addison. Because of the construction, instead of going into the subway, the red line took over the brown/green lines so the entire time, we were above ground. An older black woman and a younger mexican man sit down near me. She has been explaining to him as we passed each stop what it used to look like. We passed near van buren and michigan and she had explained that this is where her mother worked, and it is now a shopping district. I thought it was interesting when we were passing and she would describe buildings and how as soon as we rode near the fullerton stop, it was obvious that the people around there were the 'people with money' and how the buildings looked 'rich.' She was talking about going up towards rogers park but instead she wanted to show her friend, who wasn't familiar with chicago, all the interesting places to be. They ended up getting off at the more hip area of town, belmont stop.


i found this picture of 'old chicago,' where she was describing where her mother used to work. it was near where the old sears was as well.

My Random Blurbs Blog: 5

I have been so many cities in the past few years and am always interested in seeing the different parts of town and who lives in what neighborhood. For instance, I was recently in Portland and New York... and I find them to be completely different from Chicago. For one, New York has a much more sufficient subway system than Chicago... yet they barely have any busses. At the same time, with the density of New York, busses would probably not run very well with the constant traffic congestion I saw. I was shocked at the short amount of time I had to wait on the platform for my train. It operated so smoothly and so many people used this to their advantage!

In Portland, I was downtown waiting to catch a bus to a music venue. To my surprise, the schedules were very accurate; the minute that a bus was supposed to be at it's stop, it was! I only wish Chicago were that way.

A Major Issue: THE CTA! Blog 4

The cta is going through major changes these days, as it's been for a while now. Though a lot of our readings are centered around gentrification, some also talk about the 'greatness' of urban cities. To me, the Chicago public transit is a lifesaver. It's one reason why I love Chicago so much. It's easy to get around, and can be faster than driving (lets be honest, parking in Chicago, at least for free, is IMPOSSIBLE!). The current problem is the inadequate state funding for the cta. They were going to shut down a near 29 bus routes and make train run times less frequent until they were granted 29-million dollars. I know that some people live in Chicago simply because they save money by public transportation to work or school. I feel like with these cta cuts that people may re-think wanting to live here. It's a part of what makes the city great, along with a populated, easy to access, and dense areas.

The 'doomsday' is if the state doesn't grant us the money we need for transit. Part of the consequences would be a cut of service on the Red and Blue lines from 1-4 A.M. Those are the two major trains to get to and from UIC! A lot of jobs would be at risk if the consumers don't do something about it soon. There is more information at www.chicagotransitauthority.com

Random: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Blog: 3

We just completed a reading for class by Peggy McIntosh. I wanted to talk about this article because I also read it for another class last semester. Professor Kevin James taught that class. I recall this article when it came to economics and employment in cities. She described the phenomenon of 'white privilege.' What I got out of this article is that white people have the opportunity to get away with things that black people don't. This is why there are social hierarchies, racism, and the fight for equal opportunity. Being Asian American, I am never really affiliated with negative stereotypes. I get the "she's Asian so she must be good at math" and "she's Asian so she must be smart." It's a good stereotype, but also one to continually live up to!

Peggy acknowledges that privileges of everyday life when it's not directed at her physical attributes. The few points that stood out to me included ideas of gentrification. She states, "If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live." She demonstrates that neighbors would be pleasant and not judge her based on skin color. The most important thing I got out of this article is that being white and being in the city has it's little perks in comparison to other races of people. They have more of an opportunity for the high wage jobs, to be respected, and to be judged by how they are, not what color they are.

Census Tract: Blog 2

For my census tract I had observed statistics of my area in 2000: it seemed as though not much has changed. I focused on two main things: The economic state and race.

As far as employment goes in 2000, 66.5% of people over the age of 16 were in the labor force. This number makes sense. The United States average is 63.9%. I see and know many students who work in this area and they all travel by train or car. It notes that the mean travel time is 27 minutes- I could even imagine it being longer for those who rely on public transportation! In 1999, the median earnings was higher than the united stages average. From hearing about people's jobs and having worked in Chicago myself, low skill jobs usually pay higher here than in the suburbs. Even if it is 50 cents to a dollar.

In 2000, there were a high number of whites, and then blacks coming in with the 2nd highest number. I feel as though with the university village buildings and other new structures to be built, I see more white and Asian people in this area, and less black. Where Asians only make up 3.6% of the united states population, I believe that more immigrants have come in since 2000. I also would believe that the number of people with 'two or more races' is likely to have risen in the last 7 years.

Ritzer : Blog 1

In George Ritzer's "a disenchanted world," he gives us the idea of Disneyland (or world) as not a corporation, but as a household name that we all know and love. Ritzer has talked about the cathedrals of consumption and new means. What he means is that every consumer needs things like superstores, hospitals, shopping malls, and chain stores. Many households see Disney as a culture, not a corporation. When people go to Disneyland, there is form and function there without the reputation of older, more risky amusement parks in the early 20th century. This article focuses on how Disney and consumer consumption have been so successful for so many years. When families walk into Disneyworld, there is no risk or robbers, sexual predators, or crime. They see the park-- always being maintained day after day. In a way, they transformed the idea of amusement parks and raised the bar of consumption among society.