The Changing Faces of Chicago

The following is a reflection written by Lindsay Williams, one of this year's North House Volunteers.

This year I am working as an Oral Health Educator at a community health clinic, and a large part of my job is to give dental health presentations at schools and community centers around the city.  As a result I have been ping-ponging all over Chicago to present to parenting groups and schools in diverse neighborhoods.  Driving the alleged “grid system” of Chicago without a GPS has been a (slightly stressful) crash course in orienting myself in this city that seems to morph and expand exponentially each day,  but this has been one of the aspects of the year that I feel most blessed to have.  Because I spend hours and hours each week navigating the streets from my scribbled Google Maps directions I have had an opportunity to observe some of the most interesting, and most challenged, areas of the city.

People in Chicago really identify by their neighborhoods, and each and every neighborhood has its own unique taste.  One thing I have noticed as I drive around is the abrupt and significant shifts that occur in neighborhoods in just a few blocks.  These shifts can be seen clearly in the types of stores, restaurants, language, and populations of neighborhoods.  I can drive down one street for a few miles and feel like I have passed through ten different towns.

Here is an example of a morning drive for me:

Turning west off Lake Shore Drive (along Lake Michigan and essentially the easternmost street) onto North Avenue I am thrown into the quaint Old Town Neighborhood.  Charming cafes and cobbled pathways dot this vibrant neighborhood.  As I continue on I pass through Lakeview into the Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhoods.  Now I can’t turn a single direction without seeing 5 people on bikes, every other guy with thick rimmed glasses, and “hipsters” falling out of the doors of used and vintage clothing boutiques.  I can almost smell the organic eggs and vegan French toast cooking.  After passing through this area, where I admit I wouldn’t mind spending more time, I can see the store signs becoming more and more predominantly Spanish.  I have arrived in Humboldt Park, the location of my main office and some of the best Hispanic street food you will find.  Formerly not a very safe neighborhood, there has been much work to beautify it, and this is seen primarily in the gorgeous park that both takes up a large portion of the neighborhood and provides me with a fantastic lunch spot in warmer weather.  This morning I have a presentation further west, so I continue on into Hermosa, another heavily Hispanic neighborhood.  I can see clearly that these buildings are not in the same state of upkeep as those in previous neighborhoods.  I blink, and suddenly I am in the Austin neighborhood, and the population has changed completely to be predominantly black.  The types of stores and state of buildings show clearly that this is a different neighborhood, and that the economic level of this neighborhood is maybe even more in need than the previous two.  I pass through this area for a few minutes, driving carefully around the cop cars, and I am suddenly and inexplicably thrown into an area of relative wealth.  I have hit the suburb of River Forest with its huge lawns, freshly painted houses, and wide, quiet streets.  This nine mile stretch alone has shown me so many faces of Chicago.

It is especially the faces of children that stick out to me throughout the neighborhoods.  I see small children walking home after school in between blocks where half of the houses are boarded up, past “parks” that are no more than plots of land for garbage and weeds, and through areas that do not look safe at all for a second grader to be alone.  I remember my ten minute walk to school in the afternoon in St. Paul, Minnesota, and it was nothing like this.  I cannot help but wonder about the home lives of these children, their safety, and how they will grow up to be, and I feel such compassion towards these kids who did not choose this neighborhood.

Working with the children in different neighborhoods has also given me an insight into their lives.  Children in River Forest were angels compared to the classes that I worked with in Cicero - another western, and primarily Hispanic, suburb.  Both of these are west suburbs, but the makeup and economic level of the two areas are so drastically different.   Cicero is only about 5 miles south of River Forest, but it may as well be a different world.  I am glad that my work more often takes me south to areas such as Cicero, because I feel that the small, yet important, message that I am sending may be falling on ears that are less accustomed to it at home. 

It will never cease to amaze me when I see the ways that Chicago changes drastically neighborhood to neighborhood.  I know that the opportunities and lifestyle are so different in each area, and I am glad that I can do what little I can for the children all over the city.  I am blessed to see so many faces of Chicago.