Choose Chicago Community Analysis

Chicago is commonly referred to as the Chicago metropolitan area or the Chicago land in the United States. It is associated with the city of Chicago, Illinois and its suburbs. The area is among the most populated in the United States with over 9.8

Residential segregation is a wide spread topic of discussion throughout cities across the United States. With population in larger cities growing, the separation of groups into neighborhoods is common — placing different standards of living on each section depending on the wealth and race of the inhabitants. In There Goes the Neighborhood: Racial Ethnic, and Class Tensions in Four Chicago Neighborhoods and Their Meaning for America William Julius Wilson and Richard P. Taub explore a new areas of Chicago and the residential segregation taking place there by creating a

The city is a nexus of social interaction. Humans originating from various locations all tangle together in the city. Louis Mumford characterizes the city as “a theater of social action,” where “man's more purposive activities are focused and work out…into more significant culminations.” The social actions occurring in a city connect and gradually culminate into a something that contributes to the fabric of the city. The interactions between people are no longer discrete events in isolation. Instead they come together to contribute something to the city, whether in the form of politics, architecture, or entertainment. The city provides a theater or playground for social action, and subsequently becomes a stage where the results of the social actions can be clearly viewed.

One of the most striking observations I examined was the way in which culture was used to beautify and extol ethnic heritage during my first visit to downtown Holyoke. I witnessed culture functioning as an emblematic tool that was memorializing the Puerto Rican community through art murals, blaring salsa music [which dominated the air-resonance] and other manifestations that showcased Boricua ethos. Those same cultural cues remained during my second trip, but as I engaged more intimately with the residents and the commercial industries and governmental offices, these emblems revealed another meaningful purpose. These symbols of reconstructed nationalism were used to assert ownership over geographical space while challenging socioeconomic place. Similar to the Zabbaleen in Cairo whose social and economic position remains endangered, the Puerto Rican community in Holyoke is experiencing an immediate threat to their geographic space due to their socioeconomic place and threats of gentrification. Both cultures, which are distinctly unique and ethnically regionalized as a result, are thousands of miles apart spatially, but closely bounded due to the ability to use their culture as an instrument to combat the usage of socioeconomic place as an ideological weapon to regulate geographic space.

There is an inextricable link between physical locations and personal identity: the one affects the other as the environmental psychologist Harold Proshansky states in “The City and Self-Identity”(Proshansky, 1983) “Place-identity is defined as those dimensions of self that define the individual’s personal identity in relation to the physical environment”. So, does the way locations affect our individual identity determine how we are included or excluded from parts of society, and how is the perception of places influenced by contrasts with other locations resulting in a sense of attachment or disassociation?

Chicago offers full package of excitement, energy, Adventure and endless fun. There is number of places which gives you amazing and breathtaking view of city. You can explore river and vintage architecture of Chicago. There are plenty of options to try different cuisines or you can enjoy night life if you want.

In the final two chapters of Blues Chicago, the author focuses on the significance of place branding and ethnic and cultural tourism as it relates to the commodification of Chicago blues and its accompanying subculture. The author explains how the “city government, local boosters and cultural authorities” are capitalizing on the global allure of the blues as a catalyst to stimulate economic growth. However, he neglects to produce a closer analysis of the cultural voyeurs seeking the Chicago blues experience and how the ways in which they travel and their geographic imaginary shape how they engage with and commodify the culture.

The area is an array of houses at every corner. People get up to work very early morning and it’s a hassle. It is not a popular area in Chicago but it is one of the more pack traffic streets. The restaurants such as Golden Village, as for example, is affordable to everyone. The food is not as costly and you pick meal as cheap as 5 to 8 dollars. Another place would be a flea market which is a couple of streets away from Central Park. Different type of stations for food, clothing, and games, and accessories. It’s popular among the Mexican community for its price and waves of varieties in the market. Clothing is not as expensive but still affordable with Nike, Adidas, and North Face. For renting, it about 600 to 800 dollars depending on the amount of space you’ll need and the location. One thing to know is that most people are rather struggling with money because of the large amount trying to have a job. Downtown is the same but not a tremendous like here in Central Park.

Globally, metropolitan cities that are socially progressive, dense in population, and high in ethnic diversity are becoming creative hubs; thus, changing the framework of infrastructures and economies worldwide. Though the commodification of cultural pluralism was once a niche to specific locations—acting as beacons for content creators—the emergence of diverse cities creates challenges for places like Toronto (that embraced the notion of a 'cultural mosaic' early on) to establish dominance and uniqueness in the creative cultural industries. However, the city’s incorporation of dynamic boroughs like Kensington Market – which offer the allure of authenticity, accessibility and affordability—make Toronto a contender for exemplifying what it

This website discusses and shows pictures of 16 of Chicago’s greatest secret gardens and park spaces. Chicago’s motto is “Urbs in Horto” which means “City in a Garden”. Even though Chicago is known for its skyscrapers our landscape architecture is on the rise in our city. There are many public spaces for people to enjoy all over the city. There are some located in familiar public place and some are in neighborhoods you might have never heard of. City Hall, South Garden at the Art Institute, and the winter garden at Harold Washington Library are just to name a few that made the list. One thing about all of them is they all represent Chicago in their own way.

Do you think social issues still occur in your world today? Just by walking through the neighborhood, issues are able to be seen. Some examples would be family issues, gender inequalities, and economic disparity. While seeing social injustice through three different books, access to housing was very intriguing. Living conditions can vary based on your race. After realizing this, a question came to mind: is my local area segregated like the rest of the world?

For my Chicago community project I decided to work with Jumpstart, I originally wanted to work with Conversation Partners at the Priory campus. However there as I was looking through the descriptions of the work Jumpstart began to catch my attention more than Conversation Partners. Jumpstart seemed to be a teaching community based learning and as someone that wants to be a teacher it definitely caught my attention. I emailed the person in charge, Briana Martindale, she did the interview and she took me in, now since I was working with children there was a lot of paperwork that had to be done. Our start date kept getting pushed back but just from the description of what we would be doing I knew I would love it and that is why I stayed with

A growing line of sociological inquiry documents how places are shaped by the meanings residents construct and attach to them. Specifically, scholars have studied “the symbolic relationship between people and places and the ways that persons invest places with meaning and value in order to make sense of their world” (Borer, 2006, p. 180). These meanings have the power to direct how and why people move to a place, how they invest their time and money, and the ways in which they do or do not engage in civic and political action (Firey, 1945; Bell, 1994; Milligan, 1998; Paulsen, 2004; Alkon and Traugot, 2008; Kaufman and Kaliner, 2011). Because of this, it is central to uncover how meanings are made, who specifically makes them, and how they direct action on the ground.

The number of gay bars and clubs increased in number throughout the 1970s. However, as the number of businesses geared towards LGBT individuals increased they also migrated. The area that they settled around in the 1990s is located is called Lakeview East; Lakeview East, West Lake View, and Wrigglyville are the three smaller communities that make up the larger Lakeview neighborhood. More specifically, the businesses were clustered around Clark Street and Halsted Street. In 1997 Chicago’s Mayor, Richard M. Daley, officially recognized the area as a gay neighborhood. This area, now known as Boystown, was the first gay neighborhood in the United States of America to be officially recognized by the government.

There is something about cities, that makes one feel so insignificant like there is a whole system of things bigger than you. They make outsiders feel that it is somewhat of a privilege to be able to even observe the secret, yet fast-paced, operations that go on. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, it doesn’t matter to the people there. They only see your exterior.