Cleaning up Albany Park

I always tell people that Chicago is one of the cleanest cities I've visited. For the most part, this is true - downtown Chicago is kept very clean for a city its size. Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville are other good examples of clean neighborhoods. As these are the "expensive" areas to live in, maybe it's no surprise that the streets aren't littered with trash. There can be any number of reasons for this - though I wouldn't doubt that socioeconomic status has a lot to do with cleanliness of an individual neighborhood. I have been living in Albany Park for more than three months now, and it's getting harder and harder to ignore the litter which covers the sidewalks. Specifically, I'm talking about the area south of Lawrence and west of Kimball. I believe that this neighborhood has a serious lack of pride in itself. While I see many families, I also see many properties who never cut the grass. I see lots of graffiti, and even more trash on the ground. I see empty beer cans and broken glass so often that it's hard to walk my dog without picking him up. What has happened to this area? With so many "affordable" luxary condos for sale, it's no wonder that no one is buying them... and I'm not sure I would want to buy here either. Our Alderman needs to speak with Streets and Sanitation to work on the litter, but the residents need to stop littering. Are more trash cans the solution? Do we need more community involvement? Absolutely. I wish my neighborhood had more pride - but it can definitely turn itself around. Stay tuned in the coming months, as I hope to start making a difference.

Top Ten Reasons Chicago is Better than Cleveland

I lived in Cleveland for about two years, and I recently returned for a wedding. Other than spending 13 hours driving to and from the city, it was a good trip and a really fun wedding. That being said, I wasn't thrilled about travelling back to Cleveland. I guess I don't have that much against the city - most of the people I met were pretty nice, I had a good job, and rent was affordable. Having lived most of my life in larger, more exciting cities, maybe Cleveland never really lived up to my expectations of "city life." In any case, my recent visit reinforced my decision to move back to Chicago. The following are my Top Ten Reasons why Chicago is better than Cleveland: 10. A rainy day in Chicago doesn't make you feel depressed. 9. There's no need to "actuate" the traffic signals. 8. Public transportation can take you places in the city you actually want to visit. 7. Nobody cares about Ohio State. 6. Many people have mistaken Chicago as a state; to most people, Cleveland is simply a mistake. 5. Chicago's famous icon: Harry Caray. Cleveland's famous icon: Drew Carey. 4. Chicago is best known for its deep dish (or "Chicago Style") pizza. Cleveland's best deep dish pizza is made by Pizza Hut. 3. The Mexican food is authentic - and is actually made by Mexicans. 2. The Chicago River has never been set on fire. 1. It's not in Ohio.

Thanks for not helping.

As I made my way home from the Cubs game last night, the Brown Line suddenly ground to a halt. Apparently, there was an accident somewhere near the Kedzie stop. Our CTA attendant told us that emergency crews needed to shut off power to the tracks between Kimball and Western, and that our train would pull off at Paulina and wait. Rather than waiting for 30 minutes or more, I decided to walk the 20 or so blocks back home. I approached the CTA station attendant in the booth to ask where exactly we were. Our conversation follows: Me: "How far are we from Lawrence Ave.?" CTA: looks at me very confused, but doesn't say anything Me: "What is the nearest major intersection?" CTA: gets a map. still very confused, and speaking with a heavy African accent "What is Lawrence?" Me: "Wow. Nevermind." Mind you, the Brown Line basically runs a few blocks south of Lawrence and goes straight west for more than half of it's route, so this shouldn't have been a hard question. (By the way, Paulina is roughly 8 or 9 blocks south of Lawrence, and is maybe 2 blocks from Addison/Lincoln) What I find even more troubling is the fact that the CTA attendant barely spoke English. Every few minutes, the CTA trains play a message asking riders to report suspicious activity to the attendants. Is this guy supposed to be able to help us in an emergency? How exactly did this guy get a job?