I lived in Chicago for four non-consecutive years from 2006 to 2011. Despite growing up in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City and spending my formative years exploring that great city, I was always most obsessed with Chicago, that vast rusty metropolis of the interior. I always assumed that I'd live there someday. Despite being compelled back eastward by employment, Chicago will always be my favorite big city.
“Sense of place” and “city of neighborhoods” are as tedious and hoary and urban cliches get, and there's hardly a city out there that they haven't been applied to. Chicago wears them with the best, though. Chicago is a lot of things to a lot of people. To me it is always the long, weathered commercial thoroughfares, the brooding gray skies, the remnants of burly industry, and the fine array of vernacular housing (and also tacos, but I didn't take any photos of those). Chicago has an urban hugeness that sets it apart from the Midwest, but is still fundamentally Middle American in a way that New York and Los Angeles will never be.
I tried to balance what I thought were some of my better photos with geographic variety in order to show as much of the city as possible. Still, even with 216 photos, I feel like I'm leaving out a lot. Some really great neighborhoods got shorted. The difficulty I had paring down this retrospective is a testament to the vastness and depth of Chicago's urbanity.
Let's go.
The Loop
W. Lawrence Ave. | Albany Park
S. Ellis Ave. | North Kenwood
N. Lincoln Ave. | West Lakeview
Lake Michigan | Montrose Point
N. Milwaukee Ave. | Noble Square
W. 32nd Pl. | Bridgeport
Lincoln Park/Streeterville
Uptown
W. Diversey Ave. | Logan Square/Avondale border
Eisenhower Expy. | Near West Side
W. George St./N. Laramie Ave | Cragin
S. Ashland Ave. | McKinley Park
S. Berkeley Ave. | North Kenwood
Near North Side
W. Lawrence Ave. | Uptown
Douglas Park to South Loop
W. Cermak Rd. | Marshall Square
Ravenswood
Winston Towers | West Rogers Park
W. Wilson Ave. | Lincoln Square
S. Oakley Blvd. | Near West Side
N. Lincoln Ave. | West Lakeview
E. 91st St. | South Chicago
Hancock
Howard St. Beach | Rogers Park
Indiana Dunes
N. Lincoln Ave. | Lincoln Park
W. Agatite Ave. | Lincoln Square
W. Lawrence Ave.| Albany Park
Greater Bronzeville
Montrose Point
Loyola Park | Rogers Park
Wood St. Yard | West Side
N. Talman Ave. | Lincoln Square
N. Western Ave. | Humboldt Park/Wicker Park
W. Roosevelt Rd. | Lawndale
Rosehill Cemetery
Uptown and south
W. 18th St | Pilsen
W. Sunnyside Ave. | Ravenswood Manor
N. Milwaukee Ave. | Wicker Park
N. Halsted St. | Cabrini-Green
Indiana Dunes | Porter County, IN
W. Surf St. | East Lakeview
S. Baltimore Ave. | South Chicago
W. Bowler St. | Tri-Taylor
from Montrose Point
W. Cermak Rd. | Chinatown
S. Ellis Ave. | South Kenwood
W. Pershing Rd. | McKinley Park
E. Ontario St. | Streeterville
West Side
W. Cermak Rd. | Marshall Square
S. Kenwood Ave. | Hyde Park
W. Briar Pl. | East Lakeview
W. Devon St. | Rogers Park
W. Leland Ave. | Sheridan Park
W. Warren Blvd. | East Garfield Park
N. Lincoln Ave. | North Center
W. Wabansia Ave. | West Humboldt Park
W. 26th St. | Little Village
N. Noble St. | Noble Square
N. Clybourn Ave. | Near North Side
Near North Side
Wilson Ave. Beach
S. Kedzie Ave. | Lawndale
N. Pulaski Rd. | West Humboldt Park
W. 35th St. | Bridgeport
N. Halsted St. | River West
S. Racine Ave. | Near West Side
N. Winthrop Ave. | Edgewater
E. 53rd St. | Hyde Park
W. Irving Park Rd. | North Center
N. Hermitage Ave. | East Ravenswood
Streeterville
Hartigan Beach | Rogers Park
W. Lawrence Ave. | Lincoln Square
W. Fullerton Ave. | Logan Square
Davis St. | Evanston
Eisenhower Expwy | Austin
W. Irving Park Rd. | North Center
Montrose Point to Edgewater
W. Chicago Ave. | River West
N. Lincoln Ave. | Lincoln Park
W. 16th St. | Pilsen
W. Carmen St. | Budlong Woods
N. Noble St. | Noble Square
N. Winchester Ave. | Ravenswood
E. Chicago St. | Elgin
E. Galena Blvd. | Aurora
W. Armitage Ave. | Lincoln Park
S. Pulaski Rd. | Lawndale
North Ave. Beach
W. Wrightwood Ave. | Logan Square
S. Michigan Ave. | Motor Row
N. Claremont Ave. | Wicker Park
W. Madison St. | Near West Side
N. Pine Grove St. | Lincoln Park
N. Clark St. | Sheridan Park
Cabrini-Green
Evanston
W. 26th St. | Little Village
Eisenhower Expwy | Near West Side
E. Chicago St. | Elgin
N. Damen Ave. | North Center
W. Roosevelt Rd. | Oak Park-Cicero border
W. Devon St. | West Rogers Park
Burns Harbor, IN
Belmont Station | Lakeview
S. Rockwell St. | Douglas Park
North Branch, Chicago River | Ravenswood Manor
N. Lincoln Ave. | West Lakeview
S. State St. | South Loop
Montrose Point
W. Jackson Blvd. | West Loop
Whiting Park | Whiting, IN
W. North Ave. | Humboldt Park
S. Monitor Ave. | The Island
Lincoln Park
E. Van Buren St. | The Loop
W. 18th St. | Pilsen
from Montrose Point
Lincoln Park
S. Halsted St. | Bridgeport
N. Wolcott St. | Ravenswood
W. Berteau Ave. | North Center
School St. | Marketown, East Chicago, IN
W. Roosevelt Rd. | Lawndale
Edgewater
W. Leland Ave. | Uptown
W. Montrose Ave. | Ravenswood
Montrose Point
W. North Ave. | Hermosa
N. Spaulding Ave. | West Humboldt Park
S. Hohman Ave. | Hammond, IN
S. Drake Ave. | Little Village
N. Lakewood Ave. | Rogers Park
Lower West Side
W. Chestnut St. | Eckhart Park
W. Lawrence Ave. | Albany Park
Horner Park | Irving Park
Near North Side
Western Station-Pink Line | Heart of Chicago
N. Lincoln Ave. | West Lakeview
Rogers Park
Pratt Blvd. Beach | Rogers Park
Highland Ave. | Edgewater
W. Cermak Rd. | Marshall Square
Lincoln Park
Lake St. | Oak Park
Bronzeville
Evanston
W. Cullerton St. | Pilsen
N. Lake Shore Dr. | Lakeview
S. Genesee St. | Waukegan
from Montrose Point
W. Lawrence Ave. | Uptown
N. Milwaukee Ave. | Portage Park/Six Corners
Montrose Point
Eisenhower Expwy | Near West Side
N. Broadway St. | Joliet
W. Chicago Ave. | Eckhart Park
N. Central Ave. | Belmont-Central
W. Addison St. | East Lakeview
N. Harding Ave. | Avondale
Ravenswood
S. Ashland Ave. | Pilsen
Streeterville
N. Sheridan Rd. | Rogers Park
S. Forrestville Ave. | Grand Boulevard
W. Madison St. | Forest Park
Edgewater
E. 70th St. | South Shore
North Side
S. Commercial Ave. | South Chicago
S. Western Ave. | Near West Side
N. Pulaski Rd. | Avondale
W. Eddy St. | Lakeview
N. Lincoln Ave. | North Center
N. Milwaukee Ave. | Wicker Park
N. Lake Shore Drive
W. Cermak Rd. | Marshall Square
Loyola Park | Rogers Park
N. Lincoln Ave. | Lincoln Park
W. Irving Park Rd. | North Center
W. Briar Pl. | Lakeview
W. Taylor St. | Tri-Taylor
Front St. | Whiting, IN
W. North Ave. | Wicker Park
N. Western Ave. | Wicker Park/Humboldt Park
Montrose Point
W. Leland Ave. | Uptown
Grant Park
Cabrini-Green
South Branch, Chicago River
N. Western Ave. | West Rogers Park
N. Lake Shore Drive
W. Pierce St. | Humboldt Park
N. Noble St. | Noble Square
E. Jackson Dr. | Grant Park
Lakeview
South Evanston to Edgewater
W. Devon St. | West Rogers Park
Wicker Park
N. Springfield Ave. | Avondale
E. 119th St. | Whiting, IN
W. 15th Pl. | Douglas Park
W. Montrose Ave. | Albany Park
Devon/California | West Rogers Park
W. Warren Blvd. | East Garfield Park
W. Montrose Ave. | Lincoln Square
W. Windsor Ave. | Ravenswood Gardens
South from Evanston
Montrose Station-Brown Line | Ravenswood
Each dot is a photo I took from 2009-2011
If you made it this far, thanks!
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