So in an earlier post, I discussed what I appreciate and value about living in Oak Park, IL. Yet I realize I am not just a resident of this village, but of an entire metropolitan area. It is a quilt composed of a patchwork of varied textiles. I don't think of it as just a homogeneous blob. It's amazing to think of the variety of communities that comprise Chicagoland; even the city of Chicago itself has a variety of neighbors. I can still remember a couple of times when I went from ValpU to my Grandma's house on the north side of Chicago. I traveled over 20 miles, from Forest Glen all the way to Hegewisch, and even with all the neighborhoods in between, I was still in one city.
I enjoy marveling at this variety when looking at a map of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. I marvel even more at those times I have when I can drive around in the physical places.
And that's just what I got to do on a few occasions during this month of September.
When I went to the ValpU event at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I recognized I would be heading enroute to the garden during rush hour. So when planning a route, I opted to use streets to get there, rather than the expressways. I rode up Naragansett and Nagle all the way to Devon, and then wound my way through Niles on Milwaukee, and then got onto Waukegan Road. I passed through Glenview, and then into Northbrook. In following part of the directions Google Maps gave me, I eventually ended up on this street called Sunset Ridge Road, which I took to Skokie Boulevard. It was a lovely two-lane road that passed large homes, accessible only by private drives.
A couple days later, on a Saturday morning, I took my Grandma and Great Aunt to Midway Airport. I started out heading south on the Edens/I-94 freeway, which merged with I-90 and fed onto the Kennedy Expressway. But soon enough, we hit a traffic slowdown, and so I exited, winding my way around a residential neighborhood, and then onto eastbound Irving Park Road. I took that all the way east to Lake Shore Drive, and headed south. The sun was at such an angle in the sky so that Lake Michigan gleamed brilliantly as we passed by high rises and other notable city landmarks. At McCormick Place, I turned onto I-55 (at its terminus) and headed southwestward, through the Southwest Side of Chicago, White Sox territory, along the canal corridor that built up the city. (There were certain points where I could see the CTA Orange Line as well.)
Later that day, I went to the NWS Chicago office open house in Romeoville. After my time there, I went down into Joliet to see a Lincoln Highway mural there and the Route 66 Park. (Joliet has some lovely residential areas that I found myself driving around in.)
While the most expedient route back to Oak Park would have been north on IL 53 and then I-55, I wanted to take a different route. So I went north on IL 53 to Renwick Road and then headed east on a bridge over the Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Des Plaines River into Lockport. I got giddy with excitement as I crossed over the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Heritage Corridor route/Canadian National railroad tracks. I then went up a small hill and turned north on IL 171/State Road, which a short distance north of Lockport became Archer Road. I drove that northeast. I passed through many of the southwest suburbs and their commercial areas. Around 111th Street, I drove onto a two-lane road embedded in a wooded area that is part of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and at times speed limits were at 50 mph. That was an especially delightful part of the drive. Further along, I passed by Resurrection Cemetery, though I didn't catch any glimpse of Resurrection Mary. I finally ended up in Summit, which is a really fascinating suburb, with its location and housing stock.
What amazing experiences these drives gave me. I was able to pass through so many suburbs and city neighborhoods. It was amazing to see where I was in relation to the grid grounded in Chicago's address system, especially passing north through numbered streets along Archer. This address system extends well beyond Chicago's city limits into the suburbs, and it's cool to see how that plays out as I drive along.
So yes, it's great to have my home in Oak Park, but it's just as wonderful to see that I am in this piece of the large patchwork of Chicagoland.
No comments:
Post a Comment