Roger Ebert: Thoughts On His Passing

I have to admit, initially I was taken aback by the outpouring of grievances across the country on the passing of Roger Ebert.  Unquestionably he is, and has been for decades, our nation’s pre-eminent master of cinematic journalism.  What surprised me is how many people really truly seemed to care about his death.  It’s as though we have lost a Hemingway, a Picasso, an Einstein.  This past Sunday night I stayed up for over two hours, reading and watching tributes to Mr. Ebert.  It all makes sense to me.  We have lost one of our geniuses.

Now, why in a blog dedicated to neighborhoods am I waxing poetic about the loss of a film critic?  Because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that beyond our day jobs, Roger and I share the exact same passion.  We are advocates for, and lovers of, our city.  Ebert could have had any newspaper job on the planet.  With their proximity to abundant filmmaking, New York and Los Angeles would have made more sense than Chicago.  Instead, the larger-than-life cinema guru chose to live here.  Sure a whopping salary didn’t hurt, but it’s not as though his writing hasn’t been in high demand for decades, especially after winning the first-ever Pulitzer Prize for film criticism.  I mean, does America’s second-most-read critic, whomever that may be, have half the readership as Mr. Ebert and his website?

Chicago's Abandoned Movie Palaces

Chicago magazine recently did a beautiful pictorial exposé on Chicago's great abandoned movie palaces.  The piece, which is introduced by Roger Ebert, displays the interiors of these early movie theaters, showing past glory often muddled by decades of decay.  It wasn't that along ago that crowds of thousands would line up down the street to see the showing of one particular film.  Nowadays, with few exceptions, the multiplexes showing dozens of films throughout the day on dozens of different screens have rendered these architectural masterpieces obsolete of their original purpose.

So what is the purpose of this brief article?  First and foremost, to draw attention to oft-forgotten pieces of Windy City history.  Although these particular buildings are in great disrepair, there are organizations out there fighting for funding to help these structures be restored to their former glory.  If you're interested in supporting a historic Chicago cause, there are opportunities here with these movie palaces. Secondly, there are also many historic theater venues that are still in operation, several of which have been recently restored.  The Logan Theatre (Logan Square), Portage Theater, and Patio Theater (both in Portage Park) show that there is still a place in Chicago for grandiose arts venues.  They serve as anchors to commercial centers and community gathering places.

Although we don't have many images, we'd like to share where these theaters are, and how you can help.  So here are Chicago's abandoned (and hopefully soon-to-be-restored) move palaces.

2012: The Year in Review

For Big Shoulders Atlas, 2012 began on the South Side and it ended back on the South Side.  With lots of transition occurring, including a move back to the City after spending the first half of the year in the suburbs, getting to neighborhoods wasn’t as easy as back in 2011.  Still, we had some incredible experiences in neighborhoods both familiar and foreign.

All in all, 2012 reinforced why we love this city and why we do the blog.  Some of the best meals we’ve ever had were consumed in this past year’s neighborhoods.  There were several cultural surprises, and some “new favorites” that will have us going back to re-live our incredible first experiences.

So here’s looking back to what Chicago offered us in 2012, before we look forward to exciting things in 2013…

Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Chicago/America 2012

A little over a year ago, we did an entry on the Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Chicago based on data from Neighborhood Scout.  This is a follow-up to that entry, reflecting an article from DailyFinance based on 2012 data from Neighborhood Scout.  Once again, the data reflects your odds of becoming a victim of violent crime on those particular streets within the past year.

As in the previous entry, Chicago doesn't fare very well.  Although it no longer has the "worst" neighborhood in America for violent crime, it has the second-worst, along with three others in the Top 25.  No other city has more than two on this list.  That's not to say the data isn't interesting, but it's also not earth-shattering.  For starters, the two "neighborhoods" that appeared on the previous list do not appear on this one.  Also, the four "neighborhoods" that appear on this list are clustered closely together.

This leads to the debate as to what exactly is a neighborhood, based on this study.  They are not four of the officially designated community areas of the city (all four on this list are MUCH smaller than community areas), and they are not really informally designated neighborhoods.  It clearly appears that it is just a tiny slice of the city, usually quadrilateral, selected by its particularly high presence of crime. So, to see which neighborhoods made the list...

Chicago Summer Festivals 2012

Looking for something to do this summer?  How about going to one or more of the endless number of festivals held throughout Chicago's neighborhoods?  From burgers to beer, live music to dance, North side to South side to West side, we have over 70 of the City's unique summertime events encapsulated below.  They're sorted by neighborhood and then in order by date.  Also, a description of each event is given by one of Chicago's top media publications: Time Out Chicago, Metromix Chicago, RedEye Chicago, and Explore Chicago (the City's official tourism website).  So whether in your neighborhood, or the opposite end of town, here are 70+ opportunities to get out and hang with your fellow Chicagoans.

Chicago Neighborhood Awards 2011

So a quick note.  We appreciate everybody who's been reading our blog, and keeping up with it despite a two-month absence.  Laura's in the midst of being buried in her thesis.  However, she insisted that I press on and when she can catch up, she will.  So here's an entry that we started back in early January, and even though we're already well into 2012, we still wanted to recap our favorite things from last year's neighborhood trips.  We'll have another entry in a week or two.  So until then, we hope you enjoy our favorites from 2011...

This past year was our first running this blog, and we had an absolute blast doing it.  In just over 12 months, we were able to experience nearly 20 neighborhoods, many of which we’d never set foot in before, let alone spending any amount of time in them.  Over this time we learned a lot about Chicago, its history, its people, its culture.  Few cities in the world can brag of having the amenities that the Windy City boasts.  So here are our first annual awards for our favorite Chicago neighborhood experiences from the past year.

Chicago Marathon 2011 - 26.2 Miles Through Chicago’s Neighborhoods

The sun also rises over Michigan Avenue

On October 9, nearly 45,000 participants ran in the 34^th annual Chicago Marathon.  Along with the races in New York, Boston, Berlin, and London, Chicago's is considered one of the "World Marathon Majors".  Unlike the Boston Marathon (in which only about two miles actually take place WITHIN Boston’s city limits), the entire Chicago Marathon is a journey through some of the city’s most notable neighborhoods.

This year, one of those 45,000 was Laura, your fair blogger for this site.  Meanwhile, Michael actively participated…as moral support from the sidelines.  While Laura was focused on completing her first marathon, Michael ran around several of the neighborhoods to catch the action.

Below is a list of each mile and which neighborhood the runners traversed.  We’ve also attached an image of the scenes where Michael caught the action.

Breweries in Chicago

Seemingly overnight Chicago has transformed from a major city with one lone microbrewery into a beer-lover’s paradise.  As American tastes have leaned towards more craft brewing, Chicago has not let go an opportunity to put itself on the map.  While we don't yet have microbreweries to the extent of, say, Portland, the growth of the Windy City’s brewing industry has happened in the blink of an eye.

What’s interesting is that this isn’t the first time Chicago has been a beer-brewing juggernaut.  One hundred years ago, the City of Big Shoulders was as crucial a beer-making metropolis as any.  Even though Prohibition killed this industry in Chicago for a long time (as it did for a lot of other cities), the Siebel Institute in Lincoln Park has managed to remain an institution of higher brewing for generations.

This article will provide a synopsis of the breweries that are open or opening soon, how to get to them, and their respective tour details.  So why is this important?  Well it’s a great sign that, even in these difficult economic times, there is a major industry growing in Chicago creating jobs and wealth for the city.  Secondly, it's another reason that Chicago is a destination.  A few weeks ago, we waited in line for 90 minutes outside the Half Acre Brewery (article coming soon).  Two people beat us there, beer tourists from Toledo.  Getting tourists to spend money in Chicago helps our economy, and virtually any reason to get people to spend their money here is a good thing for the city.  Lastly, it’s another cultural thing to do!  If you love trying new beers, what better way to discover something than taking a brewery tour?  Besides, the beer doesn’t get much fresher than drinking it where its made.

So if you have an interest in what exciting things Chicago breweries are doing, please read on!  One more thing to note: this article covers breweries and not “brewpubs”.  [A brewery sells and distributes their product whereas a brewpub serves house made beer, but you can only find it at that location (or maybe in a growler in your fridge)].  So you won’t find places like Revolution or Piece in this entry.  Not saying there isn’t a place for brewpubs; they’re awesome too, but for the sake of conciseness we’re just sticking to the big boys for this one.

Michelin Guide - Chicago Restaurants

Back in November, Michelin released their first ever guide for Chicago restaurants.  This is a prestigious honor for the Windy City and its restaurants.  New York and San Francisco are the only two other cities in the United States to have previously been bestowed such an honor.  The fact that the guide was made is vindication that Chicago is one of the country's, and world's, top restaurant destinations.  Whether you're familiar or not with the Michelin guides, the fact of the matter is this: the restaurants represented by stars are not the sort of places that your average Chicagoan can afford to eat at on a weekly basis.  But as Chicago magazine points out, it's great PR for the City and its dining community.  And frankly, while most of these restaurants are rather expensive, they are worth saving a little extra money and visiting maybe once or twice a year (would you be willing to stay in one weekend a year to save up some extra money to eat in one of the top restaurants in Chi-Town?)

What we've done with this entry is listed the restaurants by neighborhood.  Sure, about half are in the Near North Side.  However, there are GREAT restaurants to be found in the West Loop, Wicker Park, and even Logan Square.  We'll start out with the list by star rating (3 stars being one of the top restaurants in the world, but even a 1 star rating puts the restaurant in very elite company).  Twenty-three restaurants in Chicago were honored with Michelin stars.  Let's take a look where they're at...

Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Chicago/America

Interesting article from about six months ago.  WalletPop, a personal finance website, listed the 25 most dangerous neighborhoods in America for 2010.  The data comes from Neighborhood Scout which, according to the accolades on its website, and the information offered, seems pretty reputable.

So, why discuss this article?  Well, the reasons are twofold: because two Chicago "neighborhoods" are listed in the top 25, and because one of these two is apparently the most dangerous "neighborhood" in the entire United States.  Now, we use neighborhood in quotes because this study seems to create boundaries based upon data, rather than using geographically-designated neighborhoods or community areas.  For example, the most dangerous neighborhood in America is a small northwest section of the much-larger Near West Side community area.

This blog is intended to have mostly a positive focus on Chicago.  While this may not seem like the most positive topic, it's a topic that's certainly worth pointing out, and more importantly, worth discussing.

2010 Census - Neighborhood Demographic Impact

Great information from the Chicago Tribune last week regarding the population of Chicago by community area.  As we already know, the City lost just over 200,000 residents from 2000 to 2010, almost a 7% drop.  However, it was interesting to see in which neighborhoods the City grew, and those in which population fell.

Chicago Tribune Candidate Questionnaire

We found out about this from Edgewater Community Buzz (an absolute ESSENTIAL if you live in Edgewater).  Here's a comprehensive collection of responses from Mayoral and Aldermanic candidates for this year's election as compiled by the Trib:

http://elections.chicagotribune.com/editorial/

If you're not sure if you're registered to vote, you can check at the City of Chicago Board of Commissioners website (make sure to enter your address AND last name):

http://www.chicagoelections.com/


Election Day in Chicago is February 22.