alternative routes

ever since i found out that you can customize your google maps, i have been wanting to make albums and albums full of maps. this is a quick and easy way to start to figure out my own pattern of movement through the city. if i'm smart i'll also remember to include modes of the purpose of the trip, transportation, who i'm with, and -most important- things i saw along the way (ideally pictures of them) and what i thought about them.

i just figured out which is the most-used electric outlet in my apartment by plugging my phone in to charge and recalling how often my room mate and i crouch down to that space to unplug something, plug something else in.

that might not seem relevant, but if we realize the our geographical patterns, that is, how we normally interact with our spaces, we can identify and solve problems hidden by routine. so the problem with the electrical outlet might go like this: in order to prevent the cluttering of space and the possible demise of this (and therefore the other) outlet(s), we could start using other outlets. this might, in some small way, improve our quality of life by preventing a future shortage. this could also make us think about all the ways we use our electricity, how to conserve, save money, etc.

a larger quality of life issue comes up when i start to think about mapping (and changing) the routes i take through the city. last night i went to meet tiffany for a show at the empty bottle. on the way up i rode my (new!) bike, taking the direct route up western ave. for those of you who don't live in chicago, western is a major north/south street on the west side of the city. it runs from 147th street on the south side and comes to a dead-end on howard street at the northern-most edge of chicago. i have traveled up and down western every day, on my way to work, to friends' houses, etc. countless times in the 14 months i've lived in my current apartment. city buses, semis, and cars pass by creating a constant stream of traffic noise. the sidewalks are at times covered with shattered glass (near schools, churches, and the alderman's office). people shout at you from their porches and cars. bushes of weeds creep out from their empty lots.

so i rode up western at about 10 pm last night. when i returned later, i rode east one block and turning right onto oakley, i came upon a totally different environment. an affirmation that i had made a good decision was the 4 bikers in view along the tree-lined street. i rode past residential houses on a somewhat quieter street, relieved from the western avenue traffic. i felt that for the time being the pollution in my life could be mitigated or ignored. heading southward, i became even more pleased. i passed an evangelical church, with its sculpture of the virgin, hands upward and dramatically lit. i passed what i figured to be a russian orthodox church and smiled to myself because it hadn't even occurred to me there would be one in the city. i love to appreciate the material facts of religion much as many appreciate art.

as i passed under a bridge and into the warehouse district, oakley ave lost its quiet vitality. a dark-colored car with tinted windows crept northbound about a block away, and my sense of caution heightened. i kept the driver's side of the car in my sights, cleared any danger from the car, and headed toward the intersection. i decided to turn back out to western when i came to a stop light next to another car, completely stopped in the middle of the northbound lane and surrounded by six or seven men.

back on western i passed the new low-income housing on the north side of the highway; the same guy who shouted to me on the way up shouted to me on the way back. i arrived home, wondering if there was a better way to get between my neighborhood and the northwest side of chicago.

maps are made by surveyors and city planners. these are comprehensive, birds-eye views designed to improve the infrastructure of the city. maps made for the chicago cultural center chart points of interest for any kind of tourism in the city (graveyards of chicago, public art, millennium and grant parks). some of the most exciting maps were made by cartographers as they crossed new territory.

but the best maps of all tell something about how people traverse their spaces. a project called amsterdam realtime sent citizens of amsterdam, equipped with tracking devices, to practice their everyday life in the city. the tracking devices recorded their movements. londoner christian nold's biomapping project records people's emotional responses to their surroundings in different neighborhoods all over the world. more on these later.

unfortunately google is still testing something called "My Maps" or I just need to spend more time figuring it out. so i'll have to wait to make such wonderfully complicated maps. fortunately google can provide links to maps i make. here's an added bonus, before i stop. two very long walks this week:

graham and i walked from his friend's house in the south loop to my house early this morning after a party. he had his bike, i really didn't want to take the train. we walked through the uic campus and all the way down taylor street, which reminded me of when i was a student there. i told him many stories. he told me i should be a tour guide.

on the day chicago was almost demolished by tornadoes trees and lamp-posts fell across the blue line, and i had to figure out a different way home from work. after going around the block from the train, i headed southward to harrison, then west to halsted, where i caught the harrison bus home. i watched the traffic as i walked through the slight rain without an umbrella.

footnote (1) : as i was searching frantically for the amsterdam realtime project (which was challenging because i forgot the name of the project!) i found two websites worth taking a second look at: gapminder and mapping worlds. for future review.

footnote (2) : an article about the amsterdam mapping project appeared on the website of the paris-based project interdisciplines