The Chicago Neighborhoods Project us is the result of a hobby to which I’ve committed myself over the past few years. The old site (see this entry for a discussion of the current incarnation) contained a rather melodramatic rationale for the project. Since some apparently found it useful, I’ve decided to reproduce its substance here sans‐theatrics.

There exists a somewhat underground collections of “urbanists,” or enthusiast of the built forms and life in cities, on the Internet. One of the primary mediums for the facilitation of discussions within this group is the amateur photograph with the city as its subject. For that reason, there is a large and growing collection of photographs of many major cities available on the Internet.

I developed an interest in photography principally by being a part of that community, and after beginning to photograph my fair city, realized that I needed a site to host my work. Most urbanists use some free hosting service such as pbase or the Apple gallery. As useful as those services are, they are severely limited. I knew that the web server which I had procured for other purposes could be tasked with hosting a custom site for my collection.

Since I was free to organize the site however I pleased, I put some thought into what was the best way to present my work. Chicago is naturally a “City of Neighborhoods”—perhaps moreso than many other major cities due to the wide variation of demographics and built environment between her neighborhoods—so I concluded that it would be useful to organize the site along those lines: the collection would be organized by neighborhood and each neighborhood’s photographs would be selectable from a map of the city. My hope is that this gives the viewer of the site a small degree of understanding of the scope and diversity of this great city by providing a spacial context for my photographs.

Reader Comments

From Daniel Majchrzak at Mon Jan 17 21:27:40 2005

Glad to have met you at Coffee Talk today(1/17). If you would like some help on drafting commentaries about some neighborhoods let me know. I’m impressed with the organization and presentation of your site.

From Neal at Mon Apr 18 06:42:20 2005

Great Chicago site. I have found an interest in the neighborhoods of Chicago and have been hanging out in Chicago chatrooms.

The pictures are nice, but there doesn’t seem to be as much night time pictures. I grew up in the North side.

From Ann-Marie at Mon Apr 18 16:36:51 2005

I would like to invite you to Mayfair. We are north of Irving Park and east of Jefferson Park. If you would like a native to show you around please contact me.

From Archie FlorCruz at Mon Apr 18 23:40:48 2005

It’s great to have found a fellow Chicago Based Photography Website! Love the comprehensive neighborhood map layout!

From c-spins at {Fri May 20 14:26:24 2005}

I dig the organizing concept but find that the site currently suffers from the same suspect shortage of representation of neighborhoods that are ignored by so many other “city” sites. Hopefully that will change.

From Joel Kuperman at Mon Jul 18 20:53:23 2005

I just visited your website and enjoyed the segment on Humboldt park. Having grown up on North Avenue at California avenue I had a close up view of the park, the neighborhood and it’s changing citizenry over time. I lived in the neighborhood from 1958 to 1980. I have many friends from the area and revisit as time permits.

I would like to volunteer my services to write the commentary for the Humboldt Park segment for your review. Please let me know if this is of interest to you at this time. Cell # 312.363.8944

From Paloma at {Wed Jan 25 06:04:31 2006}

How did Argyle get labeled "Little Korea?" It is mostly stores and patrons of SE Asian descent (Viet, Lao, Cambodian). One would be hard pressed to spot a Korean there. Perhaps it’s a misnomer from yore...

Also, I’d like to vouch for a Mayfair representation, as did Ann‐Marie.

Beautiful presentation and with intent; clearly it is an understatement to say that much effort has gone into this project. Keep it up!

From Kirsten at {Wed Feb 8 04:23:54 2006}

Beautiful work. I can’t vouch for all of the areas, but as a resident of Dunning I can say that you really caught the charm of a summer day in this area. Your work is very real and I hope you post more.

From Ben at Thu Feb 16 03:44:34 2006

Thank you. I was born and raised in Chicago (4700 S block of Western Ave). I have not been home since I went into the military. I am in Baltimore now, but I am paralyzed. I have no family left in Chicago, so it is nice to find pictures of my home. You took pictures of Kelly High School, tears came to my eyes, it has been almost 20 years. Thank you so much for providing me with a glimpse of my true home. I will eagerly await more pictures.