The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook

by Martha Bayne

Overview

Dubbed "required reading" by the Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook offers an intimate, idiosyncratic look at the third-largest city in the country. Part of Belt's growing series of unique city guides, The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook explores community history and identity in a global city through essays, poems, photo essays, and art articulating the lived experience of its residents. Edited by Belt senior editor Martha Bayne, the book builds on 2017's critically acclaimed Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology. What did one pizzeria mean to a boy growing up in Ashburn? How can South Shore encompass so much beauty and so much pain? Where's the best borscht in Ukranian Village? Who's got a handle on the ever-shifting identity of Rogers Park? All this and more in this lyrical, subjective, completely non-comprehensive guide to Chicago. With contributions from more than forty writers, including Megan Stielstra, Audrey Petty, Dmitry Samarov, Lily Be, and many others, covering forty-three of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods. A snapshot of a city at an inflection point, The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook is grassroots history at its finest, and a must-read for anyone keen to understand what makes Chicago tick.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781948742498
Publisher:	Belt Publishing
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Series:	Belt Neighborhood Guidebooks
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	488,136
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	17 Years

About the Author

Martha Bayne is a senior editor with Belt Publishing and a Chicago-based freelance writer. Her work has been published in regional and national outlets including Buzzfeed, Eater, the Chicago Reader, the Chicago Reporter, the Baffler, and Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism. She is the editor of Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology and Red State Blues: Stories from Midwestern Life on the Left, both published by Belt, and the author of the narrative cookbook Soup & Bread Cookbook: Building Community One Pot at a Time (Agate, 2011).

Table of Contents

Introduction Martha Bayne 10

West Side

Austin: Austin and Division Shaina Warfield 15

Austin: Cakewalk Rasaan Khalil 20

Humboldt Park: Queen of the Tunnels Lily Be 21

Garfield Park: Perspectives Gabriel X. Michael 27

North Lawndale: An Interview with Alexie Young, MLK Fair Housing Exhibit Center F. Amanda Tugade 34

Little Village: Three Stories Emmanuel Ramirez Zipporah Auta Gloria Nine" Valle, Yollocalli Arts Reach 38

Southwest Side

Garfield Ridge: Comeback Kid Sheila Elliott 47

Back of the Yards: Books and Breakfast at the Breathing Room Miranda Goosby 52

Englewood: An Interview with Tamar Manasseh, Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killings Kirsten Ginzky 55

Marquette Park: Members Only Gint Aras 60

Far Southwest Side

Ashburn: That's Amore Tim Mazurek 69

Mount Greenwood: Growing Up In, and Reporting On, Chicago's Poster Child for Racial Tension Joe Ward 72

Beverly: How to Integrate a Chicago Neighborhood in Three (Not-So) Easy Steps Scott Smith 78

Southeast Side

Roseland: They Killed Him and His Little Girlfriend Raymond Berry 89

Pullman and Ideal Communities in Chicago, the Rust Belt, and Beyond Claire Tighe 97

Hegewisch: Pudgy's Pizza Josh Burbridge 102

East Side: Something about the South Side Mare Swallow 110

South Side

South Shore: Between the Lake and Emmett Till Road Audrey Petty 117

Woodlawn: Memories of Obama Jonathan Foiles 122

Hyde Park: Quarks and Quiche on the Midway John Lloyd Clayton 124

Bronzevttle: Black Metropolis Alex Miller 129

Near West Side

Bridgeport: The Community of the Future Ed Marszewski 135

Heart of Chicago: A Sketch Dmitry Samarov 141

Pilsen: The Quietest Form of Displacement in a Changing Barrio Sebastián Hidalgo 143

Greektown/Maxwell Street/Little Italy: UIC: Chicago's Past and Future Ann Logue 153

River West: Counting Cranes Jean Iversen 157

Central

South Loop: Michigan and Harrison Megan Stielstra 167

The Loop: Life in Chicago's Front Yard Rachel Cromidas 174

Gold Coast: The Alleys of the Gold Coast Leopold Froehlich 178

North Side

Lakeview: On Belmont and Clark Emily Mack 185

Lakeview: The Blue House Eleanor Glockner 188

North Center: Signs in Bloom Kirsten Lambert 195

Ravenswood Gardens: Chicago River Life Rob Miller 201

Far North Side

Uptown: A Trip to the Argyle Museum of Memories Vitaliy Vladimirov 209

Andersonville: The Precarious Equilibrium Sarah Steimer 216

Edgewater Glen: Trick or Treat Kim Z. Dale 220

West Ridge: Rebel Girl Sara Nasser 223

West Ridge: Paan Stains and Discount Vegetables Stuti Sharma 228

Albany Park: Edge Zone Chicago Benjamin van Loon 235

Northwest Side

Portage Park: Six Corners, Many Changes Jackie Mantey 243

Hermosa: Holy Hermosa Sara Salgado 248

Logan Square: The Best Burger on the Square Nicholas Ward 250

Wicker Park: milwaukee avenue Kevin Coval 256

Humboldt Park: Along Pulaski Road, from Irving Park to Humboldt Alex V. Hernandez 266

Epilogue: The Last Days of Rezkovilie Ryan Smith 272

Contributors 277

Editorial Reviews

"Required reading. ... Reinforces what an amazing and interesting place [Chicago] is, filled with talented writers and artists who contributed to the book. But it also requires the reader to see the city anew, to confront its problems and not fall back on empty sentiment." — John Warner, Chicago Tribune

“You would be a fool not to have this on your bookshelf; it will introduce you to Chicago today. … An essential and tremendously enjoyable book." — Rick Kogan, After Hours With Rick Kogan

“A stirring, entertaining and informative collection of works … [Brings] to vivid life the diverse people and wildly divergent experiences that populate Chicago. The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook is a symphony of the city – unharmonious, often tragic, sometimes ridiculous, yet always home." — Alex Bean, Chicago Detours

From the Publisher