Cool stuff I walked to today.

This morning I walked to work, walked to lunch and met my sister Susan at China Garden, and walked to a Neighborhood Conversation at First Baptist Church where we got to meet the incredibly talented landscape architect Kaizad Irani, who designed the Phoenix Park 9/11 memorial in New York City.  And get this - he's going to do a project in Waukegan too.  AND, I'll be able to walk to it.

It was a great night and I wish everyone in Waukegan could have come to be part of the conversation about what we love about where we live.  I was really inspired, and really impressed by the number of people who talked about walkable neighborhoods or bicycling.  Two of my friends who were there, Will G and David V, also live downtown and had walked to the meeting. 

People get it.  People like places that feel like real neighborhoods, and people like feeling safe in their neighborhoods.  The best, easiest way to do that is to know your neighbors and love your neighbors.  People like walkability even when they don't know the word for it.  The Congress for the New Urbanism has this great post on why this type of design just performs better, and I couldn't agree more. 

Tonight I was talking to somebody at the church and Lent came up, so I mentioned my giving up driving thing.  At first this guy looked at me like I was crazy, but when I said that I just lived a few blocks from the church, he said, "oh, well it's not that much of a sacrifice then."  He was totally right. 

It snows during Lent.

My sister took this picture in
front of our parents' house
and I'm smiling crazy because
it was really, really windy.

Biking is fun and healthy and free and all those good things, but biking in the snow is something else.  I rode my bike to my friend Tarah's house yesterday for a delicious lunch (she's a fabulous cook!) and it wasn't too far - just about 2 miles, but it took me way longer than it should have because I kept having to stop and figure out how to get around/over/through piles of snow at sidewalk edges.  I have a new appreciation for people who shovel their sidewalks on busy roads, and how I've always thought we have an amazing public works department in Waukegan that does a great job on the roads, the sidewalks and driveway edges are another thing entirely.

Chicago actually has a program to encourage business owners to shovel their sidewalks - you can read more about it at http://www.activetrans.org/shovel.  They recognize people who do a good job keeping sidewalks clear for pedestrians with a "thank you for shoveling" sign, and I'm convinced we should do that here next winter.

I'm deciding I like the bike better than the bus because my couple bus trips so far have been fine but I'm just too impatient.  I do realize that there are people who don't even have the option of a bike and that's a luxury too - I was thinking about this last night when I was reading tweets with the #firstworldlent and completely couldn't stop laughing.  It's stuff like "I will only use one social networking website during Lent" or "giving up all non-local craft beer."

I guess the short answer is that there have been very few things so far that I haven't been able to do without a car.  Friday morning I did make a pre-arranged exception to carpool with my parents to a reception for an award, but it was a 30 minute drive to a place off the bus route.  I honestly don't know how I would have gotten there otherwise.  To be technical about my Lenten commitment, I'm just not driving myself, meaning that I can be in a carpool, which I think is still pretty in line with the whole thing.

I did get to lock my bike to a bike rack for the first time (instead of a tree or a light post) when I was at at City Hall yesterday afternoon.  It was even covered by a roof so when it was snowing my bike stayed dry.

Another thing I want to point out: if you who rely on public transit or your bike as your primary means of transportation, winter doesn't change that.

Good news for me though - everything is close by.  I had a delicious brunch at Jerry's Tacos this morning and tonight I'm going to a show at the incredible Genesee Theatre.  Things are good.  

Annnnnnd.... buses.

So buses turn out to be awesome.  The things about buses that are weird include:  the bus stops, the irregularity of when buses show up, and that there's not a lot to do when you're sitting at the bus - EXCEPT:  talk to people, clean up, ask what they want in the neighborhood, find out why they're taking the bus in the first place, learn their names, learn about their families and why they live here, what they want our city to be, and a million other things that come up when you have 20 minutes to talk to someone you're just meeting for the first time.  Hey wanna see my bus pass?

It's cool.  So far people talked to me about their doctors' appointments, which buildings they think are getting torn down (next) in my neighborhood, and what their kids did that day.  I have to say, it's kind of bizarre that we haven't figured out a way to put two things at bus stops:  tiny playgrounds and cigarette-butt-disposals.  You have a lot of time to sit and be stressed and/or bored at a bus stop and I definitely would love to see some stuff to play at.  A really nice mom was encouraging her kids to stop playing in the chainlink fence + garbage / mud + cigarette butts "playground" behind the bus stop and I wanted so badly for these kids to have a sandbox at that moment.  A couple calls and we'll see how it goes but, it's kind of weird because the view from the bus stop looks like this:

and you don't even realize that gorgeous, amazing Lake Michigan is right behind you, or that there are a few simultaneous, amazing development projects going on across the street.  Cool things about the bus stop at Sheridan & Washington:  there are nice wind shelters, unlike a lot of the bus stops, and super nice people announce what bus is coming.  I just found out about this by sitting there, but somebody stands up and says "571 ya'll!" or "cinqo seis cinqo ahora" so you don't miss your bus if you're texting/blogging/sleeping/raising kids, and it's really cool. 

The first day, I took the bus to the bike shop to pick up my bike, then rode my bike home, rode my bike to church, and rode it home from church in the rain.  I stopped at a gas station because I was super thirsty and here's where I parked it: 

Yeah, there aren't any actual places to park bikes.  Even at my church, which I love, I locked my bike to a tree.  (I tried to take a picture but it was pretty dark.)  One cool thing is that the sidewalks here are great and I didn't ever have to jump a curb - they all had those little ramps for handicap accessibility / bicyclability. 

So I made it home, ashes on my forehead, kind of snowy and wishing I had better gloves - but I was on time to church and it only took me 11 minutes to ride there, which isn't too long.  The good thing is that carrying my bike up one flight of stairs isn't a big deal, even though it is kind of weird to keep my bike in my kitchen until I figure out a better place.  I got through all of today without driving, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the weekend goes.  I'm thinking Chicago, but we'll see where my bus pass and train tickets take me.

Walking Home

So, some of the things that people who live here already know:

It's really cold walking/Wauking home down Genesee Street in February.  We get that same beautiful "lake breeze" that Chicago gets - meaning the wind off the lake is really freaking cold.  The cool thing is that I got to walk home from the fabulous Big Ed's after the meeting and I had a really great time.  Mardi Gras beads and everything.  So excited to figure out how this all translates into a lifestyle I'm pretty close to already.

We're really close to Lake Michigan.  I can see it from my apartment and that's even more awesome in summer but right now, at night, it just seems freezing cold.

I need to figure out how to talk Taqueria Guerrero into staying open later because I forgot to eat dinner today and we're super close to getting downtown Waukegan to translate itself into a later-in-the-evening kind of place, but I need more people to want ceviche and chorizo tacos at 11pm.

Sometimes people ask me if I feel safe walking home alone at night and I wonder exactly what they're worried about...  I can only assume it's that they're concerned I will encounter people asking for money or cigarettes (don't worry, I know all the regulars down here by name and they're cool) or something, but frankly I have the opposite problem. I get to talk to nobody when I'm walking home.  Don't worry, I'm working on getting more people to live by me.

Beyond all that, it's a nice walk.  Lake view.  Cool art in a lot of the windows.  Super cool restaurants that will open in... 9 hours?   A very nice apartment with all the stuff I need (NEED - working on comprehending that), friends who can be here within minutes, family a (very cold) 15 minute walk away, train station that has a couple more trains out if I decide I need to be in Chicago, buses that can get me... some places.  It's all good.

Lent, I am so ready.

No More Car Keys

Alright, I turned in the keys and parked the car at my dad's warehouse, where it will enjoy a restful Lent.  So far so good.  My first adventure has been getting the front bike tire replaced on my bike because the front wheel got stolen in Chicago.  My brother and I drove the bike (I get the irony) to Midwest Bicycle on Grand in Waukegan.  The guy there was super nice and I'm picking it up tomorrow with a replacement hybrid tire and fixed up brakes.  I'm also going to invest in a nice new bike lock.

I asked the bike shop employee, and he told me Midwest Bicycle & Billiards, Inc. [(847) 249-5670] opened in Waukegan in 1980 and has been 
at 1928 Grand Avenue since 1993.  

The shop is great and they have all kinds of used parts and specialize in repairs and tune ups.  I'm sure I'll be back there again soon.  In the mean time, I'm trying to decide where my bike is going to live.  There's not a lot of extra space at my apartment, and I'm considering asking my landlord if I can come up with some kind of covered outdoor storage for my bike in my parking space.  We don't have any public covered bike parking in Waukegan as far as I know, although some of the apartments around here do.  There are a ton of cool examples in other communities.  It's also one of the criteria for getting certified as a bicycle friendly city by the League of American Bicyclists.  

Gotta get to a meeting (conveniently within walking distance) but I'm psyched for my trek to buy a bus pass tomorrow.  Bring it on, Lent.

One more day with a car.

For Lent this year I'm giving up driving.  There are a lot of things about driving that I don't like, but like most people who can afford to, I totally rely on my car.  I drive it when I could walk, and I don't plan my errands to combine trips efficiently.  Gas, car payments, and insurance add up - and for me and many of my fellow 20 somethings, that's one of the factors preventing us from being able to pay off student loans or put a down payment on a house.  I've also learned a lot lately while reading everything I can about New Urbanism - the movement in neighborhood development that promotes walkability, sustainability, and community.  I have lots to say about that, but we've got 46 days.  I'll give you a quick preview though:



I live in downtown Waukegan, Illinois and within walking distance of almost everything I need, so I don't think it'll be that difficult.  I'm going to keep a blog to chronicle my adventures on public transportation and to brag about all the cool stuff I can walk to, ride my bike to, take the bus to, and take the train to.

On Wednesday, for the start of my 46 days without a car, I'm walking to the Pace Bus ticket center at 1400 W. 10th Street, which is 2 miles away from my apartment, to see if I can figure out what kind of bus pass / train pass combo deal I can work out.  I did find a bunch of closer places to buy bus passes, which is cool, but I'm gonna see if I can get a map and try to decipher some of the bus routes.

For as much as I promote walkability and accessibility, I'm sure sometimes I don't know what I'm talking about regarding transit in Waukegan.  I make it sound more convenient than it really is and talk about it the way I remember buses and the subway when I was in college in DC.  There are tons of people in my neighborhood now who rely on public transit to get to work, church, stores, and to see friends and family and I know that for many of them, having a car would be a life changer.

So, here's hoping I learn a lot and figure out what I can do to improve public transit options, bike & pedestrian accessibility, and make driving less necessary in my neighborhood.  And on the Lenten note - I think Jesus would totally love a lot of the reasons for doing this.  My friends and I are doing a Bible study on the subject, on the book Sidewalks In the Kingdom.   The premise is that Jesus told us to love our neighbors, so why do so few of us know our neighbors?  I'm sure I'm going to meet more of mine at the bus stop this week.  I'll keep you posted.