“The Rise of the Creative Class” by Richard Florida

While reading the article “The Rise of the Creative Class” by Richard Florida, in my mind I kept going back and forth on the decision if I agree or disagree with his argument. When I read the article the first time I really didn’t want to agree with his point of view, but after reading it for a second time I do agree with his points. A city would struggle if it wasn’t for the younger generation. It’s true our generation tends to spend more money than let’s say our parents’ generation. For a city to survive it needs it financial input and who is more likely to go out and spend the money, the young crowd or the people in their 50’ and up? When venturing out on to college campuses you are more likely to encounter young adults who do display their eccentric hair styles or they are completely covered in tattoos and one might not even know that this person is very intelligent. This is why workplaces are becoming more lenient to the way people look and people of older generations don’t understand how someone who is covered with tattoos might have gotten a top position. The creative class is a new trend that will attract to popular cities, who are more accepting of their lifestyles. The only part of his argument that I didn’t seem to completely agree on was the ratings of the cities. From the cities he named I was shocked not to see Chicago be part of it. The city of Chicago is one of the more creative types of cities, that does attract the creative class.

Article 5 "Bridge Blockade after Katrina Remains Divise Issue"

After reading the article by Chris Kirkham and Paul Purpura, I was ashamed in my country. One would think in a time of need the citizens of the United States would stand together to help each other out in a time of need. But instead police officials blocked off the bridge to “prevent looting and crime across the river”, I just think this was horrible what happened to these people. Not only had they lost their homes, their only exit out of area was blocked and people were being turned back at gun point. American is the land of the free, and that something like this occurred is ridiculous. Until reading this article I never knew that such an event occurred after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I think if it were displayed more throughout the news people would have taken more action towards preventing such things that were done to the victims of the hurricane. This article only goes to show how racist the country still is. Yes we have come along way with racism but the blockade only proves that the U.S still has to improve its way of handling acts of racism.

Cencus Questions

While looking over the U.S Census questions I chose number three and four off the first page.
What are the key similarities and differences between the forms?

The biggest change among the forms is the separation of people among free white and free colored people. Today we have questions distinguishing race but not based on white or colored alone. Another big difference among the forms is that in 1830 people where required to state their Christian name. Today that wouldn’t occur because people worship many other religions and Christianity is not the main religion. The biggest differene among all three forms is how race is stated. In the 1990 census form people were given an explanation of how to answer questions that were based on race, while in 1970 the census form asked for color or race and in 1830 there were only two categories white or colored.

What is your overall sense about the likelihood of achieving accuracy on these forms for accounting and gathering data about the population?

I do not think that the census can get a full account of the population based on gather the information from the census. Not ever single person in the U.S answers the questions 100%. The forms in the past were so long and I believe this is the reason people would answer the questions quickly and without thinking about them. And if immigrants were answering the questions they might not be able to understand the questions due to their complexity. The census is sort of an invasion of privacy and many people to not agree with taking the time to answer such questions. When it comes to the question of race many people have so many choices that most of the time they are unsure and they choose other, which doesn’t give a correct representation of the race among that census neighborhood.

Tale of Three Cities: September 17 Internet Readings

The National Geographic website depicting the painting “Tale of Three Cities” is really interesting. The painting is of three cities and how they compare over the 2000 years. The beginning is from Alexandria, Egypt in 1 AD, and then follows Cordoba, Spain in 1000 AD, the final time period is from New York City in the year 2000. The painting shows what was happening during that time period in the cities and how through the years way of life has changed but signs of influence from the past are still being using in the future. The painting depicts how communication has changed over time. In Alexandria we began with the creation of paper, which during that time was their key export. In Spain a 1000 years later people were using books used for educational purposes also. In the modern age we have all the technological advances; computers, telephones, and the internet. But in all we still use past inventions that were use thousands of years ago. It is also interesting to see how the people in the world have changed. In the year 1 AD, a woman would not have any of the opportunities we have in today’s day and age. Slavery completely has been vanished from our society. The way our past times have changed also. People used to be able to enjoy each others company while enjoying their free time. Today we play our video games are able to watch television and these types of past times are very impersonal. The food we consume is completely changed, we have so many convinces such as take out and drive-thru’s. If it wasn’t for earlier medicine I don’t think we would be where we are now with the medical advances. Even though time has past from the year 1 AD to the year 2000 we have been influenced by our past.

Cencus Tract

Until I had to do this assignment I never knew that the Census website had so much to offer. I knew it existed but I never really took the time to look at it unless I had to for a class or other academic reasons. I was looking at the block information for my parents home, I never realized that on our block our family in the year 2000 was the only 4-person family. After mapping my parent's address I see why the information for my Census tract is the way it is. A large portion of unincorporated Des Plaines is included in out census area which consists of many apartment complexes. I also never knew that in my census area there are 136 people within group quarters. It was also shocking to see that during the time of the 200 Census there were 489 vacant homes in the city of Des Plaines. To me it has always seemed that home here are occupied. I wasn't surprised by the median age for my neighborhood, because it does consist of a variety of ages. I really liked that I could see the wide range of races that reside in my neighborhood, I never realized that 14% of the residents for my neighborhood come from Asian descent. It seems like a big number because on my block there is only one home of Asian descent, so I was a little struck by the percentage. The average household size for renter occupied unit seems right, I currently live in a apartment complex and most of our neighbors are either young couples with one or no children or retired couples. So the average of 2.38 seems to be right and I don't think that will change very much in the 2010 census.

Interesting/Fun/Provocative/Challenging Entry

http://chicagopictures.net/

Searching for my creative post I came across this website. It is a website of pictures of Chicago taken by a guy who moved here from the West Coast in 1996. This website was a way to show his family and friends the city. After loading a few pictures it turned into a large site of photos captured by him and available for not only his friends and family to view but everyone else. The website is neat because it comes from the perspective of a Chicago citizen. Currently he has added a gps tracker of where the photos were taken. There are photos from all around the city, from pictures of buildings to pictures of Events around Chicago. It is a beneficial website if someone is ever in need of a specific picture from the city, but the good thing about it is that he requires to be contacted to use his pictures.

Discussion of Classmate's Blog

After looking at a few of my classmate’s blogs the one that stood out the most to me was Carrie’s blog. I really enjoyed reading her post on her favorite time of the year in the city. I completely agree with her, the Holidays are the best time and very well displayed in the city.

The post that stood out the most to me was her response to, “Differences...why I think we choose Suburbia over Cities?” I agree with Carrie, I don’t believe people move to the city to be left alone. In some suburbs one might be lead to believe that because people do live further away from each other, and it may seem as though neighbors don’t have as much interaction. Like she stated her in blog there are many reasons families choose to move to the suburbs versus the city. Her example of the noise level is a good one, I can relate to that because I also live in the suburbs and there isn’t much noise that comes from the roads at night, compared to if I was living in the city. The overall layout of her blogs is well put together, I like how she takes things people said in class and uses them within her work for a very well educated blog response.

After reading her response, I got to thinking about the topic, why do people choose suburbs over the city and I did ask a few of my family members who do live in the suburbs what made them choose to move to that particular area. I also asked my family who lives in the city, why haven’t they made the decision to move into the suburbs. From both questions I got a wide variety of answers and as Carrie’s blog states people choose the suburbs for different reasons and others choose to stay in the city for different reasons.

Photograph Websites of Chicago

The concept of the website Revealing Chicago is very different with all of the pictures being taken from a birds eye view. I also like how all of the pictures include the caption of what the picture is, which allows the viewer to be more familiar of where the photo is taken at. The idea of the significant pictures having a longer caption is also nice, because then the viewer knows the history of the picture. http://www.revealingchicago.org/

Picturing Chicago is a cool website because you are able to see the many areas of the city, and they are easily labeled for an easier viewing experience. The concept of arranging the pictures into categories is very nice. Chicago Image base is a great source to use if you are doing an in depth project of the city. Not only are you able to see images but you have additional information that goes along with it. http://www.picturingchicago.com/

I really enjoyed all three of these sites and the photos that were presented on each separate website. When I take photos of the city, it is mainly of the buildings, landmarks, and other structures that stick out or are displayed in the city temporarily. The landmarks are so diverse in the city and always changing with time, that its nice to have that remembrance of how it looked once or how over time the city and its buildings can change. http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/ahaa/imagebase/index.html.

Entry #2 of My Own Choosing

This past summer I got to go visit family in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of the greatest trips I have ever taken. Toronto has a very beautiful downtown area. During my stay in Canada, not only did I get to and see Niagara Falls. I also had the opportunity to take the Double Decker Bus Tour of the City. During the tour I was able to see many interesting sites throughout the city. One particular landmark that stood out to me was the CN Tower, “is a communications and observation towerstanding 553.33 meters (1,815.4 ft) tall” (Wikipedia). This is the tallest free standing structure on land in the world. I always thought that the Sears tower was the tallest until I saw the CN Tower. During our tour we also got to see the Hockey Hall of Fame Museum, which was also very interesting, I have always been a huge hockey fan.

Chicago Theater

Entry #1 of My Own Choosing

Tough Streets Of Chicago Tough streets of Chicago, you made me who I am. Tough streets of Chicago, for me you had a plan. You forced me to observe, what kids my age did not. You taught me to look and see, always looking for a plot. You taught me to react, and kept me on my toes. You taught me to examine, the actions of my foes. You forced me to react, in situations dire. You made sure I would function, when I came under fire. You made sure I was tough, made sure I'd understand, the skills that I would need, when I joined uncle Sam. Tough streets of Chicago, I almost went insane. Tough streets of Chicago, you caused me so much pain. You made me grow up fast, always dodging death. You made me run from danger, could hardly catch my breath. You took most of my friends, why, I'll never understand. You made it possible to count, all my friends on one hand. You took them in their teens, you took them very young. You took them way before, to live they had begun. Tough streets of Chicago, my tour is almost up. Tough streets of Chicago, with your gangster posting up. Tough streets of Chicago, can't get you off my mind. Tough streets of Chicago, I miss those streets of mine. Tough streets of Chicago...............................

*Chicago's Cubbies*