Halsted Street - A Portrait of Chicago

Chicago - Southside to Northside

I look at the city by looking at one of it's longer streets.  The photographs of Halsted Street paint a picture of poverty, decay, worship, blight, abandonment, destruction, gentrification,
renewal and hope.

In Chicago's grid system, Halsted street marks 800 West, one mile (1.6 km) west of State Street, from Grace Street (3800 N) in Lakeview south to the city limits at the Little Calumet River (13000 S) in West Pullman. (From Grace north to Lawrence Avenue (4800 N) in Uptown, 800 W is marked by Clarendon Avenue.)

North Side

In Lakeview, Halsted is lined with gay bars and clubs as one enters Boystown, Chicago's main gay and lesbian community and one of the city's busiest shopping districts. As it continues south past Belmont (3200 N), it goes past DePaul University and through the Lincoln Park area.
Near North

The sole remaining building of the Cabrini–Green housing project is at Halsted and Division (1200 N) in the Near North Side neighborhood. Halsted Street has two bridges to mark its passage over Goose Island; it is one of only two streets to completely traverse this, the Chicago River's only island.

Near West

Continuing south, Halsted soars high above feeder ramps to the Kennedy Expressway, Union Pacific Railroad and Canadian National Railway and finally the Kennedy Expressway itself to enter the West Loop. One then passes through Chicago's Greektown at Jackson Blvd (300 S). South of a high bridge over the Eisenhower Expressway, Halsted forms the eastern border of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The Jane Addams Hull House, America's first settlement house, was located at Polk (800 S) and Halsted. The "Hull House Neighborhood," which was served by the Jane Addams' settlement house, consisted of recently arrived immigrants at the turn of the 20th century.

The Legendary Taylor Street (1000 S)...the port-of-call for Chicago's Italian American immigrants.Taylor Street Archives, became known as Chicago's Little Italy. Italians were the only ethnic group that remained after the exodus of Jews, Greeks, Irish, etc. that began shortly before the Great Depression of the 1930s. Greektown and Maxwell Street (Jewtown) business establishments continue to exist as remnants of the mass emigration of Southern Europeans...terminated by an act of congress in 1924.

South of a half-kilometer-long underpass allowing Halsted to cross the BNSF Railway tracks at 16th street, parallel to the Dan Ryan Expressway, Halsted grazes the eastern edge of the Pilsen neighborhood, then bridges across the Chicago River's south branch.

South Side

Here Halsted Street enters Bridgeport. Traditionally working-class Irish and Italian community, its been home to five mayors, including current mayor, Richard M. Daley. Continuing south, Halsted passes along the borders of the Canaryville neighborhood between 40th and 49th Streets, which historically housed many Union Stock Yards workers. The Stockyards themselves were located to the west of Halsted between Pershing (39th) and 47th. Further south, Halsted Street passes into Englewood. Kennedy-King College has it campus in the heart of Englewood at 63rd Street and Halsted Street. Further south, Halsted intersects with 71st Street, which was honorarily named for Emmett Till, a martyr in the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968). Just south of 95th Street is the Carter G. Woodson regional branch of the Chicago Public Library. It continues south towards the city limits at the Little Calumet River near 129th St, where it then continues into the south suburbs. Illinois Route 1 begins at Halsted Street's interchange with Interstate 57 (at 99th Street) on the far south side, and follows Halsted through much of its length through the suburbs. In the city of Chicago Heights, Route 1 breaks off and is called Chicago Road, then Dixie Highway, ending at the Ohio River, at the border with the state of Kentucky. Halsted Street continues through downtown Chicago Heights, where it ends.


Professional wrestlers One Man Gang and Colt Cabana have been billed from Halsted Street, as well as Ace Steel and CM Punk.

The street derives it name from the Grandfather of William Stewart Halsted, the illustrious Johns-Hopkins surgical innovator.

blight gentrification renewal hope urban city housing decay congregation baptist sunday chapel church service corrosion crumbling decline stimulus cha decomposition deterioration disintegration disrepair dying extinction rot ruin rust waste withering foreclosure bankruptcy debt destitution hardship vacancy poverty Utopia achieve belief desire faith fool's paradise fortune greed promise reward wish vice lords steppenwolf  pilsen bridgeport englewood lincoln park edgewater wrigleyville blues
getto poor gheto white projects gangsta gangster trash rap slang hoochie shit redneck trailer trash pimp wannabe yuppie starbucks preppy rich snob urban trendy slut pretentious lame stupid arrogant cunt gentrification bohemian apple store ipad iphone mac ipod

coffeeshop racism

video vlog movie david moskow film blueray dvd pay per view chicago youtube channel videography netflix IMDB hollywood television tv HD artist blog blogger kodak zi8 bicycle footage "on the scene" diy amateur photography lomography blog youtube video vlogging blogging journal internet weblog podcast dftba awesome tutorial howto youtuber funny sound art music rap graffiti writer creative poet cool awesome pop band painter beautiful genius amazing hip-hop artists hipster talent rock artistic drawing paint talented photographer draw fashion emo

Chicago Beach Report

Tour Six Chicago Beaches. 

Montrose Ave,  Foster Ave, Osterman (Hollywood),  North Ave,  Oak Street and Ohio Street.

The beaches in Chicago are an extensive network of waterfront recreational areas operated by the Chicago Park District. The Chicago Metropolitan waterfront includes parts of the Lake Michigan shores as well as parts of the banks of the Chicago, Des Plaines, Calumet, Fox, and DuPage Rivers and their tributaries. The waterfront also includes the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Sanitary and Ship Canal.  Historically, the waterfront has been used for commerce, industry, and leisure. Leisure, such as fishing, swimming, hunting, walking and boating, was much more prevalent throughout the river sections of the waterfront system in the early in the 19th century before industrial uses altered the landscape. By midcentury, much leisure shifted to Lake Michigan as a result of industrial influence. The first City of Chicago Public Beach opened in Lincoln Park in 1895.  Today, the entire 28 miles (45 km) Chicago lakefront shoreline is man-made, and primarily used as parkland.  There are thirty-three beaches in Chicago along the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan.

Typically, Chicago beaches take the name of the east-west street that runs perpendicular to the lake at each beach's location.

Thorndale Beach

Thorndale Beach is located at 5934 north in Edgewater. This was once a standalone beach, as recently as the 1970s, but shifting sand has connected it to Hollywood Beach to the south. There is a boardwalk ramp, to allow wheelchair access closer to the shoreline. George Lane Park, located here, provides a children's playground. There is also a landscaped flower garden in the park across Sheridan Road.

Kathy Osterman Beach (formerly Hollywood Beach)

Located at the 5800 North block where Lake Shore Drive ends at a curve that feeds into Sheridan Road (near West Hollywood Avenue and North Lake Shore Drive) in Edgewater, this crescent-shaped beach serves two groups. The northern half is largely a family beach and the southern half is largely a gay men and lesbian beach.The northern half of the beach has shallow water which makes it kid-friendly and there is a long boardwalk ramp to allow closer access to the shoreline for strollers and wheelchairs near the Ardmore Avenue entrance.Beach volleyball is popular here. There is a beach house and concession stand, which opened in 2010. Unique among Lincoln Park's northern beaches there is no nearby parking lot. In the upper beach, north of Ardmore and the boardwalk, near Thorndale beach is a small park district beach grass reserve for migrating birds and butterfly.

Foster Ave Beach

Foster Avenue Beach is located at 5200 north.It is a popular beach in the Edgewater section of the city. It was part of Lincoln Park’s final landfill extension completed in the 1950s between Foster Avenue and Ardmore Avenue. The design and planning for the extension started in 1947, with construction and fill beginning three years later. The work on the beach continued over the rest of the fifties, being concluded in 1958. The original beach house for the site, like the existing ones at Montrose and North Ave., was designed by E.V Buchsbaum, it was constructed sometime in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A new beach house with improved amenities was constructed in the 1990s.

Montrose Avenue Beach

Montrose beach is Chicago's largest beach. It is located in Uptown. It also houses the most parking of any beach in Chicago. It is one of few beaches patrons may launch non-motorized watercraft, such as kayaks and catamarans into Lake Michigan. It also has one of only two dog beaches in the Chicago Park District, making it a popular beach for dog lovers. In the fenced off dog-friendly section at the north end of the beach leashless dogs are permitted once on the sand. Montrose beach hosts the Junior Guard regional championships, the annual Beach Soccer Festival, and numerous runs and walks for various charities. The beach house on the south-end of the beach was designed by E.V. Buchsbaum, it was modeled after the North Avenue Beach House, and looks like a lake steamer. Unfortunately, in the 1950s, the east wing of the beach house burned in a fire, which was not rebuilt.[13] The beach house was recently remodeled with a 3,000 square foot patio deck, it will house only the third full service restaurant, named "The Dock at Montrose Beach", at a Chicago beach after Oak Street Beachstro and North Avenue's Castaways. It is part of the Park District's plan to add "more upscale concessions to the lakefront". Due to budget constraints Chicago eliminated the traditional July 3 fireworks in Grant Park, instead opting for a down-scaled fireworks displays in three different locations in Chicago on the 4th of July, the north side display will now be held at Montrose Beach every year.

North Avenue Beach

The North Avenue Beach, located at 1600 north,is considered by many to be Chicago's premier beach. It has the largest lifeguard staff and is home to the most developed beachhouse. Technically running from North Avenue to Diversey Harbor in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, North Avenue Beach is characterized by its piers which hold the sand in place and create a scalloped shoreline, terminating in a Cape Cod-like hook. The beach hosts international volleyball tournaments as well as millions of sun worshippers every year. Chicago Park District lines the beach with poles for individuals and leagues to hang volleyball nets. These nets and this portion of the lakefront bike/running/blading path attract large numbers of people on weekends and weeknights. North Avenue is also center stage for the Chicago Air & Water Show, which draws over a million people a day from Ohio to Diversey along the lakefront. North Avenue Beach is the site of the annual AVP Chicago Open.

Oak Street Beach

Oak Street Beach, located at 1000 north, covers the area from the North Avenue 'Hook' Pier south to Ohio Street Beach (Illinois St. Beach, Olive Beach), about 1.5 mi (2 km). Oak Street is home to the largest area of deep water swimming in the city (1/2 mile (800 m) over 10 ft (3 m)). Until 2006 Oak Street Beach was also the only place in the city where SCUBA divers could dive close to the shore. The north ledge was once a hot spot for the city's gay community, and still is a second home to thousands of sunbathers, runners, skaters and bikers. At one point Oak Street was the city's most popular beach with its proximity to downtown and boasted tens of thousands of visitors each day. Oak Street Beach is also home to Chicago's only chess pavilion and an outdoor restaurant called the Oak Street Beachstro that is assembled every summer and dismantled at the end of the season.

Ohio Street Beach

A small beach in Olive Park located just north of Ohio Street (400N) east of Lake Shore Drive. It faces north, rather than the usual east, because it formed on its own in a bay created by the Jardine Water Purification Plant which juts out into the Lake. Due to its unusula orientation, Ohio Street Beach serves as an ideal training site for open water swimming. One can swim north .5 miles to the Oak Street curve without ever being more than a few feet from the seawall and shallow water.

sea fish sex lake boat swimming vagina pacific whale blue crabs atlantic fuck penis pirates deep shore dolphin swim river pussy whore the awesome california shark land sun drunk salt jellyfish animal slut love cunt dick shit each sand sex ocean sun surf summer shore california tan party surfing water hot fun florida new jersey awesome surfer cool jersey shore sea girl fuck vacation weed girls bikini tanning sexy pool beautiful drunk sandy island "chicago tour" tour dave moskow moscow dunes bicycle skate water board wave vacation chicago bike rental montrose beach foster ave beach osterman beach oak street beach ohio street beach palm tree thong sunbathing

Bike The Drive

Bike The Drive is a NON-PUBLIC recreational, non-competitive PAY TO
RIDE bicycle ride held on Memorial day each year in Chicago. Lake Shore
Drive is cleared of motor vehicle traffic and opened exclusively to REGISTERED bicyclists for several hours beginning at dawn. The event LINES THE POCKETS of the Active Transportation Alliance.

Lake Shore Drive

Lake Shore Drive (colloquially referred to as LSD or simply Lake Shore or The Drive) is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue (5200 North), Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S. Highway 41.

The downtown part originally opened as Leif Ericson Drive in 1937, named for Norse explorer Leif Ericson. The roadway was also called Field Boulevard; it was renamed Lake Shore Drive in 1946.

Lake Shore Drive's origins date back to Potter Palmer, who coerced the city to build the street adjacent to his lakefront property to enhance its value. Palmer built his "castle" at 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive in 1882. The drive was originally intended for leisurely strolls for the wealthy in their carriages, but as the auto age dawned it took on a different role completely.
In 1937, the double-decker Link Bridge over the Chicago River opened, along with viaducts over rail yards and other industrial areas connecting to both ends of it. The lower level was intended for a railroad connection, but it was never used until LSD was rebuilt in 1986. At the time the bridge was built, it was the longest and widest bascule bridge in the world. The Lake Shore Drive (Outer Drive) and Link Bridge Photograph Album, c1937, documents the bridge's construction. The album is held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago.

North of the river, LSD intersected Ohio Street at grade, and then passed over Grand Avenue and Illinois Street on its way to the bridge South of the river. LSD came from the south on its current alignment, but continued straight at the curve north of Monroe Street, rising onto a viaduct. It intersected Randolph Street at grade and then continued north above the Illinois Central Railroad's yard. At the river, it made a sharp turn to the right, and another sharp turn to the left onto the bridge. These curves (actually a pair of 90-degree turns) were known locally as the "S-Curve" or the "S-Turn", and were a bottleneck to drivers for many years until the 1980s reconstruction.

Lake Shore Drive was extended from Belmont Avenue (3200n) north to Foster Avenue (5200n) in 1933, where it terminated until the 1950s when it was extended — first briefly to Bryn Mawr (5600n) & then in 1957 to its present terminus at Hollywood Avenue (5700n). The landfill used for the 1930s extension was mostly dirt, but the 1950s extension included rubble and debris from the destruction of homes razed for the construction of the Congress Expressway (now the Eisenhower Expressway). Portions of the drive between Irving Park Road and Foster Avenue still contain the original concrete from the 1930s, but this is scheduled for replacement in the near future.

Prior to the extension to Hollywood, traffic was funneled onto Foster, then north onto Sheridan Road, which still remains a wide 4-lane street to this day, though most traffic doesn't rejoin Sheridan until LSD ends at Hollywood Avenue now. Sheridan Road south of Foster narrows to 2 lanes of traffic with street parking on each side as well.

When Wacker Drive was extended east to LSD in the 1970s, its upper level ended at LSD at the west curve (the lower level dead-ended underneath). A new development at the northeast corner of the Randolph Street intersection resulted in an extension of Randolph across LSD.
Construction began in 1982 on a realignment of LSD south of the river (along with a reconstruction north of the river). A whole new alignment was built, greatly smoothing the S-curve (later named, in a fortuitous coincidence, for Chicago Bears founder George Halas). The northbound side opened in October 1985, and the southbound side opened in November 1986.[2] A new lower level was built, using the lower level of the bridge, and providing access to the new Wacker Drive and the roads on the north side of the river.

The old road south of Randolph became a Cancer Survivors Plaza; the east–west part was reconstructed as part of Wacker Drive (which was being rebuilt at the time). The rest, between Randolph and Wacker, was kept for several years as Field Boulevard, but was demolished in 1994. Only some old street lighting, sidewalks & fire hydrants remain, marking the former route. Current plans are for new upper level streets in the area as part of the Lakeshore East development.

On November 10, 1996, new northbound lanes opened next to the original southbound lanes at Soldier Field, eliminating the original wide median from 1943.[2] Prior to this 1996 reconstruction, the northbound lane ran on the east side of Soldier Field while the southbound lane ran on the west side.
On March 20, 2003, some 15,000 anti-war protesters marched along Lake Shore Drive the day after the United States invasion of Iraq, stopping all traffic for several hours. The spontaneous direct action occurred after the original protest route through downtown Chicago, as planned by the Chicago Coalition Against War & Racism, was blocked by law enforcement. Approximately 900 marchers were arrested and a City Council investigation was held before all charges were dropped.

During the January 31–February 2, 2011 North American winter storm Lake Shore Drive had to be closed because of the large amount of snow present on the roadway. The city estimated 900 vehicles became stuck on Lake Shore Drive, with the Associated Press reporting approximately 1,500 vehicles stuck. Hundreds of motorists had become stranded on Lake Shore Drive, some for as long as 12 hours. Crews worked around the clock to remove the vehicles and clear the roadway, and Lake Shore Drive was reopened just before dawn on February 3, 2011.[3]
Future extension plans

Extension of Lake Shore Drive is currently being constructed to provide access to new development in South Chicago of the old US Steel plant site. A thirty year development plan estimated to cost $4 billion dollars was approved by the city in September 2010, for the former site of the huge steel mill, which operated along the neighborhood's shoreline from 1880 to 1992.[4] The site has undergone extensive demolition and environmental remediation since 1992. The plan includes extension of Lake Shore Drive.
By contrast, the extension of Lake Shore Drive to the North has been the subject of controversy in recent years. In 2004, a private foundation solicited plans, and the Chicago Park District considered a feasibility study, to extend Lake Shore Drive farther north through Rogers Park and into Evanston.[5] Residents protested against cutting neighborhoods off from the lake, and Rogers Park and Edgewater voters rejected the extension in a referendum placed on the ballot by citizen initiative in November 2004.[6] However, in spring, 2005, the Chicago Park District spent $350,000 on plans for new marinas along Lake Shore Drive, including one at Devon-Granville,[7] and in July, 2005, Cong. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9) obtained federal funding reported variously as $800,000 and $1 million for a study of the possible extension of the Chicago North lakefront path;[8] both of these developments fueled residents' suspicion of a secret city plan to extend the Drive. The controversy remained an issue through the 2007 aldermanic election in the 49th Ward. In 2008, proposals by Friends of the Parks to extend the lakefront park system north, possibly through offshore manmade islands linked by bike paths,[9] met with similar resident opposition. Despite statements by FOP that no extension of the Drive was contemplated, activists contended that the Park District "has plans already drawn up that clearly show Lake Shore Drive immediately east of" Edgewater and Rogers Park.[10]

In the 20th century, the tiny neighborhoods near Lake Shore Drive came to be occupied by exclusive high-rise apartments, condominiums and co-op buildings. To the political columnist Mike Royko, Lake Shore Drive was goo-goo territory, a land occupied by Chicago's wealthy "good-government" types. Royko sometimes used Lake Shore Drive as a political moniker. Though he often agreed with the reformers, he looked upon them with the same cynical eye as his fictional Chicago everyman, Slats Grobnik.

Lake Shore Drive contains both an inner and an outer drive.
The original inner drive (or local) is used for slower local traffic and is connected to the street grid. The local drive runs from downtown in Streeterville to North Avenue (1600n), (becoming Cannon Drive). Then the inner drive reappears just south of Diversey Parkway (approx. 2700n), continuing north to Irving Park Road (4000n). The portion from Belmont (3200n) to just south of Irving Park (3900n) was previously named Sheridan Road (which can still be seen carved in stone in at least one vintage high-rise).

The outer drive (or express) with limited-access runs from the south side of the city, north to the terminus at Hollywood Avenue (5700n) in the Edgewater neighborhood. The outer drive limits the ability of pedestrians to access the lake directly from the street grid.

Lake Shore Drive runs both north-south and east-west. Other streets in Chicago that run both north-south and east-west include Wacker Drive, Sheridan Road, and Hyde Park Blvd.
The Lakefront Trail, a 18-mile (29 km) multi-use trail, parallels Lake Shore Drive on the east side for most of its length. Pedestrians can access the lake at several points along Lake Shore Drive through underpasses that connect the lake with the rest of the city.
[edit]Link Bridge

The Link Bridge is the official name of the bridge carrying the Lake Shore Drive portion of U.S. Route 41 over the main branch of the Chicago River. It is designed as a bascule bridge, and is one of only two in the city to have an upper and lower deck (the other being on Michigan Avenue).
The Link Bridge was constructed in 1937. At the time of its construction, it was considered to be both the widest and longest bascule bridge in the world.

Chicago "lake shore drive" "bike nazi" "memorial day" vegan bike fixie "fixed gear" bicycle cyclist "critical mass" lock "bike the drive" cycle cycling burn rubber cruise speed spin riding mountain ride biking downhill after warfare driving trial effects fire park burning dirt extreme race trials Illinois Wisconsin Madison Milwaukee bullhorn bull horn officials police arrest interrogation corrupt fat cat suburban pay to play repression fear racism prison facist oppression freedom slavery
Power tyranny greed authority control government oppress fascism

vlog david moskow video vlog movie david moskow film blueray dvd pay per view chicago youtube channel videography netflix IMDB hollywood television tv HD artist blog blogger kodak zi8 bicycle footage "on the scene" diy amateur photography lomography blog youtube video vlogging blogging journal internet weblog podcast dftba awesome tutorial howto youtuber funny sound art music rap graffiti writer creative poet cool awesome pop band painter beautiful genius amazing hip-hop artists hipster talent rock artistic drawing paint talented photographer draw fashion emo

chicago "lake shore drive" vegan bike "fixed gear" bicycle cyclist "critical mass" cycle cycling burn rubber cruise cycle speed spin lance armstrong tour de france balls lance testicles nuts cancer bike beer france livestrong bong glowstick bmx scrotum nazis weed beer pong testicular cancer trek sex biking uniball uniballer boobs bikes rod testicle one sack ball tetherballer junk eddy merckx chicago "bike nazi" dave moskow dave moscow david moskow

Fake Chinese Video Phones

And now for something completely different from the world of Fake Chinese Video Phones…













fake chinese poser bitch video liar wannabe stupid phony loser gay false emo slut whore real fraud lame lie ugly bullshit dumb jeff winiger annoying plastic faux how to scene unreal idiot sex poseur fag shit cheap myspace pretend girl lies faker crap not real pussy punk wigger facebook ass hoe tool phoney douchebag fat gangster asshole faggot cellphone phone cell text texting cell phone mobile iphone blackberry mobile phone message text message telephone call ringtone sms vibrate ipod apple txt smartphone sex bluetooth ring communication computer technology cellular text messaging wireless pda internet ass nokia penis motorola cellular phone sexting device messaging vibration verizon talking voicemail headset annoying phantom texts celly vibrating accident video game games youtube music internet porn movie sex xbox gamer halo funny nintendo computer film online tv videos noob ipod chat blog gaming video games ps3 nerd geek wii viral fun of vlog movies audio picture shit 360 dvd camera playstation gay awesome photo facebook video game the skype anime cool pc