On September 6, 2010 I rode from my house in Chicago to Winfield, IL.
I used Google Maps bike directions to figure out the path, and took pictures along the way, all of which are pinpointed on the map here:
I like how the images make an implied route. I learned a lot about the region on this ride. Here are some takeaways while rolling down Armitage Avenue westbound from California:
You've got your standard stalled real estate projects like this on at 3038 West Armitage:
But I also saw some businesses that seem to be thriving, like Dorothy's Liquors, with fresh paint and custom typography at 3219 West Armitage:
And Marilyn's Fashions, at 4200 West Armitage, has a layaway plan, and well as some kick-ass illustrations on their sign out front:
I think that woman on the lower right is fashionably lounging on a dock. Awesome detail best viewed large.
Armitage is certainly not lacking in interesting architecture:
I checked the Chicago landmark survey, and this building wasn't on it. That surprised me.
Much has been written about the disappearing manufacturing base in Chicago neighborhoods. It has definitely shruck, but it's not gone. A & D Candy looks like they had a lot of action, with employees and trucks going in and out:
And service companies that help machines run smoothly are also still present, like Stoner & Co. Double Disc Grinding at 3233 West Armitage:
Apparently double disc grinding is a good thing:
Double-Disc Grinding is a highly efficient grinding method that reduces premachining costs up to 50% and provides dimensional tolerances, parallelism, and flatness to ±.0002". Double-Disc Grinding uses two opposing abrasive wheels to simultaneously grind two sides of a blank. In one operation, equal amounts of material are removed from both sides.
Grinding two sides of a part at the same time provides greater control of dimensional tolerances, flatness, and parallelism…allowing Double Disc Grinding to achieve tolerances superior to Blanchard Grinding or flycutting. Additionally, Double-Disc Grinding provides surface finishes of up to 16 Ra on aluminum and up to 8 Ra on ferrous alloys.
And L & M Welding is certainly not the shoeless offspring, when it comes to signage:
They know how to party, too. I would have liked to have attended an event during the heyday of the Shorewood Room:
There seems to be lots of qualified carpenter/ laborer types looking for work at the Home Depot on Cicero:
So at this point, I'm onl at Cicero and Armitage. There's lots to see riding a bike in the Chicago area. More tomorrow.