Captain Janeway is the inspiration for this meme on this Friday!

Back in June 2013, I posted this collage of shots from my quick stop to this intersection on Sixth Ward blog . This is basically the heart of Englewood which during much different and better times was a commercial area full of retail that could rival downtown Chicago. Thanks to the shopping mall and other economic effects such as "white flight" the commercial area declined to the point of what you see here. Those storefronts are mostly gone and has been replaced by a community college. Imagine what happened in this area just about 3 years later. Perhaps the commerce will begin to return to this area sooner than many of us will imagine. Think Whole Foods Market opened a store here , a Starbucks and a Chipotle. Unfortunately another building has gone down thanks to fire but that just means another place worth building upon in the future here. Can't wait to show you a similar scene from here back in September 2016. That image was also something posted - though after...

One of my instagram stories walking along Navy Pier sometime in February. Found this sculpture that represents Bob Newhart from his classic 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show where he plays a therapist. Forgot to note there is a sign with a QR code where you can hear Bob's voice. The show itself is set in Chicago with the intro showing scenes of Newhart walking around downtown Chicago. Here's an example. [ VIDEO ]

Posted these collage of pics which I had shared last Wednesday and on a post over at Sixth Ward blog. Three pics - two of bank signs and one of a former grocery store now dollar store. This is to re-enact pics taken back on New Years Eve 2007 . I also shared this on ig which is the post embedded below. A post shared by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Mar 16, 2018 at 12:51pm PDT

I also plan to post these to Sixth Ward blog at some point in the future. There are some opportunities along this main thorofare on the south side between at least King Drive and State Street. In 2009 there was a infrastructure project where the city had to dig out some sewer lines. 75th was shut down and reopened to great hoopla and was declared a "Black Wall Street". Although it seems that has died down since then I see this area as a center for dining & night life. Feel free to click on the pics for a larger resolution. This pic is a professional building for sale. Earlier in the year there I posted about a listing for this building. Perhaps a place for doctors, lawyers, or business people. Granted I noted that this is a street great for dining & night life however bear in mind this is a street that has a number of retail establishments also.

I finally had an opportunity to somewhat reenact photos taken on New Year's Eve 2007 on 87th Street. Unlike back in 2007 when these shots were taken on a simple point and shoot digital camera, these photos were taken on my iPhone with an olloclip lens. Click on all pics for larger resolution. Across the street is a Family Dollar store. If you can see the grand opening sign near the front entrance don't let that fool you, this particular store has been open since sometime in 2007. A local community organization wrote in their newsletters that year that they wanted a grocery store at this location. Even 10 years later no grocer has stepped forward to turn this back into a grocery store. Before 2007, this space was home to a locally owned Food Basket store.  Moving along on 87th Street, here is a branch of Illinois Service Federal . Earlier in 2007 it was the site of a fatal bank robbery which made the local news. A teller was killed by gunfire during that ...

My old elementary school namesake of another blog of mine back on Christmas Day 2017. Man I miss those days where I had two weeks off for the holidays. As an adult no such luck it's not given one has to request it off and use up vacation days.