[M.M.X.I.V. 68] Where Chicago and the North Shore Meet

That place would be Evanston, the place where I live right now.  It is the home of Northwestern University, and is a good place to live.  Its slogan, “Where Chicago and the North Shore Meet,” is quite an apt slogan, as Evanston is the first suburb north of Chicago with respect to the shore of Lake Michigan.

Yet, I find it as both an extension of Chicago and its own autonomous area.  Why do I feel the former?  The “L” and several 200-number CTA buses serve Evanston, which makes it incredibly convenient to extend into Chicago when I want to.  Yet, since Evanston has its own character, I could stay entirely north of Howard Street if I wanted to, and would probably still be just as happy.

As I may or may not have mentioned yet on my blog, when I was deciding between Northwestern and UPitt about five years ago (Geez Louise!), a few social (non-academic) factors really weighed out.  Two of those: (1) Evanston is much closer to family, since I have cousins that live in Milwaukee, 90 miles north. (2) The bike friendliness!  Bike lanes, trails, and streets that appeared suitable for cycling.

Additionally, people by-and-large are very friendly in Evanston and Chicago.  Having lived in the Midwest my whole life, this may have been another factor that I was considering in the deep reaches of my mind.

Are there some negatives about living in Evanston?  Of course!  Despite often seeing the sunny side of things, I realize that there are drawbacks to everything.  My apartment is pretty small, and it has suffered from a few cases of bed bugs.  Although the price is not breaking my back, I feel that I probably could find somewhere cheaper, but because I suspect that I may be graduating in the next 12 months, I do not find it worth it to search out a new place at this juncture.  Who knows where I will be next?

Additionally, sometimes that bike infrastructure is unusable during the winter–bike lanes become mounds of snow and cars that can’t move over to the curb.  Additionally, the last few weeks the sidewalks have been dangerously slippery–in some sense green transportation is both Evanston’s biggest strength AND weakness.

There’s also the whole tizzy about the town-gown relations in Evanston, but given how politically inactive I am, I pay little attention to that stuff.  Yes, I often absorb into my own world.

Regardless of where you live, you should try to embrace the positives and minimize the negatives.

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Today is the sixty-eighth day of M.M.X.I.V.  That makes nine weeks and five days.

The Daily Prompt today, like this whole week, was the name of a song (and one that I somewhat like).  Titles can always be made interesting like that.

As of 17:44 central DAYLIGHT time, here are some other responses:

1. Alien on the fence | The Bliss of Reality
2. Dubai World Trade Center Wedding: Amal & Mahmood | Rima Hassan
3. Street lamp hiding in the trees | The Bliss of Reality
4. I live in a city (Poem) | A mom’s blog
5. Rebuilding the City – where to start | A Teacher’s Blog
6. The Daily Prompt & Start With We (short story) | The Jittery Goat
7. Civilisation | ALIEN AURA’S BlOG: IT’LL BLOW YOUR MIND!
8. Making love – the role of the sacred. Civilisation | ALIEN AURA’S BlOG: IT’LL BLOW YOUR MIND!
9. DP Daily Prompt: We Built This City | Sabethville
10. S. Thomas Summers: Writing with Some Ink and a Hammer | In the Shadows
11. If I were mayor… | Sue’s Trifles
12. Once promising, the colour has started to fade. Fast. | thoughtsofrkh
13. Ogden Shmogden | Community | WANGSGARD
14. San Francisco Twenty Twelve Part One | Greg Urbano
15. My beautiful Melbourne | Purplesus’ Blog
16. No Place I’d Rather Be | snapshotsofawanderingheart
17. DAILY PROMPT: Getting back to nature | cockatooscreeching
18. Train journeys | A picture is worth 1000 words
19. Daily Prompt: We Built This City- Psychology behind embracing change | Journeyman
20. Daily Prompt: We Built This City | tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice
21. civilization | yi-ching lin photography
22. Daily Prompt: My Town | A Day In The Life
23. most cities are | y
24. Where I live | Kate Murray
25. If I Was A Mayor | Flowers and Breezes
26. Spring – A Haiku | My Little Avalon
27. Daily Prompt: We Built This City | Basically Beyond Basic
28. We Built This City: Civilization – Cat City | Khana’s Web
29. What’s The Word On The Street? Betting Shops, Pawn Shops & Empty Shops… | Steve Says…
30. Build Your City | Faith, Life and Compassion
31. In My City… | Life Confusions
32. Do Pgh Memes Inherently Have To Be Racist, Transphobic and Vicious?
33. what of the stories | peacefulblessedstar
34. Daily Prompt: We Built This City | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss
35. Sitting in a P.A. Haze | Finale to an Entrance
36. I’m a Writer, Yes I Am
37. 275. Broken City | Barely Right of Center
38. We Built This City | melissuhhsmiles
39. Home is Where the Art Is | I’m a Writer, Yes I Am
40. College campus (Daily Prompt: “We Built This City, Show Us Civilization”) | Photo0pal Photography
41. Hometown – the good, the bad and the ugly | Why is there bread in my Kool-Aid?
42. A BIT OF CIVILIZATION | Lisa’s Kansa Muse
43. False Hope of Spring | Elizabeth Merritt Abbott
44. Civilization | The Land Slide Photography
45. we built this city | klstar2000
46. Cancer Isn’t Pink
47. Earthquakes and Civilizations | Cancer Isn’t Pink
48. We Built this City | Brain Teaser
49. New York: This Dream Isn’t Feeling Sweet | A Sober Head Full Of Confusion
50. My Kind of Town | My Author-itis
51. Civilization | Photos by Emilio
52. Daily Prompt: We Built This City/Civilization | @ The West Gate
53. Living on Cape Cod | The Bohemian Rock Star’s “Untitled Project”
54. Make a house a home | sunny side dreamers
55. We Built This City, We Built WordPress | Views Splash!
56. My Little Piece of Heaven in the Philippines | Schizo Incognito
57. We Built This City: Daily Post | Destino
58. Daily Prompt: Of a Civilized Fashion | Born on a Wednesday
59. Abusive Courtesy | thejimmieG
60. The Flare | THE MARRIED MAN WHO LOVES HIS X
61. Daily Prompt: We Built This City: Home: a Village in a Valley | Just Be V
62. Grave concerns | thesememorieswhich