Chicago History Museum

I really enjoyed our visit to the Chicago history museum there were so many interesting exhibits there I felt like I could have spent days trying to soak in all the information. I was really excited to see the dioramas that are supposedly famous, I felt almost silly reading a history about the dioramas that are about the history of Chicago. It just goes to show that event the smallest things about a city can make it great and memorable. One of the exhibits had a feature where you could pick out words and then at the end you would take a picture to go with whatever word you ended up picking. This reminded me of our previous visit to millennium park where the art students helped the artist take video of peoples faces to be a permeate art piece in the center of Chicago. Chicago’s rich history also encompasses the people of the city and however small their contribution to it, the history’s museums recognition of that by making peoples pictures permanent additions to the exhibit is very important.

      My favorite exhibit at the museum was the Out in the City one about the LBGT movement. It was really informative about the history of the gay movement in Chicago. I find it really important that an exhibit that really celebrates people who may live a different life is incorporated into the museum. It speaks to tolerance in the city. Before in class we talked about racial divide that still remains within the city. People being informed about different races and different cultures and lifestyles of various people within the city works towards making the city a more united front. The more educated people are about others may help to solve unspoken segregation within the communities. Mixed income housing is an example of how people in the city can move towards becoming more diverse but remaining a close community. Overall the museum offered a wide array of exhibits that really encompass how large and how much history a city can truly have. It was a good way to end a term about the city by remembering that there is so much knowledge that can come out of studying urban life. 

Is Chicago's "Tourist Bubble" Worth It?

The city was right to invest the money into the tourist-oriented attraction that they did at the time. Those investments and projects were started and funded when the tourist business was booming. The economy has gone through ups and downs during the last 20 years and there were times when people had the money to travel and the attractions drew people into the city. When tourist enters into the city they spend money in hotels and in different businesses around the city. It’s a good investment to build attractions that bring economic growth into the city. The problem with this as well is time over the last 20 years things like economic downfall have hit the world meaning that more people think twice about traveling. There have also been major events that no one could have planed for like 9/11 that effect peoples views of big cities and travel. Even the constant up and down of gas prices prevents people from leisurely traveling into the city. So are the attractions like Millennium Park worth the investment? The answer is yes if the city residents of Chicago use the attractions as much as tourist or on a semi-regular basis. But whose to say what the next 20 years will bring maybe one day well be really glad we have a huge bean sculpture in millennium park.

Though the attractions are good for the city in bringing in money to local businesses and the city in ways of transportation departments and hotels it does not help the everyday economic needs of the city. Tourists don’t pay taxes. It sounds simple but it is a complicated point to say while tourist add to the economy of the city they harm it in a way too. The more people in the city that do not live in the city or own property the more the city pays for thinks like public free events and clean up of streets and parks. Money that was spent on building tourist attractions could have been spent on things more beneficial to the city like schools, public works, public housing, and medical care. Those are things that help out the people who are actually residents of the city or pay city taxes.  

Chicago's Racial Divide

            I think that a large part of the reason that there is still a racial divide in the city of Chicago and around the United States is the difference in income levels among the races. Even though the city is supposed to be an equal employment center there is a lot of equality that still exist in the job market.  There are still many companies that feel that they can pay black and women lower wages then white males. The companies may not be performing this discrimination on purpose but as a potential employee is looked at, things like experience and schooling are a factor. So if it is harder for you to get a job as a minority it become increasingly difficult for you to move up in the work for once you have entered into a lower level position because of discrimination. Also minority groups are often brought up with the same advancements as the majority. Children of immigrants will have a hard time paying for schooling and housing in good districts because they came here with parents who may not have been able to find well paying jobs.  This is where income level comes into play. I feel more families live in segregated areas not because they want to be near people of the same race but because they are forced into segregated areas because they cannot afford to live anywhere else. You see a lot of mostly black neighborhoods in the city of Chicago this is not because they don’t want to move into other areas of the city but because blacks in the city traditionally make lower wages then whites in the area and are faced with discrimination when job hunting to improve their financial situation.  Suburbs are faced with the same problem people who can afford to live in neighborhoods do those who can’t afford to live in the area cant. I volunteer with a non-profit housing organization that is bases in the south. They get scrutiny because people believe they only build houses for minority groups. This is not the case, however they build housing for families with low incomes and minority groups are often the families that are in need the most.  The mixed income housing developments like those in the old Cabrini green area are a start to helping to end racial segregation but I feel there is no way to end racial segregation without guaranteeing that all minority groups no longer face job discrimination and immigrant families don’t enter into the united states with little to no income. This is impossibility therefore I believe we will always find racially or income separated areas.