thats what i love and miss about chicago. if youre east youre closer to the lake. if youre west youre away from the lake. north or south you can tell by western, broadway, michigan avenue. especially when i started riding my bike i learned more about the city more than ever
Learn the grid and it will be almost impossible to get lost. I love it. Also worth mentioning that there are 800 addresses per mile, which is helpful in determining the distance between two locations. "If you're trying to get to a bar on Division, which is 1200 North, and you happen to be on Foster Avenue in Andersonville, which is 5200 North, then you're 5200 minus 1200, or 4000 addresses from Division. Divide by 800 and you're 5 city miles from the bar". Also, the South side uses numbered streets (e.g. 84th st, etc) because city planners assumed the city would grow south, instead of north, and using numbers as opposed to names would be much easier to navigate.
President Jefferson sent surveyors out to the Northwest Territories, in the early 1800’s, to survey the vast, newly acquired, area by his preferred very scientific Township and Range system based on the square mile. Each 6-mile by 6-mile area became a 36-square-mile Township. This made dividing the land into parcels for settlers very straight-forward, which was Jefferson’s goal. With settlement, the Northwest Territories soon became all the states around the Great Lakes. To this day, these states and most of the western U.S., live with the relentless square-mile grid because many of these boundary lines became permanent roadways. Any angled roads we have on the map are mostly former Indian paths which became roadways, (thank goodness!).
Nice Chicago Aussie, love when people move here and take an interest in the history. Life long Chicagoan and new subscriber, keep up the good work. I see many commenters offer suggestions, have you investigated how the city was raised, that's a fascinating story.
Grew up on the #'s of the southwest suburbs. Now I'm getting used to the north side street names. Plus many suburbs continue the Chicago grid system, seen as far west as Naperville and Aurora
I did business in Sydney for many years. I remember going to old Sydney Town, a re-creation of the original settlement. I also visited the original landing site of Captain Cook South of Sydney. But I don't even come close to your excellent presentations you've done on Chicago.... so filled with info that MUST have taken you a lot of time to ferret out. Sydney also has a great history and you may want to do a piece on your home town as well.
Did you know Chicago popularized the public parkway allowing for Street Lined trees? Having also popularized grassy lawns. I guess I would love any City I grew up in. But as a cultural and ecological historian, I've learned how history is always begging to be made everyday of the week. Chicago also prides itself on not resembling any city USA. But is distinct enough to be easily identified when watching scenes in a movie or TV show. From its street signs fire hydrants stoplights curbs viaducts brick bungalows and especially its skyscraper skyline. Our city has proudly set most innovative samples for other modern cities to follow. Sure if you are from Cleveland Detroit or St Louis, Chicago it's so easy to hate simply because of our boasting and bragging. But while those other American cities continue to be torn down and rebuilt. Historic Old Chicago still remains for countless future generations to get a feel for what made America great from the 1860's to 1960s.
As an Australian, the early (18C grid system you describe sounds almost indentical to Melbourne's. Just bigger, perhaps. Still, now I want to learn what they use now.🙂
I used to work at a place on the 6200 block of N. Pulaski. There was a driver trying to make a delivery and was lost. I told the driver that you have the correct address, but wrong direction. He was looking for my address, but on S. Pulaski, some 125 blocks (guessing about 15 miles) out of his way. PAY ATTENTION OF THE N, E, S, W. designation.
I always wondered why NYC had more trash on the streets than other cities like Chicago and Boston. I always thought it was because NYC was so big but then I learned about alleys. what a mistake it was to design NYC with no alleys, imagine how much cleaner it would be...
Tidbits: I believe Wacker Drive is the only city arterial street which has all compass addresses: East Wacker; West Wacker and North and South Wacker. Simply, Wacker follows the river. After WWII, the city began naming new North/South residential streets west of Pulaski Rd with sequenced alphabet letters.(The K streets). Also L M N O and P followed. But if you want Monticello, don't look in the M streets. There are many exceptions like this. The number system for the city extends well beyond city limits as well as many of the city street names. Pulaski Rd was once "Crawford Ave" and suburbs on either end did not change the name. My dad told me 50+ years ago that Western Ave was the longest city street in the world (As well as the longest streetcar track line). I do not know if this is still true. Streetcars were discontinued in 1958, so that part is past history now.
Don't forget, for each of those directions there is an Upper Wacker and a Lower Wacker. And yes, your Dad was right about Western Ave., longest continuous street in one municipality.
so... it was very kind of you to leave out the unofficial Chicago history used to explain why the north side has named streets and the south side uses numbers, and the way way south (east) uses letters.
I'm from Chicago and I hate all other cities because they don't have grid systems. I get so lost and have the worst sense of direction anywhere else. If you make a wrong turn in Chicago, you just take the next turn so long as it isn't a one way street. If you miss your turn in any other city you have to take that road another ten thousand miles to another road before you can circle back to where you wanted to go. All the other cities need a fire like Chicago did so they can make a grid system too
I love your vids. I grew up in Jeffery Manor 1949-70. Try pronouncing the city's name this way: she-caw-go. Or better yet, how 'bout a vid on all ways people pronounce the city's name. I think it would be fun. Again, really enjoy your vids.
Edward P. Brennan is one of my true HEROES!!! A real average nobody who saw a problem, thought it through and then set out to solve it - turning Chicago from one of the toughest places anywhere in which to find one's way around into one of the most ridiculously easy. When he was working his bill collecting job in the earlier days of his career, he would often spend nearly half of his time going though his maps and city atli simply to find his contacts' residences before he was able to visit them. Remember, too, that this was the time when Burnham was making his big plans for the city. After he passed away in 1942, the Chicago city council bestowed upon him one of the greatest honors of all - they named a new street after him. Brennan Ave is between 92nd and 94th streets on the city's south side, and is very easy to find.
Another awesome video, great job!! You know more then Chicagoan's who were born & raised here and you only live here for a couple of years. Where do you get all your research and history from? Very impressive!
Hey, I know Feb. is almost over, but since its black history month, I wanted to see if you have ever heard of the "Contract Buyer's League." It was a pretty big deal at the time, and could be a pretty cool video topic since many people might not be aware of what was going on. Also, it could be a good segue to discussing the racial segregation in the city.
Jack, i've lived here most of my life, on the northside and southside, and only knew a small fraction of what you've covered in your videos. Oh the shame of it all, that it takes a newbie Aussie to bring a seasoned Chicagoan up to par. LOL Kudos Dear Sir, Salute. I owe you a debt of gratitude. As for Jackson Bark, when you covered that granite bridge in Jackson Park, where the Nazi Rally Blues Brothers scene took place, you were just a few stone throws away. Let me know next time you're down this way and i'll give you a tour; provided the city doesn't shut us down by then. Plus this year, we have two additional threats that could wipe us off the map. Project120's "Great Lawn" www.project120chicago.org/plans_projects/p4-great-lawn and Tiger Woods' project www.chicagotribune.com/sports/golf/ct-tiger-woods-south-side-golf-project-spt-1218-20161216-story.html Both plans look like they overlap where we're located, so we'll have to triple our community outreach efforts this year to have a fighting chance. With over twenty dog parks in the city, all located around the loop and northside, we're the only dog park on the southside... which is in large part why i decided to take a less conventional approach. southsideweekly.com/a-dog-meet-dog-world/
Between the Blues Brothers bridge and the dog park, there's a free parking lot, if you click the map icon on www.JacksonBark.com it will point you there. ...and while you're there you might be interested in covering the cold war era of the area. Which i don't think many people are aware of. Bobolink Trail, located just SW from there, less than a minute walk from the parking lot and also Promontory Point (a 10 minute walk, NE from there); both were formerly the US Army's Nike radar and missile bases (1956-1971) ed-thelen.org/C-41-Epperson/index.html
I think your videos would do better if you could talk a bit faster in them. I feel like it takes a lot longer than necessary to get to the point with your current speaking pace.
Was perfect to me...maybe Chicagoans talk faster...I believe that NYCers😀 Funny how long it takes for some of us to see these videos...but we still respond🤔
Chicago Aussie, like your videos of my hometown but you're not a true Chicagoan if you call a soft drink a soda when you should call it POP, Never put ketchup on hotdogs, and deep dish pizza is over-rated.
Chicago Aussie - Hey...Come to Milwaukee where they say "soda" instead of "pop". I don't think they even know what you're talking about if you say "I want a pop". Oh..and also..If you'd prefer some water instead of "pop"...don't ask for the nearest "drinking fountain"...ask for the nearest "bubbler". Weird..isn't it? And watch the guy behind the counter if you order a Chicago Hot Dog in Milwaukee (YES...they DO have them here)...He may very likely put ketchup on it. (They don't arrest people, in Milwaukee, for doing that like they do in Chicago)................. (An ex-Chicagoan).
you have to learn to talk chicagoan,our football team is da bearzz, the sox play at cami'n'sky park over on dat sout side.da graj=the garage,jaet or jeet=did you eat.
My pops schooled me Chicago's grid back when I was youngster, it makes it mad easy to get around the city
Devlon Miles Mayhem how does it work he didn’t really explain and I can’t find a vid
thats what i love and miss about chicago. if youre east youre closer to the lake. if youre west youre away from the lake. north or south you can tell by western, broadway, michigan avenue. especially when i started riding my bike i learned more about the city more than ever
Learn the grid and it will be almost impossible to get lost. I love it.
Also worth mentioning that there are 800 addresses per mile, which is helpful in determining the distance between two locations.
"If you're trying to get to a bar on Division, which is 1200 North, and you happen to be on Foster Avenue in Andersonville, which is 5200 North, then you're 5200 minus 1200, or 4000 addresses from Division. Divide by 800 and you're 5 city miles from the bar".
Also, the South side uses numbered streets (e.g. 84th st, etc) because city planners assumed the city would grow south, instead of north, and using numbers as opposed to names would be much easier to navigate.
President Jefferson sent surveyors out to the Northwest Territories, in the early 1800’s, to survey the vast, newly acquired, area by his preferred very scientific Township and Range system based on the square mile. Each 6-mile by 6-mile area became a 36-square-mile Township. This made dividing the land into parcels for settlers very straight-forward, which was Jefferson’s goal. With settlement, the Northwest Territories soon became all the states around the Great Lakes. To this day, these states and most of the western U.S., live with the relentless square-mile grid because many of these boundary lines became permanent roadways. Any angled roads we have on the map are mostly former Indian paths which became roadways, (thank goodness!).
Nice Chicago Aussie, love when people move here and take an interest in the history. Life long Chicagoan and new subscriber, keep up the good work. I see many commenters offer suggestions, have you investigated how the city was raised, that's a fascinating story.
i didn't understand still, man this looks so hard to learn how do y'all do it
This was fascinating
Chicago Aussie Watch CNGC UA-cam
bam shoutout to Oak Park. Small town governance, big city grid.
I love our grid system
Even the hood is clean lol
Thank you for a very interesting video. I love Chicago.
Grew up on the #'s of the southwest suburbs. Now I'm getting used to the north side street names. Plus many suburbs continue the Chicago grid system, seen as far west as Naperville and Aurora
Great video! Always like the gridding system here. Its easy and the city looks really clean and well-maintained than the other major cities.
I did business in Sydney for many years. I remember going to old Sydney Town, a re-creation of the original settlement. I also visited the original landing site of Captain Cook South of Sydney. But I don't even come close to your excellent presentations you've done on Chicago.... so filled with info that MUST have taken you a lot of time to ferret out. Sydney also has a great history and you may want to do a piece on your home town as well.
Did you know Chicago popularized the public parkway allowing for Street Lined trees? Having also popularized grassy lawns.
I guess I would love any City I grew up in. But as a cultural and ecological historian, I've learned how history is always begging to be made everyday of the week.
Chicago also prides itself on not resembling any city USA. But is distinct enough to be easily identified when watching scenes in a movie or TV show.
From its street signs fire hydrants stoplights curbs viaducts brick bungalows and especially its skyscraper skyline. Our city has proudly set most innovative samples for other modern cities to follow.
Sure if you are from Cleveland Detroit or St Louis, Chicago it's so easy to hate simply because of our boasting and bragging.
But while those other American cities continue to be torn down and rebuilt. Historic Old Chicago still remains for countless future generations to get a feel for what made America great from the 1860's to 1960s.
be careful where you get lost, you may not always be pleased with what you find.
with that warning, as a native i say, enjoy the discovery.
It's those diagonal streets like Milwaukee Avenue, Ogden and Elston. Especially when riding underground Subway.
That can cause one to really get lost.
As an Australian, the early (18C grid system you describe sounds almost indentical to Melbourne's. Just bigger, perhaps.
Still, now I want to learn what they use now.🙂
Yes, very similar to Melbourne
I used to work at a place on the 6200 block of N. Pulaski. There was a driver trying to make a delivery and was lost. I told the driver that you have the correct address, but wrong direction. He was looking for my address, but on S. Pulaski, some 125 blocks (guessing about 15 miles) out of his way. PAY ATTENTION OF THE N, E, S, W. designation.
I always wondered why NYC had more trash on the streets than other cities like Chicago and Boston. I always thought it was because NYC was so big but then I learned about alleys. what a mistake it was to design NYC with no alleys, imagine how much cleaner it would be...
Tidbits: I believe Wacker Drive is the only city arterial street which has all compass addresses: East Wacker; West Wacker and North and South Wacker. Simply, Wacker follows the river. After WWII, the city began naming new North/South residential streets west of Pulaski Rd with sequenced alphabet letters.(The K streets). Also L M N O and P followed. But if you want Monticello, don't look in the M streets. There are many exceptions like this. The number system for the city extends well beyond city limits as well as many of the city street names. Pulaski Rd was once "Crawford Ave" and suburbs on either end did not change the name. My dad told me 50+ years ago that Western Ave was the longest city street in the world (As well as the longest streetcar track line). I do not know if this is still true. Streetcars were discontinued in 1958, so that part is past history now.
I live on an M street
Don't forget, for each of those directions there is an Upper Wacker and a Lower Wacker. And yes, your Dad was right about Western Ave., longest continuous street in one municipality.
Very easy to get around. I'm sure its easy for you now!
so... it was very kind of you to leave out the unofficial Chicago history used to explain why the north side has named streets and the south side uses numbers, and the way way south (east) uses letters.
What's the unofficial reason?
You can educate yourself. Don't depend on a UA-cam blogger to give you knowledge. There's schools, Google, other you tube videos and the library. 🤔
It gonna take you a while lol so easy to get around Chicago plus it's way cleaner than NY
How do you get lost on a grid?
Milwaukee Avenue screws all that up.
I'm from Chicago and I hate all other cities because they don't have grid systems. I get so lost and have the worst sense of direction anywhere else. If you make a wrong turn in Chicago, you just take the next turn so long as it isn't a one way street. If you miss your turn in any other city you have to take that road another ten thousand miles to another road before you can circle back to where you wanted to go. All the other cities need a fire like Chicago did so they can make a grid system too
Most other US cities have grid systems like Chicago though
I love your vids. I grew up in Jeffery Manor 1949-70.
Try pronouncing the city's name this way: she-caw-go. Or better yet, how 'bout a vid on all ways people pronounce the city's name. I think it would be fun. Again, really enjoy your vids.
Be glad you didn't move to Boston or Pittsburgh; Chicago is incredibly easy to learn in comparison.
Where in Australia are you from? Melbourne is a simple grid also and very easy to navigate.
Informational AF! Thank you! 🤔💯💪🏾
Great commentary
nice
Edward P. Brennan is one of my true HEROES!!! A real average nobody who saw a problem, thought it through and then set out to solve it - turning Chicago from one of the toughest places anywhere in which to find one's way around into one of the most ridiculously easy. When he was working his bill collecting job in the earlier days of his career, he would often spend nearly half of his time going though his maps and city atli simply to find his contacts' residences before he was able to visit them.
Remember, too, that this was the time when Burnham was making his big plans for the city.
After he passed away in 1942, the Chicago city council bestowed upon him one of the greatest honors of all - they named a new street after him. Brennan Ave is between 92nd and 94th streets on the city's south side, and is very easy to find.
Only thing NY got is traffic and lights
Another awesome video, great job!! You know more then Chicagoan's who were born & raised here and you only live here for a couple of years. Where do you get all your research and history from? Very impressive!
Is it just me or does Jack look like Edwards Brennan? I'm just saying... Nice video!
Oh, and I also don't know the grid system. I've lived here for 7ish years.
Hey,
I know Feb. is almost over, but since its black history month, I wanted to see if you have ever heard of the "Contract Buyer's League."
It was a pretty big deal at the time, and could be a pretty cool video topic since many people might not be aware of what was going on. Also, it could be a good segue to discussing the racial segregation in the city.
On a related note: chicago.everyblock.com/city-services/feb16-a-collection-best-chicago-maps-6000607/
Jack, i've lived here most of my life, on the northside and southside, and only knew a small fraction of what you've covered in your videos. Oh the shame of it all, that it takes a newbie Aussie to bring a seasoned Chicagoan up to par. LOL Kudos Dear Sir, Salute. I owe you a debt of gratitude.
As for Jackson Bark, when you covered that granite bridge in Jackson Park, where the Nazi Rally Blues Brothers scene took place, you were just a few stone throws away. Let me know next time you're down this way and i'll give you a tour; provided the city doesn't shut us down by then. Plus this year, we have two additional threats that could wipe us off the map. Project120's "Great Lawn" www.project120chicago.org/plans_projects/p4-great-lawn and Tiger Woods' project www.chicagotribune.com/sports/golf/ct-tiger-woods-south-side-golf-project-spt-1218-20161216-story.html Both plans look like they overlap where we're located, so we'll have to triple our community outreach efforts this year to have a fighting chance. With over twenty dog parks in the city, all located around the loop and northside, we're the only dog park on the southside... which is in large part why i decided to take a less conventional approach. southsideweekly.com/a-dog-meet-dog-world/
Between the Blues Brothers bridge and the dog park, there's a free parking lot, if you click the map icon on www.JacksonBark.com it will point you there.
...and while you're there you might be interested in covering the cold war era of the area. Which i don't think many people are aware of. Bobolink Trail, located just SW from there, less than a minute walk from the parking lot and also Promontory Point (a 10 minute walk, NE from there); both were formerly the US Army's Nike radar and missile bases (1956-1971) ed-thelen.org/C-41-Epperson/index.html
Don’t get lost In parts of the west side or Southside.
Or the north side ever been to uptown
Domestic Tourism is on the rise. Do more historic vids and "cool places" to. Visit
Not good to get lost in Chicago.
I think your videos would do better if you could talk a bit faster in them. I feel like it takes a lot longer than necessary to get to the point with your current speaking pace.
Was perfect to me...maybe Chicagoans talk faster...I believe that NYCers😀
Funny how long it takes for some of us to see these videos...but we still respond🤔
Too bad they can't widen most of the streets to alleviate traffic congestion.
Widening the streets will just make the traffic worse
Lol how could it take you a while to learn how to walk around a grid? I'm honestly confused
Chicago Aussie, like your videos of my hometown but you're not a true Chicagoan if you call a soft drink a soda when you should call it POP, Never put ketchup on hotdogs, and deep dish pizza is over-rated.
I was mentioning food, not accents. Nothing wrong with your Aussie accent.
Chicago Aussie - Hey...Come to Milwaukee where they say "soda" instead of "pop". I don't think they even know what you're talking about if you say "I want a pop". Oh..and also..If you'd prefer some water instead of "pop"...don't ask for the nearest "drinking fountain"...ask for the nearest "bubbler". Weird..isn't it? And watch the guy behind the counter if you order a Chicago Hot Dog in Milwaukee (YES...they DO have them here)...He may very likely put ketchup on it. (They don't arrest people, in Milwaukee, for doing that like they do in Chicago)................. (An ex-Chicagoan).
you have to learn to talk chicagoan,our football team is da bearzz, the sox play at cami'n'sky park over on dat sout side.da graj=the garage,jaet or jeet=did you eat.
Philadelphia pioneered the grid system 200 years before Chicago.