K-Town Cruising ~August 2005

Buck Hales

As I rode my bike to work this morning, a little later than usual as I waited for the weather to clear, I felt like a returning hero as I cruised through "K town". K town is a desolate area in the far west side of Chicago bordered by Pulaski on the East and Cicero on the west, and every street name starts with a K (Kilbourn, Kildare, Kostner, Kilpatrick, Kenton, Kenneth, Karlov, Keeler, Kedvale, and Kolmar but not necessarily in that order). When they constructed the Eisenhower express way in the 1950s, they bisected this area, leaving many blocks of empty lots, a mix of industrial and residential buildings, many lost during the riots in 1968. A forgotten part of town, that suburban commuters pass by on the Eisenhower and do not even know it exists. My bike route takes me through the heart of K town. Its a great ride-- very little traffic and the streets are in good shape, except for the smashed beer bottles and other debris that occasionally liters the way. I've ridden through K town on my 7.5 mile trek to work since 1999. This summer I rode nearly every day joined now by Paul Oppenheim 2 or 3 days a week as he rides to work in the Loop.

Today I rode alone, and all the regulars greeted me like I was their long lost friend. Lester lives on the corner of Kilbourn and Harrison. He has a milk crate where he perches under the tree on the corner. His sleeping bag and few other possessions spread out beside him. Every day I pass him both coming and going and he greets me waving two thumbs up, a jubilant smile on his face. One time when Paul and I rode past we saw Lester a block down the street walking along and Paul commented that "he was away from home." This morning Lester was holding forth from his milk box, seemingly very pleased to see me. His spot is right across from one of the 34 store front churches on Harrison between Austin and Western, this one the MB Church of the Holy Redeemer, Reverend Bernard While Pastor-- a corner building with barred windows where on hot summer evenings, they bring out a card table and the parishioners sell snow cones. I've stopped on a few occasions to purchase one-- twenty five cents for the small, dollar for the large. I splurge and by the big one. Each of these store front churches has a small but devoted congregation. This morning I rounded the corner of Harrison onto Kostner to cross over the expressway, the newspaper seller greeted me as usual "morning morning" and waved. I turned onto Flournoy before I cut back north to Harrison, which now runs south of the highway and the regulars were sitting on their front stoops, waving and greeting me. The same folks who have been sitting there every day since I started to ride my bike to work six years ago. This part of Chicago has the feeling like the deep south it seems, some of the the vacant lots are used for big row gardens. Folks just hanging around. Much further east, as I near the medical center area, I pass the Mission on Harrison and California. Here I see 50 or so homeless people lined up waiting for the shelter to reopen its doors. They sit with their stuff on the sidewalk all day waiting to be let back in for their evening meal and floor space. Since Katrina a few dozen more folks have taken up residence at the shelter. The folks waiting in line at the shelter are different sort than the residents of K town. The folks of K town live there, like Lester who lives on his corner, or the folks on Flournoy sitting on their front stairs, they are the more fortunate ones somehow, they have a place to be. It is a humbling experience sharing my day with these kind folks as I cruise through K town.