(Many) Tall Buildings

On a more positive note, one of the reasons I love being in (okay, technically close to) Chicago is the skyline. Growing up in Alabama, there was no such thing as a "skyline". Chicago's skyline is, arguably, the best in the country.



Of course everyone knows about the Sears Tower, America's tallest building. What most people don't know is that we also have the 3rd (John Hancock) and 4th (Aon Center) tallest buildings (4th and 5th if you include the WTC). Currently under construction are three more 1000+ ft skyscrapers including the 2000 ft Chicago Spire, which will be the second tallest building in the world when completed. (Only Burj Dubai, under construction in Dubai, UAE will be taller at 2684 ft.)



The other two skyscrapers are the Trump Tower Chicago and Waterview Tower. I can't wait to see the Chicago skyline when these three skyscrapers are built. It should look something like this.

Homicide: Life (and Death) on the Street

Life in Oak Park is generally tranquil for us, however, occasional incidents occur which remind us that we are not completely insulated from "big city" crime. In the early morning of September 12th, a murder took place several blocks from our house. All the facts are not known yet, but so far we know that the victim was a gang member with numerous convictions and was presumably killed as the result of gang warfare occuring in Chicago. Division Street is one of the thoroughfares connecting Oak Park with Chicago. Apparently gang members based Chicago decided to drive (with the victim) on Division St into Oak Park where they committed the murder.

In one sense, the details of the murder are reassuring: the shooting took place at 2:30 AM, the victim was not a resident of Oak Park minding his/her own business, and the crime seems to originate from Chicago-based crime/criminals. Nonetheless, the close proximity in itself is obviously quite worrisome. The shooting took place across the street from Taylor Park, where Julia goes to play in a totlot. I can't imagine what I would be feeling had the criminals chosen my street to commit their crime.

Living next to a low socioeconomic/high crime urban neighborhood is simply a fact of life in Oak Park. You do what you can to insulate yourself and especially your family, but obviously there are limits to what you can do, short of moving out.