Okay, let’s get this out of the way first, I am not a big fan of this new term ‘People Spot’, it just sounds weird, doesn’t it? Apparently Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Transportation started this program called “Make Way for People” in 2012. The point of the program is to take public spaces, such as the street, parking lots, alleys, plazas, etc. and “create public spaces that cultivate community and culture in Chicago’s neighborhoods through placemaking”. Okay, it’s a great idea and so far there are two such areas the city has created through private partnerships and they are pretty cool spots, but who came up with this name?!
Oddly, the two new spaces are near where I live, one I drove by almost daily last summer and had no idea what was going on, but it’s this cool seating area outside Heritage Bikes General Store. I still can’t quite figure out what Heritage is but it’s always full of Hipsters way cooler than I am…maybe that’s why I don’t get it! The latest, and as far as I know only other, ‘People Spot’ is this really fun bench on Southport just south of Addison. It’s an abstract photographers dream! I spent about 20 minutes photographing this bench Friday morning and could have spent much more time there. No doubt I’ll be going back again, the compositional possibilities are endless!