The Chicago Flâneur

Ode to a Parking Lot

Finding beauty in an unexpected place in Albany Park

Watercolor of Cherry Blossoms surrounding the Museum of Science and Industry and the Columbia Basin. Jackson Park, Chicago

A Love Letter: Chicago’s Little Italy, Greektown, Maxwell Street, and UIC.

It s mid April and sunlight fills the Lake Michigan-chilled air. Warm and cold struggle against one another, as an unsettled breeze cuts through budding tree branches; all faintly green, pink, and white. Those bristling branches, along with the rumbling of a train and beeping of a reversing delivery truck are the only sounds you hear. Continue reading A Love Letter: Chicago s Little Italy,…

Few Good Things

West Side, Chicago

Open House Chicago, 2021

The Forum, Bronzeville Mix of old and new in Bronzeville First Church of Deliverance, Bronzeville Virtue, Hyde Park Boxville, Bronzeville Wintrust Arena and Marriott Marquis Hotel, South Loop Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, Bronzeville Motor Row Historic District, Near South Side The Forum, Bronzeville First Church of Deliverance, Bronzeville The Penthouse, Hyde Park Looking north from the…

Pilsen Backyard, August 2013

Oil pastel and colored pencil, Frank Kryzak 2021

Portrait of Chicago: Uptown

Monstrose Harbor looking south, 2018. | Frank Kryzak Uptown is a quintessential Chicago neighborhood that has its own unique identity but is also a microcosm of 20th and 21st century urbanism in the United States. It s a common misnomer to say that Chicago has 77 neighborhoods. In fact there are over 200 neighborhoods in the city within 77 official community areas. Uptown is a perfect example of…

This is Chicago: Ravenswood

Places certainly mean many different things to many different people. When you think of Chicago you may think immediately of the Loop with rumbling trains that weave their way around and in between skyscrapers. Or, you may think of the Magnificent Mile, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, or River North. You may also picture vacant lots, Continue reading This is Chicago: Ravenswood

Do Eyes on the Street Matter? Exploring the Relationship Between Density and Crime in Chicago

The notion of “eyes on the street” generally assumes that the more people there are on a street the less opportunity there is for crime to occur. Therefore, one of the easiest ways to deter a significant amount of crime is to have a constant presence of people acting as a sort of surveillance for the neighborhood. This Continue reading Do Eyes on the Street Matter? Exploring the Relationship…

A Different Way of Looking at Density in Chicago

If you have ever been to a community meeting you likely know the word density can be very scary to many people. Density is associated with congestion and parking issues. The word causes images of a high rises and other people who are not really part of the community to pop into the heads of those Continue reading A Different Way of Looking at Density in Chicago