In the neighborhood

Above is the view from the Harrison St. Bridge just blocks from our marina.  The rounded building on the right is River City.  Beautiful evenings like this reaffirm our decision to move to the river downtown.  We're enjoying exploring our new neighborhood and all it has to offer.  The changes to our day-to-day living do not just stem from living on a floating vessel.  They also come from the neighborhood we live in, the loss of parking in a garage outside our back door, the lack of a basement to store our bikes in.  We are figuring out solutions as we go.  We found a parking space to rent in a high-rise apartment building right across the street from us, with space for one car, a motorcycle, and maybe two bikes hanging on the installed wall rack.  We're also testing out locking bikes up on our swim platform.  This is a more convenient spot to grab and go, but then we have to move them when we want to take the boat out on the water.  The other car is sitting at mom's house tucked away in the woods with a cover on her for now.

Red and Friend

We're both loving being much closer to work now.  Kevin uses Divvy, Chicago's bike sharing system, to navigate the short mile to his office, while Colette is testing out her options.  Being only 4 miles from work, with a nice bike path on one of only a few streets without potholes in Chicago, Colette plans on biking as much as she can, borrowing Kevin's bike until she finds a new bike to call her own.  Driving has been extremely quick and easy on the way to work, only taking 10-15 min.  On the way home it takes a little longer, but it's much better than the old commute.

Recently there was a street festival two blocks away and the In-Water Boat Show at 31st St. Harbor was a bike ride away.  While we loved our old neighborhood (and neighbors!) and we surely will miss it and them, we're looking forward to taking advantage of our more central location and local festivities.

Printers Row Lit Fest

One thing we miss about the old neighborhood is the streets.  You could get off the main roads and back in the residential area and it was quiet and tree lined.  That doesn't really exist in the South Loop and Printer's Row.  We did however stumble upon an area not far from us that is a little like that. Going for quiet walks will still be possible.

We have never been Southsiders.  We both have only lived on the North side of Chicago and it's an odd adjustment.  It's not hard, just odd.  Whenever Kevin wanted to go for a motorcycle ride on the weekend he'd go North, now he goes South.  It sounds like a minor thing, but instead of taking a ride up Sheridan road through some of the richest suburbs in America, now he heads straight to Gary, IN.  It doesn't get more polar opposite, but the amazing thing is that Gary is actually a nice place to ride!  The streets are wide and well paved and there is NOBODY around.  It's like riding through Chernobyl.

 Ready to go!