I read the Metropolitan Diary in the Monday edition of the New York Times with great reverence (yes, I still have the print edition delivered to my doorstep – soooo 20th Century!). I am always struck by the serendipity and kindness of strangers that can be had in a big city, as the Metropolitan Diary will attest. It is something I have experienced myself when traveling. In the same vein, here are two stories from Chicago: Journal Entry 1 – My 87-year-old great aunt, a lifelong Chicagoan and diehard Bears fan, was standing at a bus stop a couple of…

I took my son up to Brookdale Mall the other day. As it is still winter, it is nice to find a new indoor place for Ellis, a three-year-old, to expend some energy. With Brookdale Mall at 60% vacant (at least), there is plenty of room to run. Retail is a fickle industry, and Brookdale is like dozens of malls across the country that sit largely vacant. It just happens to be the most prominent example in the Twin Cities. The food court has just one restaurant left. All the anchors (Macy’s and Mervyn’s) are gone except Sears, which sits…

Last year I visited Growing Power, a well-known urban farming operation in a not-so-well-known area of Milwaukee’s north side. Located in and behind a greenhouse on a parcel of excess land next to an Army Reserve base, Growing Power is quite simply a farm. They raise food. But there is more to the story. Growing Power is located in a “food desert,” an area of a city without a grocery store to provide an adequate array of healthy food options, particularly fresh produce. So they grow food, including fruits and vegatables, and they also raise chickens and fish. They practice…