Growing Up in Chicago

Here are some pictures of the places I lived and schools I went to while growing up in Chicago. I took these pictures on March 26th, 2005 while visiting Chicago with friends. Seeing these old neighborhoods brought back a lot of memories and emotions.

Click on any picture to see the larger version.

During junior high and high school, I, and literally hundreds of friends and neighborhood kids, hung out in Hollywood Park on the corner of Peterson and Kedzie on Chicago's North side. Almost any day after school, on weekends, or during the summers, weather permitting, the park was buzzing with activity, not organized or planned, just random meetings, conversations, and general goofing off. Some of the fondest memories from my youth come from here. It was weird seeing the park so empty.

2740 W. Arthur, the apartment where my parents and older brother lived when I was born and where I began my life. We lived in the first floor apartment just above the main entrance door on the left. Off to the left across the alley, there used to be an empty field where we had a garden.
Daniel Boone Elementary school where I walked everyday from our apartment on Arthur and later from our apartment on Pratt that was right across the street.
From in front of Boone School looking across the playground where I spent many hours, you can see our second apartment at 2712 W. Pratt, the skinny two-story building in the center of the picture.
A closer look at our apartment at 2712 W. Pratt. We lived on the top floor, and there was a small grocery/everything store on the ground level which was overrun by kids during lunch periods and after school. There was always a pre-school in the building on the left (still is!), but on the right, there used to be an empty field full of weeds that we used to play in. I don't remember our apartment building being so small.
3407 W. Catalpa, on the corner of Catalpa and Kimball. where I lived from around age 13 until I left home to go to college. Having left college early to serve in the Air Force, I returned here with Mei-O to live with my parents for a few months after getting out of the service. We lived on the first floor, in a two-bedroom apartment just above the blue-painted wall. There used to be nice landscaping in front of the building, and large catalpa trees on the boulevard.
The first floor window on the right was my (shared with my brother) bedroom window. Once, when my dad grounded me, I actually jumped out of it and headed over to Hollywood Park to pass the time. Needless to say, I caught hell when I got home.
Von Steuben Upper Grade Center - I believe that's what it was called then - at 5039 N. Kimball Avenue was where I went to school when we moved to our apartment on Catalpa when I was in 7th grade. I continued on there until my high school graduation. It is now the Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, a specialized school for kids interested in pursuing a career in a science or math related field.
Von's main entrance. Over the door it reads Von Steuben Senior High School, but the flag proclaims Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center.
5347 N. Virgina, where my grandparents lived for many years, and later, after they had both died, where my parents lived. They lived on the first floor on the right side.
This building across the street from Hollywood Park, now an elementary school, used to be the Cory Corporation where my mother worked for many years. Before she learned to drive (pretty late in her life), I often sat in the parking lot waiting to pick her up after work. It didn't used to be pink.
This McDonalds, also right across the street from Hollywood Park, provided me with plenty of 20 cent hamburgers and 10 cent fries (or something like that.) It didn't have a dining area - it was take out only. Later, this was the McDonalds where Chris, at a very early age, ate his first complete hamburger!