Riding from downtown Chicago to Milwaukee featured a little bit of everything: urban cycling dealing with both cars and pedestrians, cycling gravel bike paths through the suburbs, rolling through country roads alongside farms and pastures, and traversing busy multilane highways. At the end of today's ride, I had crossed another state line, surpassed the 1000 mile mark, and negotiated my last ride into a major city until I reach Portland, OR next month.
A rest day spent in Chicago gave me the opportunity to visit one of the last great urban baseball stadiums - Wrigley Field. Located north of city center, Wrigley reminded me of White Hart Lane in London (home venue for Tottenham Hotspur) - nestled in an urban area replete with row houses, pubs and shops within walking distance of the subway line. The weather was uncomfortably chilly for June - a mere 50 degrees - but this historic stadium was well worth the visit.
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| Chilly day at Wrigley Field |
In contrast to the other Rust Belt towns I visited in the past weeks, Chicago and Milwaukee showcase the revitalization taking root in America's core cities. In Chicago, the apartment where I stayed was converted space from a former food processing facility. The bar where we went to watch the Chicago Blackhawks game on Sunday night was located just a few blocks from the infamous Cabrini-Green housing projects that have now been demolished.
Downtown Milwaukee presented a more surprising picture. Expecting to witness a cityscape like Detroit, I instead found something closer to Brooklyn. Boutique coffee shops, condos built amidst vacant lots and abandoned factories, and old art deco buildings renovated into restaurants. The hotel where I am staying - the Ambassador Hotel - was built in 1928, and fell into disrepair by the late 80s and 90s. However, with a recent renovation, it's old luster has been fully restored.
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| Coffee shop and burger bar in Milwaukee |
The new urban center in cities like Chicago and Milwaukee is overwhelmingly young, wealthy, and often predominantly white. The process of gentrification seems to displace and disperse the poor rather than creating truly mixed income communities, though that is just an impression on my part. A recent New York Times magazine article alludes to these tensions in Chicago. While revitalization may not be an unqualified success, downtown Chicago and Milwaukee are increasingly attractive destinations for younger generations to live and work.
Starting Point - Chicago, IL
Ending Point - Milwaukee, WIDistance - 93.7 miles
Cumulative Distance - 1019.4 miles
Vertical Elevation - 1815 feet
Counties - Cook, Lake, IL; Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee, WI
Wind - moderate cross/tailwind
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