Can I show y'all something?

When Sunbelt Digital came to me about writing a blog chronicling my move from Chicago to Las Vegas, I had the idea that as this blog progressed I would in a very subtle manner add color to the pictures the closer we got to our destination. It was my way of showing growth and a new start. Kinda cliche' I know, but I thought it cool at the time.

Everything was going well until I came to this post. I am officially abandoning that rule for this post only! This is something I had to post and show because this post is going to discuss one of the main reasons why I'm LEAVING Chicago.

Bear with me.

This is a picture of the fountain in front of my gingerbread house looking building. Nice right? Here's the thing. The fountain doesn't work. I have lived here for almost three years and I've never seen water in the "pool". Ever. No big deal really. I want you to take a close look at this fountain. See that garden hose at the base?

If you look close in this next picture, you can see a white hose going up along the side of the fountain. At a quick glance you might think it's just another hose, or maybe even part of the fountain fixtures. I really wish that was the case. That's actually the same green hose with white paint on it.

*sigh*

It appears the association for my building felt it wasn't important to repair the fountain in the front lawn, but couldn't bear having it sit there not working. So, they rigged a garden hose (Exhibit A) and duct taped it (Exhibit B) to the old fountain spout (Exhibit C). And to "hide" the fact that they were attatching a garden hose to a fountain, they painted the hose white. But as you could tell in the first picture, they didn't paint the entire hose.

I almost want to book a flight back to Chicago to take a picture of it when it's turned on (oh yeah, they turn it on).

This is just one of the reasons we're leaving. Not because of the hose, but because of how poorly our building is run. The main lobby doors to our building have broken locks, our mail gets tossed on the floor instead of in our mailbox, there are rules for the parking area but they aren't enforced, residents are constantly having BBQ's in the alley behind our house when there are signs posted instructing them not to. Sometimes they BBQ UNDER the sign! And worst of all, the association meetings where some of these issues should be worked out consist of 20 senior citizens yelling and cursing at each other about God knows what.

It was time for a change.

Las Vegas represents a new start for both my girlfriend and I in a variety of ways, one of which would mean a new place to live. In fact when the opportunity first came up, one of the the firsts things we talked about was the chance to move from our condo in to something larger. We had simply outgrown our place and the new ideas and scenery of Las Vegas intrigued us.

I did want to add something. I was afraid the very first post of 1,768 would have people thinking I lived in the Compton of Chicago. What happened on that first day of packing was a rarity. If you talk to anyone that knows Chicago, the Hyde Park/Kenwood neighborhood is a ghetto oasis. In some spots it's surrounded by pockets of unwelcome areas, but for the most part it is a very cultured, green and safe community.

The city of Chicago could really replace some of the liquor stores and greasy fast food joints with a clean grocery store, but there are a lot of other areas that need help before Hyde Park.