alley III

alleys have always been a fascination to me. they are streets and yet not; they are often depicted in media as criminal hotspots; they become havens for the homeless and for street animals. and yet, they are still a necessity in cities. this is the third in my series of photos of

alleys; the other two were taken in 2009.

hot dog stand

my hometown is philadelphia, which is a city known for its army of food carts and trucks. when i was coming home one day and saw al these people milling around the sidewalk with

a food cart parked on the sidewalk, i knew it was the perfect time to take a photo of what reminded me of home.

bike rack

i am a bike enthusiast. this photo represents, for me, the burgeoning usage of bicycles that seems to be taking place in the world right now: though automobile production has increased at a steady pace for the past sixty years, bike production has increased to a much higher degree. in 2000 there were about 41 million cars produced compared to about 8 million in 1950, and there were 104 million

bikes produces in 2000 compared to 11 milion in 1950.

dismissal

i walk past this gated community almost every day, and it is always striking to me how beautiful it looks inside, and yet how access to that beauty is restricted. aside from the

socioeconomic implications, this is something that was discussed in chapter 9 of the felson book.

berkshire

the berkshire is an important part of my life in dc. i seem to spend more of my time in the berks than i spend at my actual home... once, my bike was stolen by the security from the berks, since it was

parked in an area that they didn’t allow bike parking in. i eventually got it back, but i suppose it was a form of protecting the berks against thieves.

super shuttle

the view of the street from the northern entrance to the berkshire. showing how busy of an intersection it is, and yet parked bikes in front of the berks are stolen quite often...

open door

one of the two doors that are the front entrance of the berks was propped open when i was going in one day. i thought that this, combined with the next photo in this essay, were interesting choices on the berks’ staff as far as security is concerned. that, and the management company of the berkshire says that there is 24 hour controlled access to the apartment complex – clearly something that they

do not always deliver on.

package room

the concierge who mans the front desk 24/7 was away from the desk while the front door was propped open as well. though the door may have been left open in order to let people who had

misplaced their id cards in while the concierge was away, and that ultimately tenants are respon-sible for their security, it seemed like they were just opening the door to anyone who might want to break into an apartment, or commit any other illegal acts they might not have been able to if they had not had access to the apartment building. also, the website for the berks purports a 24 hour

lobby attendent, which this is in obvious defiance of.

arizona ave on rainy day

this is the view from the northern corner of the intersection of arizona avenue and garfield st. in the palisades, just two houses down from where i live. arizona ave. is an extremely busy street, and has next to no foot traffic while there are cars speeding up

and down it all day and night. there is a police car stationed at the corner of arizona and cathedral ave, where there is also a “speed trap” set up to catch speeders.

where they stood

the small patio directly outside the front entrance to my house. this is where we kept multiple bikes, unlocked, without incident for over six months, but in october of this year, we had three of our bikes stolen from where they were parked during a party. we found two of them on campus, but the other one is still missing – mine. as far as bike theft is concerned, washington, dc was tied with portland,

or for 10th worst bike theft city in the united states by kryptonite, a bike lock brand, in 2007.

a short bibliography

“Bicycle Statistical Data: Usage, Productions and Sales.” Historical Data Series Compiled by Worldwatch Institute. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &, 1996, 2002. International Bicycle Fund: Promoting Bicycle Transport and Economic Development and Cultural Understanding Worldwide. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. <http://www.ibike.org/library/statistics-data.htm>.

Gables, Gables.com - Apartments for Rent, Luxury Apartments, Furnished Apartments, Unfurnished Apartments, Corporate Housing. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://www.gables.com/gablesliving/ amenities.aspx?Region=22&CommunityId=39>.

“Top 10 Cities for Bike Theft According to Kryptonite.” Unbreakable Bonds. 14 June 2007. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://unbreakable-bonds.blogspot.com/2007/06/top-10-cities-for-bike-theft-ac cording.html>.