The Unmowed Zone Of Pratt

Looking east on Pratt towards Sheridan. This is east of Astor House.

                Condo or apartment buildings have their strengths and weaknesses. One of their weaknesses is that they almost never pick up the slack with neighbors' parkways.  Pratt Avenue has a very dramatic example of this effect just east of the Astor House. Here we can see sharp demarcations between parkways representing different philosophies in caring for "one's land". One's land is in quotation marks because the parkway is owned by the city.

               The answer to this riddle is that the slackers themselves need to get to work (not likely) or the neighbors need to suck it up and take care of it. Why should the neighbors take care of it? Better to lead by example. Even if the other neighbors or owners never appreciate it you are taking care of the neighborhood. Neglect and decay benefit no one. And it usually takes a change in ownership before changes in management take place. In this case who knows when this house and apartment building will be sold to responsible owners? This was discussed in the long long ago on Everyblock. This stretch of Pratt has existed like this for many years. How many more years will this phenomenon continue?

Please continue reading to walk further east

Last edited 6/17/13 9:04 am

You can easily see the transition from mowed to unmowed.
The trash from the unmowed zone has blown into the mowed area. 

The dreaded unmowed (phantom) zone.
Littering is encouraged by the unkempt nature of the land. 

As we continue east you are almost out of the unmowed zone.
You can see the promised land of the mowed in the distance.