Map of the Week - City of Vice

Those of you regular readers know that I attended the "Maps, Finding our Place in the World" exhibition that came to Chicago and then to Baltimore last year. I bought the companion book from this exhibit and have been slowly reading it.
This map (from William T. Stead, "If Christ Came to Chicago!", 1894) shows the "sites of moral depravity and turpitude" within Chicago's Nineteenth Ward, First Precinct. According to the book the map "worked to tame the anxieties about social dysfunction held by the same people, by isolating each dysfunction, comprehending it, and so enabling it to be corrected and eliminated." The map shows brothels, pawn brokers, saloons and lodging houses in addition to "legitimate" businesses. Because of the gridded nature of Chicago's streets and the almost exactly identical areas of the properties, the map looks and functions almost like a graph. A more complete description of the map can be found here.

MOTW #85

I don't even remember where I dug this one up but it's the classic problem of what poor neighborhood to dump the nudey bars on. You can't wish them away so you have to put them somewhere. In Washington DC they are looking at a location by Gallaudet University (they may be deaf but they're not blind!) and also right near a playground though those two things would theoretically be in operation at different times. Since the map doesn't give you much surrounding detail all you need to know is it's a very short drive from Congress so your reps will have easy access. Here's the text from whatever web site I originally grabbed it:

D.C. Council Member Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, wants to help relocate several bars that permit nude dancing that were put out when the city decided to build the new Washington Nationals stadium in Southeast Washington.

But where Graham sees helping some former business owners, he said he also anticipates a possible "not in my backyard" style backlash from residents in the areas of Ward 5, into which the businesses plan to move.

Graham's Committee on Public Works and the Environment is scheduled to mark up and vote on a bill that would allow for the one-time relocation of the businesses.

The problem is that lighter commercial zones often act as a buffer between heavier commercial and residential areas, officials in Graham's office said.

The businesses are unable to relocate near the stadium because it was rezoned and other areas of the city that would allow them, including downtown, are too expensive.