The Tragedies of Progress

If you've ever stood on the southbound platform of the Loyola El stop and looked to the southwest, you might have noticed a small, wild garden of crabapple trees, sunflowers, and grass, ringed by a wrought iron fence. Tucked behind a sterile block apartment building, and next to a Loyola dormitory, the garden looked so out of place – like a deer in the middle of Michigan Avenue, or a flower growing out of a crack in the pavement.

And if you ever decided to walk into the garden, say if you had a spare minute or two on the way home from work, and sat at the bench in the back, next to the bed of beets and tomatoes, you might've felt that all things were right in the world. That no matter the pressures of everyday life, careerism, and commerce, by taking a moment to ogle something resembling the natural state of things, one could let loose a bit, gain a sort of perspective. Sometimes it seems that humans were never made for the concrete pillars of big cities.

Tended to by children from the nearby Waldorf, on land lent by Loyola, the garden has shrugged along for the past 10 years. It's going to be over soon, though. The wrecking ball is coming for the apartment building bordering the eastern end, and likely development will take over the whole plot, garden and all. Condos and mixed-use retail, they say. When Allison and I heard the news about a month ago, we were heartbroken – we both spend countless hours in the garden when it's not being used as an open-air natural laboratory. I take my coffee and paper there; Allison has shot dozens of rolls of film amongst the greenery. Allison took the news especially hard – she's set up a blog in concert with Waldorf parents to try to save the space.

It's all admirable, but rumor has it that it's all for naught. No matter, though, because the outpouring of support from neighbors unaffiliated with Waldorf, Loyola students who disagree with the Loyola's master plan, and of course, active parents, has really shown me how a community can come together to try to make a difference. And yes, if the garden goes, it will be a tragedy, but I'd like to think that I've learned something of a lesson.