We asked two youth participants — Justin and Carlos — what it was like to have a conversation with Mayor Emanuel at the Argyle Night Market last week. Listen to what they have to say:
Justin: I found it to be a very exhilarating experience because he got to listen to my opinions, and I got to listen to his. Overall, it was a nice social exchange of ideas toward each other, and I found it to be very interesting.
Carlos: He seems like a down-to-earth guy. When I was talking to him, it was at a personal level. I was just asking him questions. He went to our school (Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center), and I asked him what he thought of our school.
Justin: (The One Summer Chicago internship at Territory Urban Design Team) helped us prepare to talk to the mayor at a slightly more sophisticated level.
Carlos: We were able to talk about our experience on Argyle with him and his experiences on Argyle. I guess us going out like this helped us identify with Rahm Emanuel.
Justin: He noticed what we were noticing, the behavior of Argyle overall. In some parts of the street, it might be peaceful and quiet, and other parts may be very chaotic and unproductive, without direction. We just had suggestions to fix it up by making it safer and cleaner. Argyle, overall, is honestly, very, very dirty. It can use some tidying up, some more nature, more music. We suggested that as an idea. One big idea we mentioned is more art, and music as like a subcategory of art. Just to give life and purpose to Argyle.
Here, Justin is on the left in the blue baseball cap and Carlos is on the right in the Brooklyn t-shirt.
