Safety tip: Open your driver’s side door with your RIGHT HAND instead of your left hand. 👋 Be aware of people on bikes and scooters so you don’t accidentally door somebody 👋 Be aware of your surroundings before you step out into the street Let’s take care of our neighbors, and ourselves ❤️

Today til 4pm, come see real cool cars up close at the Archer Heights library! The photography exhibit, “More Than Cars: the Photographers Who Document Chicago’s Lowrider Lifestyle and Culture,” runs through Aug 31.

We are hosting a vigil and bike jam for Riley. Flyer forthcoming. It will be on Monday, 6/8 at 7pm. Palmissano Park (Fitness Course; across from McGuane Park's playground)

CDOT lost the best of our team yesterday. We're heartbroken. In memory of Riley O'Neil, please refer to these bike racks as "Riley Racks". He led Chicago's bike parking program for several years. Our hearts are broken, but we want to make sure his legacy lives on 💙🚲 Please spread the word

We are delighted to welcome our first intern, Haleema! She will be helping us use GIS mapping to determine priority communities, programs and policies for the near future. Thank you and welcome to SWC!

Please go support our local businesses today. Also it is beyond time to press these strip mall landlords for solutions that prevent these losses - since storefront rents continue to soar.

Applications for this FREE college program are being accepted through June 15. Classes are in-person, in Spanish (southwest side) or English (south and north side). Students who complete the program can earn up to 11 college credits from UIC. Apply today: ilhumanities.org/programs/ody...

That’s a wrap! Thanks to everybody who joined us for our Archer Ave. bike rides this month 🙏 Looking for more group rides this summer? Gage Park Cyclists kicks off from 55th & Artesian (one block west of Western) every Wednesday at 7pm. We’ll be back with another SWC ride this fall—stay tuned!

Tomorrow is our last Archer Ave. bike ride of the spring 😢 We’re riding from McKinley Park at 10am, and this week we’ll be joined by the crew from Gage Park Cyclists. They’ll talk about their weekly rides from Gage Park—every Wednesday at 7pm. Check them out this summer!

This weekend: Check out of final Archer Ave. bike ride of the spring! 📅 Saturday, May 30 🕙️ Meet up at 9:30am | Ride at 10am 📍 McKinley Park Statue (Archer & Western) P.S. We’ll have FREE Divvy unlock codes for riders age 18 and older, so you can ride with us even if you don’t own a bike 🩵

Our final Circulo will be reserved in honor of Memorial Day. Family and friends who are grieving a loss of a military member are welcome to join us and connect to resources. The session is cost free and virtual; however, registration is required. The link is in our bio, under "Upcoming Events."

Our penultimate Archer Ave. bike ride was a big hit—thanks in no small part to our friends @bikegridnow.org This Saturday (May 30) will be our ✨last✨ ride for the month. We’ll be back at McKinley Park for one final 10am bike ride (9:30am meetup). Hope to see you there!

Today we remember and honor the sacrifices of those who died in combat. It is because of them that we are reminded: War should not be entered into lightly or with bluster and pride. It is literally a life-or-death decision that changes families forever.

Check out our next Archer Ave. bike ride this Saturday! We’re kicking off from McKinley Park at 10am, and this week we’ll be joined by our friends @bikegridnow.org. They’ll share their vision for a *connected* grid of walkable, bikeable, rollable streets to keep our neighbors and families safe.

Huge congrats are in order for graduating 8th graders at Edwards Elementary: Natalie Reyes, Kimberly Perez, Jessica Zarco and Katharine Lara. Their service project, "Spread Awareness, Stop Hunger" provided essential pantry staples to our community in a time of great need.

Do you know an entrepreneur in the Gage Park or surrounding area, that needs someone to gut check an idea? Tell them to join us Thursday at the Discount Mall ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Join the annual ride of silence tomorrow—to remember those who can no longer ride with us 🤍

It’s been a rough week, and a rough spring, when it comes to traffic safety on the southwest side. We need justice for Damian Gomez, Marcela Herrera, Enrique Nieto, Jiekun Xu, Charlie Mills, and countless others. Our neighbors deserve safe streets 💔

We had another great ride through Brighton Park this past weekend with our neighbors—and with our friends from Working Bikes. If you’ve been wanting to check out the new lanes in a group, this is your chance. Hope to see you next Saturday at McKinley Park!

What a perfect day for the annual tamale ride! Hundreds of people came out for a ride through Pilsen and Little Village led by our friend and neighbor Pookie 🧡 Of course, we wrapped up with the star of the show: tamales from local vendors enjoyed with old and new friends alike 🫔🚴🏽

We’re back at it this Saturday, May 16 at McKinley Park for another Archer Ave. community bike ride 💛 💚 This week, our friends from @workingbikes.bsky.social will stop by to share their story of refurbishing thousands of old bikes at their warehouse in Pilsen and donating them across the globe 🔧

Another person was killed on Pulaski last night. We are keeping the family in our thoughts and hoping the driver is found. — Otra persona falleció anoche en Pulaski. Nuestros pensamientos están con la familia y esperamos que encuentren al conductor.

Per CDOT's Chicago Bike Map, it's against the rules to ride high-speed "e-moto" bike-like mopeds in Chicago bikeways. A bill that recently passed the IL Senate would make that statewide, and require license/registration and 16-year-old age minimum. chi.streetsblog.org/2026/05/08/g... @nikhunder.com

For Mothers Day, our only wish is for families to never be separated. What was the reason for all that anguish at the end of a very short life? - Para el Día de la Madre, nuestro único deseo es que las familias nunca se separen. ¿Cuál fue la razón de tanta angustia al final de una vida tan corta?

We had a great time biking Archer today with our neighbors—and with our friends from @divvybikes.bsky.social. We’ll be back at McKinley Park next Saturday for a 9:30am meetup and 10am ride. Hope to see you there!

Back in 2019, a very young, pregnant mom was murdered while trying to find baby clothes through Facebook. Her name was Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, from Pilsen.

Don’t have a bike? Still interested in joining our weekly Archer Ave. bike rides at McKinley Park? We got you. Every Saturday in May, our friends at @divvybikes.bsky.social will offer up to 10 free rentals—and they’ll fully stock the station at 37th & Archer, just steps from our kickoff spot.

Our neighbor Becca shared her hopes for a safer Archer—and how new infrastructure could help southwest siders who want to be more active in their daily lives 🚶🏽‍♀️🚴🏼‍♂️🏃🏾

We get to vote for our first-ever fully elected school board this fall. Inform this candidate questionnaire and school board voter guide by telling WBEZ what issues are affecting you and your family, and what questions you have for the candidates. Take the survey at wbez.org/survey!

“When cars, and bikes, and pedestrians share a big, wide street it can be dangerous for everybody—especially for people walking or biking. If they’re involved in a crash they can be seriously injured or even killed.”

Thanks to Akiba Schechter Jewish Day School for visiting with us to talk heat islands, air quality, safety infrastructure & sacrifice zones. We did a “truck count” of 35 semis on Pulaski in 5 min. - that’s 7 semis a minute. What impact do you think this volume can have on our health & safety?

Our first Archer Ave. ride of the spring was a blast 💚🩵 If you missed our ride yesterday, we’ll be back at McKinley Park next Saturday, May 9 at 9:30am. And you won’t even need a bike to join us since @divvybikes.bsky.social will be there with free rentals for riders age 18 or older.

What a beautiful day for our first Archer Ave. bike ride of the spring ☀️ We were joined by Cycling x Solidarity and a bunch of neighbors for a relaxed ride through Brighton Park. These rides are happening every Saturday in May. We’re meeting up at 9:30am at McKinley Park and riding at 10am 💚💛

Planning to join our weekly bike rides during the month of May? Check out these safe riding tips from the city’s SAFE ambassadors 💛💚

Changes are coming to Archer Ave. as a result of good faith feedback. These immediate changes should wrap up by the end on May (weather permitting) with a winter break planned for after the water and sewer work is completed.

The sw side is making the news this month. Unfortunately it’s because of all the high-speed crashes on our major streets. Eight crashes over a roughly eight-week span, with 25% of the people involved dead. Please pray for the families grieving a loss; they need strength and support right now.

Are you a fan of Pete Kastanes' Vanished Chicagoland Stories podcast? Unfortunately, he passed away this weekend. Kastanes’ authenticity, kindness & deep love of Chicagoland will be missed. He leaves a legacy of 520 episodes of Vanished Chicagoland which are evergreen. @vanishedchicago.bsky.social

If you haven’t tried the new bike lanes on Archer, this is a great opportunity to ride in a group 💚💛 We’ll be riding the lanes every Saturday in May, kicking off from McKinley Park at 10am (meet up at 9:30am).

Sweetie what's wrong? You were supposed to be open 5 years ago. Come celebrate our baby, the Wells-Wentworth Connector, going to Kindergarten. 📌 1700 S Wentworth ⏰ Sunday May 17th, 3:30-5:30ish

We asked the mayor about the future of Ford City Mall during a public forum with WBEZ radio. He said he’d be open to a community discussion about what southwest siders want and need at this historic location—not necessarily the warehouse that was proposed last summer.

Don't forget to join us tomorrow for our April session of Circulo. We will discuss navigation of digital spaces, such as social media, and how to keep your family safe. These sessions are totally free and virtual, but registration is required.

Don't forget to join us on Saturday for our next Freebies for Families event! We will be at UI Health, 5525 S Pulaski, from 12-2pm for the event. If you have gently used clothing or gear to donate, we will accept it from 10:30 to 11:30 that morning.

We have a great example of transit-oriented development right here on the southwest side. The Western Orange Line station once bordered a long empty industrial site, but now borders the Chicago Park District Headquarters. More of this, please!

Our next Circulo session in English is coming up. Please register and join us on Zoom for this discussion. A reminder: Circulo is totally free of charge; but registration is required. Participants are not visible to each other.

At "Thrift Lab," the Museum of Science and Industry explores sustainable fashion — and invites you to shop. blockclubchi.co/4tp8OB5

This Friday, we will host another Circulo, discussing ways to keep your family safe online, and how to set healthy boundaries with social media. Join us!

Five years ago, the city stood by while Amazon purchased the old Central Steel & Wire factory. Today, that decision—made under a previous mayor and a previous 14th ward alderman—is coming back to bite us. Read our new op-ed about transit-oriented development: www.chicagotribune.com/2026/04/17/o...

We had a great time at the Brighton Park bike safety workshop yesterday! More than 100 of our neighbors came out on a sunny spring Saturday 💚 We also had a chance to ride the new Archer bike lanes in small groups. It’s supposed to be nice out this week—be sure to try out the lanes for yourself!

No olviden acompañarnos mañana en nuestra sesión de abril de Círculo. Hablaremos sobre cómo navegar en los espacios digitales —como las redes sociales— y cómo mantener a su familia segura. Estas sesiones son totalmente gratuitas y virtuales, pero es necesario registrarse.

Check out this bike safety workshop on Saturday at Palace Hall Banquets, 4604 S. Archer in Brighton Park. Stop by any time from 10-2. We’ll also be riding the new Archer protected bike lanes in small groups. Hope to see you there!