The mill site, the river and Commercial Avenue
The old steel works left South Chicago with hundreds of acres of lakefront slag and slab, and the redevelopment there proceeds in phases of grading, infrastructure and now building, with units placed inside the fence near the construction gate off the lakefront drive. Along the Calumet River the working industry never left: bulk terminals, scrap yards and the bridge maintenance crews at 92nd and 95th Streets all keep standard units at their gates. Commercial Avenue's storefronts, the steelworkers' park and the old bank building projects pull units into rear lots off the alleys behind the avenue.
Residential rehabs on the brick blocks between Commercial and the tracks take the ordinary single unit in the back yard, serviced from the alley.
Beach season and the parish calendar
Rainbow Beach opens the summer with volleyball leagues, family reunions in the picnic groves and the park district's programs, and units for those go on the paved path by the parking lot under the park's permit. The neighborhood's Mexican parishes host summer processions and festivals on the church grounds along 91st and Commercial, and those take a row of standard units, an ADA accessible unit and handwashing near the food booths. Fall is when the river industry runs its shutdowns and paving, and winter brings the lake wind hard across the open mill acreage.
The Southeast Side route
Our driver comes down the Skyway to 87th Street or takes South Chicago Avenue from Grand Crossing, and works South Chicago with South Shore, the East Side and Hegewisch on a single day. Bridge openings on the Calumet River can hold the truck up, so the river-side stops are timed around the freight schedule when the terminal can share it. Alleys behind the residential blocks are paved and open; the industrial gates need a call ahead.
Units on the exposed mill site get antifreeze and a spot against a wind block in winter, and service continues weekly regardless of the weather.