The list: Play catch on your street or alley

I'm constantly walking by people in Lakeview out playing bags (or cornhole, if you prefer) on the sidewalk or alley. It's a little awkward to take people's photo up close when I see them playing bags on their sidewalk or in the alley, so I've been looking for a sneaky way to capture sidewalk bags in action. I managed to get this shot about a month ago when I was at a rooftop event next to Wrigley Field.
I've previously blogged about how great the bag frenzy is for the street life and culture of Lakeview. But I wanted to add that I've actually heard folks at community events complain about sidewalk cornhole, which is depressing. Maybe they had a run in with someone being a jerk and have subsequently equated bags with annoyance, but I would think that most people would recognize that more life on the street makes the block safer and friendlier for everyone. Of course, bag players should also take care to not turn into drunken purveyors of irritation.

There's been a summer spike of crime in Lakeview recently that has understandably upset many people in the neighborhood. So it's more important than ever that our streets are well populated by eyes on the street at all times of day and night. People in other communities besieged by crime have done "smoke outs" to get rid of illegal or dangerous street activity. They set up a grill in the street where the activity has been happening and bbq, which attracts more neighbors to venture onto the street for bbq and socializing, thereby showing the offending criminals that there's a positive force on the block to be reckoned with. Encouraging more people to play bags on the sidewalk and alley in the day and night has the same effect.

Many local hardware stores carry bag set ups, and some will even add customized logos.