west north

Looking for West North Machine Works?
Looking for WESTNORTH Studio in Baltimore?
Looking for Northwest Airlines?

I use this blog to collect and organize my thoughts on various topics, mostly in the realm of urban affairs. I often go back and refine things long after the fact, so feel free to explore further using the category listings at right.

If you’re looking for photos, chances are you’ll find it at my Flickr page. The cover photo is of the 400 block of South Dearborn Street in Chicago, an intact row of 1890s buildings in the South Loop.

The name “West North” refers to the gently oxymoronic name of the street I live on, West North Avenue. The posts are by “paytonc” because that’s my WordPress.com username, adopted when I found out (way back in 1995 or so) that “payton” had already been taken at NYTimes.com.

Anything you want to know about me can probably be found in the “Site News” links to the right. If you want to drop a line, send email to payton at (the above domain name).

On comments: due to spam, first-time commenters here will get moderated; please wait a few hours. Old friends here can post away.* My one content rule, to paraphrase your mom: “if you don’t have something constructive to say, don’t say anything at all.” (Oh, and also on comments: for spam reasons, the machine blacklists several words related to gambling and pharmaceuticals. Sorry if you legitimately need to discuss said topics, but I hope you understand.)

Now, do what a good urbanite does: go explore.

Oh, and since these pages always have photos, here’s mine.

These pages also have contact forms, so fill in the box to email me.