Maybe because as a kid in Toronto, I frequently snuck out via the back alley, after climbing out the basement window (don't ask: I probably didn't even have to go through such shenanigans, but I thought it was fun), or for other pyscho-sexual reasons I remain blissfully unaware of, I think alleys are evocative. New York doesn't even have any (which is why garbage strikes are such a big deal there), but Chicago has plenty of intriguing alleys.
Alley - click for larger version
This particular one is somewhere in the West Loop, probably on Randolph St., but maybe on Washington.
As a kid, my alley was between Baldwin and D'arcy Streets. (Google map thereof). There was also the proximity to Chinatown, which added a certain 'character' of some ineffable dimension
I should probably clean up my run-on sentences, but maybe later....
