Urban Roots

About Urban Roots

At two in the morning on Chicago's Far South Side, the only sounds are the wind coming in off Lake Michigan and snow ticking against the windows of brick bungalows. Urban Roots answers the city's winters with snow removal, opening front walks, gangways and the back stretch where the garage meets the alley. City snow is its own trade: tight spaces, parked cars, nowhere to pile it, and neighbors who need to reach the bus stop early. There is pride in a sidewalk scraped clean the whole length of the lot, so someone with a stroller or a cane can pass without a second thought. When the plows rumble down the main streets at first light, the walks should already be open.