RIP Bill Lavicka.

Links to various proposed chicago council maps.

Excerpt from the end of his speech to the 1952 Republican National Convention:

"We, Negro Americans, sing with all loyal Americans:
'My country 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!'
That's exactly what we mean—from every mountain side, let freedom ring. Not only from the Green Mountains and White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire; not only from the Catskills of New York; but from the Ozarks in Arkansas, from the Stone Mountain in Georgia, from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia—let it ring not only for the minorities of the United States, but for the persecuted of Europe, for the rejected of Asia, disfranchised of South Africa and for the disinherited of all the earth—may the Republican Party, under God, from every mountainside, 'LET FREEDOM RING.'"

now with TIF data

RIP Lynn Hauldren #588 #2300 #empire

In-depth look at making the Howard and Linden lines faster.

Only 40? Why does Chicago feel like it needs these lists? (I know why)

There's a job opening in a big Midwestern city: "We are seeking a creative problem-solver to run our large midwestern city. We have a sparkling lake, an internationally acclaimed downtown park, and a minor ($655 million) budget issue. / Applicant should demonstrate an abiding faith that he/she can balance the budget, improve the lives of residents, and distribute resources more prudently and equitably. Or at least that he/she can keep city from falling into the sparkling lake. / Candidate must have resided in city a minimum of one year, but exceptional applicants may receive "relocation" assistance from our Ghost Address Bureau. / We also offer a splendid benefits package, including chauffeur, bodyguards, personal physician, City Hall shoe-shine, choice seats at sporting and cultural events, and unlimited visits to our internationally acclaimed downtown park."

"We set up a portable, natural-light studio on Chicago’s neighborhood corners. We spend a day ... inviting all who pass by to step into our studio [to have a full-length portraits made]. To encourage participation, we offer participants a professional print of their portrait, made on the spot. " (creators are recent SAIC, no surprise)

Basically every band should be nightmare based. And have comics. And an awesome website.
"Zeek Sheck is an evil tyrant who gets her head cut off at the very begginning of the era of Zemag Daeh. During this misfortunate time, her cut off head gets put to work in The Care Company Re-Brainwashing Services."

all the streets of selected cities, centered horizontally and vertically. i did this.

maps of the numbered streets in various cities, colored by the size of the number

Don't think I ever linked to Marian's comics before. They're great.

GIS clearinghouse in area of 'natural resource protection and land preservation' for Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. "Partnership between the Center for Neighborhood Technology and Openlands. Funding for this project was generously provided by The Joyce Foundation."

Good interview about urban design with the editor of HDM but utterly undercut by Saunders speaking highly for Chicago's leadership.

First exhibition, in the currently un-renovated building. Note that the building has been empty for the better part of a decade. (photos by metroblossom)

handheld gis mapping for cadastral info. one of very few applications of mobile technology to planning, and a very limited one at that.

Abandoned E-W transit line on S. Side of Chicago

Studs was at Grant Park in spirit last night.

My sadness is so very real. Goodbye, Studs.

Who knew that Bridgeport has a quarry that predates Chicago's incorporation as a city? Or rather, had. Now a park.

Col. McCormick is surely freezing down there in hell.

"While the stockyards are gone, Bubbly Creek remains in its contaminated state. Accumulated sediments fill most of the channel and continue to produce gases, which foul the air and contribute to global warming. The headwaters of the creek are no longer the drainages of the two small tributary swales but, rather, a combined sewer pumping station.
Today, Bubbly Creek is an opportunity, not the monstrous liability made famous by Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. The creek could support a new kind of urban environment, one that brings beauty and wildlife into the city, provides high quality recreational opportunities, encourages and maintains economic development, and safely processes urban stormwater. Rehabilitation of Bubbly Creek is long overdue."

Best news from the western front of gentrification in quite a while: "The National Public Housing Museum would be built in a 70-year-old, vacant building at 1322-24 W. Taylor St., the last remaining building from the Depression-era Jane Addams Homes."

"Demographic inversion" proposed as replacement term for gentrification. Question of depth/width/length of the trend. By ed. of Governing mag. Imprecise about inner city vs downtown an what exactly Jane Jacobs wrote.

Proposal to shift housing to Commerce/Treasury and turn HUD's attn to promoting regional cooperation. Federal coordination of land-use policy was aborted back in the early 70's, maybe it's time to bring it back?

Sped-up video of drive along Chicago's longest road. Car dealerships, three-flats and railroad crossings.

shop and shared studio in Chicago.

April 4, 2008 – "Bernarr Dawson created Whitney Young Magnet High School from the ideals of the civil rights movement and his dream of what a school could become with the right direction."

40s era color photos of Chicago, esp architecture on the south side

Exurban crunch: "windows covered only by tarps that can be heard flapping in the wind; coyotes and raccoons seem to have taken up residence."

yay, someone is copying FNY for Chicago.

yes, this website is © 1996. it's beautiful.

new-to-me plan for a modernist civic center flanking the river at Van Buren. Somehow, thankfully, morphed into Daley & Thompson Centers.

archive back to '04. Not long enough, they're bashed TIFs since at least the late 90s.

good posters and design // any site with a chicago style hot dog is a site i like.

This American Life TV show clip. Chicago style hot dogs with racial epiphets. Brie is right, Lincoln Park blows. (the dogs are good, tho)

54% more ammonia and 35% more 'suspended solids' to be dumped in Whiting. [this is why the Trib sucks; look at their front page every day, but read about this in the nyt]

Great news, Cook County Hospital will be saved.

So long to a Brutalist campus on the south side.

"murdered in the bathroom of the Divinity School, U of Chicago, shot once in the back of the head." "Speculation arose that he had been killed by former Securitate agents"..."There are also various claims that Culianu was killed by an occult grouping."

The first 2 things on the Free-Market Walking tour of the Loop are (a) the reversal of the Chicago River and the many bascule bridges (big gov't x 2). On the next page, the Eastland disaster is somehow blamed on regulations demanding lifeboats (???)

next to the Congress ... didn't there used to be a great anarchist space right about there? [technically: INstitute for Community Understanding Between Art And The Everyday, clumsy but still an institute!]

Centers and Institutes, here comes a list of 'em

Part of the inCUBATE project. Mention of chicagomxm.

In your face, LA! [please let this happen catalyze the circle & midcity lines!]

Holy Cow!

Missing Whitney Young senior found beaten to death in Cal-Sag channel.

photos in the tune of Becher.

Surprised, glad to see the Trib come out with this.

The last minute is the best, a good portion of the cityscape seen was replaced by a McDonalds and a Taco Bell some time before the 80s.

fire, shipwrecks, riots, etc

Many an hour has been well-spent here...

Short version: Two of Obama's white ancestors owned slaves, so he's not actually black. Up next: Hillary's not a woman, Edward's not white, and Kerry's still not a veteran. (oh &: AAARRRGGGHHHH) (good response by the Obama campaign, tho)

sounds awesome: "200-hour long house song ... March 1st-8th [at] Northwestern ... created in honor of 200th anniv of British abolition of slave trade & Chicago’s Slavery Era Disclosure Ordinance (2002)" (but 8 days is only 192 hrs!)

NYC2012 but 4 years later & in the Midwest (If this gets the Circle Line/Midcity line built, I'm 100% for it) [logo's pretty good, too]

Chicago Public Radio loves my shanty people. awesome awesome awesome. (Did Aay have laryngitis? )

the best art shanty project, for sure

aka Deep Tunnel

From Gutenberg. Lots of great details about oyster consumption in NYC, riding on trains, etc.

out of context map fragments, urban pathways and abstractions. Sound familiar, anyone?

Nice to run into someone after a couple of years, only remember the name of their website, but not be made too embarrassed by it.

We demand an architecture of crystals! Walter Netsch's 'field theory' in action at UIC.

green buildings in Chicago. via paytonc

via west north

"Mess Hall is a place for visual culture, creative urbanism, sustainable ecology, food democracy and cultural experimentation."

plan to make biking an integral part of Chicago life, (and to use tables & images for web design.)

see-thru signs & other photo biz. SAIC 06

First indoor amusement park & mall, 1975-81, in Chicago burbs. "Turn of the century" themed. amazing pictures & scans

"Six Corners is a commercially active area whose corners are formed by the three-way intersection of Irving Park Boulevard and Milwaukee and Cicero Avenues." 150+ stores: a regional shopping center (no mall)

panoramas & narrative on the expections to the grid. Good, BUT: IIT student (S side), only N side locations? flash for rollovers? plus: they're called "six corners" in Chicago!

A 24/7 public Turrell installation sorta balances out UIC's wanton destruction along Halsted OK - (not really). I'm not the 1st to say: a medatative artwork+plaza doesn't work at a 4x4 lane intersection.