IIRC, I believe the record actually came much more quickly after that, in the summer of 2014 and into 2015, after the record winter snowfall of over 84" from Jan-April 2014. The lake levels will probably continue to fluctuate more regularly as climate change continues to...change the planet.

Tell that to the last 150 years of Chicago infrastructure builders lol.

The future for Chicago is as clear as it's past. We will build out way out of it.

Well, maybe this is a big enough threat to finally motivate the city to fill in the "last 4 miles" of lakefront with green space so there's a buffer to protect the buildings from water damage.

If not the Chicago river alone, then re-diverting the flow of the Nipigon River up in Canada, which used to drain out into Hudson Bay, but was diverted into Lake Nipigon (which flows into Lake Superior). The flowrate of the Nipigon River into the Great Lakes system is twice the flowrate of the Chicago river out of the system.

Here's an interesting article on the Nipigon River diversion: https://www.lakesuperior.com/the-lak...of-ebbs-flows/
The article blames the Chicago River reversal for all the low lake levels in Lake Michigan in the last half century.

In the past, Chicago wasn’t laden with such ballooning debt and pension costs, which eat away more and more of the budget. Fiscal mismanagement and corrupt deals have created an albatross for the region. I wouldn’t be so sure that we will build our way out of this.

Another unknown on how to deal with this is our ability to model and simulate climate patters in the season-to-subseasonal scale....

If you can say with confidence the region will experience significantly higher than average snow/rainfall over the coming months, then you could tailor your decisions to move as much water out as possible leading up to the rise in lake levels if you have high confidence.

Same goes on the flip side. If you have high confidence of a major dry spell, you can hold water back as much as possible.

Not saying it's a solution, but another tool that should be explored for dealing with this.

Goodness its been two weeks tomorrow since the last time I biked without a coat. On that Sunday I met a friend and his kids in a beautiful neighborhood park, Indian Boundary Park, in West Ridge. To get there I biked to Lawrence and the river and took the river bike trail to Devon then went east to the park. Very pleasant. After as usual it seems I ended up at the Brown line Rockwell station - a picture perfect neighborhood. Lincoln Square nearby is also the same, though I wish that empty area near the Brown Line station on Western could be filled in and maybe Western could get some sprucing up. Other than that in the immediate area the neighborhood is fantastic.

These projections make me lol. I just got back from texas a few weeks ago.
Id love to have a texas october. Really think we are going to see 90's-80's in november lol


Also those worried about lake levels too high, im more worried about them being to low. If they are going to rise we could re dredge the St Clair river again, but have a plan to fill it back in again if Michigan Huron loses too much. We could also open the locks on the Chicago river to lake Michigan to lower the combined lakes too.

This was not even 10 years ago, less and the lakes were at their low's




required reading below.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/archi...se/1366453001/


..

yep, and the cal sag locks

That and creating an adjustable channel like i said on the st. Clair river that can be raised if needed. They looked into this before. Its in my link above.

that's home sweet home for me!

we live a block away from the rockwell brown line stop.

i freaking love this super family-friendly little pocket of the city that we wound up in.

why couldnt we? this entire region used to be encased in ice a mile thick. there used to be oceans in death valley. you can go to anywhere a glacier used to exist and see how far its retreated in the past 20 or 30 years with your own eyes.

we already know the consequences of what happens when the planet warms 1.5C/2C/3C+ etc. The science has been long settled. That visual isnt from some fringe publication, its from the EPA.

the pacific northwest just had an unprecedented heat wave and ensuing mass ocean die off this summer that would never have happened without manmade climate change. im sure a whole lot of people would have said portland could never hit 116 degrees for a week on end not so long ago too. we're living it my man.

.

If we aren't careful and don't make some very big changes, then yes. It is absolutely possible.

https://climate.nasa.gov/system/char...eft_061720.gif
Source: https://climate.nasa.gov

In the last million years, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has never breached 300 PPM. We are *well* past that now. And believe me, I think 70s-80s in November in Chicago sounds absolutely fantastic. But I don't want to know what July is going to look like, lol.

One word: HURRICANES!!!!!! (I really wanted to add a funny gif meme of some sort, but alas..). Joking aside, I wouldn't be at all surprised if mega hurricanes ripping through the Great Lakes from the Atlantic was an effect of increased warming..it's frightening to think of..

The *problem* has been blown totally out of proportion by coastal media projection.

We would have already seen major effects in Chicago if a particularly destructive trend were beginning. NYC has had two catastrophic life-threatening flooding events in the past 10 years alone.

In Chicago, the 1992 Loop flood is still the most notable flood in living memory (whereas basement flooding is mostly the yearly nuisance that Chicagoans have dealt with since forever)

Rising lake levels are entirely a Park District problem because there is no proof that water will rise far beyond the existing barriers. And would be solved in the worst case scenario by a simple cheap earthen dam since Chicago soil is not that permeable.

Rogers Park and South Shore are just examples of bad urban planning. Even in the 1800s, property built directly on the water had issues with waves and storms. That’s why the Illinois Central tracks were built- to protect the Loop from Lake Michigan.

Some may be interested in this talk. Unfortunately I have a conflict so cannot go.

Damn, I wish I could go - I'm currently working on a lab renovation in Hinds!

Chicago’s downtown still fastest growing in country, report says
AJ LaTrace, REJournals (link)

"In terms of raw numbers, The Loop, saw an increase from 29,000 residents in the 2010 census to 42,300 residents in 2020 — its highest population yet. This is roughly a 45% gain, the report details, meaning that Chicago’s Loop remains the fastest growing community within the city."

"The report pegs the total population of Chicago’s downtown at 244,445 residents, or roughly 9% of Chicago’s total population. Double-digit growth in the Near North Side and Near South Side has helped Chicago’s downtown grow faster than any other major downtown district in the country, the Chicago Loop Alliance report proclaims."

^ I started a thread about this in City discussions. You know, to discuss a different topic than Dimond Park's umpteenth Bay Area booster thread in disguise ;)

i think they got the wrong population figure for englewood listed on that graphic.

englewood's population did decrease by 20.5% (largest CA decrease in the city), but according to sources i found, it went from 30,654 in 2010 down to 24,369 in 2020, not down to 10,248 as listed in that graphic.

so yeah, the decrease was big, but it wasn't that big.

and i haven't run all the calcs for all 77 CA's, but i think englewood might have the largest population loss by % from its population peak for any CA in the city.


englewood peak (1960): 97,595

englewood low (2020): 24,369

change: -73,226 (-75.0%)


if englewood isn't THE largest, it's certainly at least a contender.

Yes, you are correct. Whoever made that graphic is way off. Not sure how they think Englewood itself has only 10K people...

Have you guys seen Chicago from this vantage point:

https://ntvassets-a.akamaihd.net/F86...96640A62C2.jpg
Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/paid-...552&ntv_acsc=0

It's such a stunning vista!

Steely Dan is in luck, the Streets of Woodfield are for sale!

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...chaumburg-sale

^ and it sounds like if the forum pooled our money together, we might be able to get a pretty good deal on it too!

If we buy it, we'll have you move to Schaumburg to manage the project

Blackstone bought that property as an investment 6 years ago, lol wtf

glad the smart people are in charge

Another University of Chicago student murdered by the usual suspects...
Not a good image for the University. If something is not done and no one is caught or caught and released by Foxx than UC is going to take a hit.... Potential students can google news too.

Why will the police not describe what the shooter looked like??? Or even the Car?! I know the answer....






https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shoo...cole/11218774/


University of Chicago grad killed in Hyde Park shooting; activist nearly shot as patrols increase

U of C shooting victim ID'd; security increased around campus

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The University of Chicago is increasing patrols near its Hyde Park campus after two shootings, one of which killed a 24-year-old recent graduate, took place within hours of each other Tuesday.

Chicago police said that shortly before 2 p.m. in the 900-block of East 54th Place, a dark-colored car pulled up alongside a 24-year-old man. A man got out of the car, pulled out a gun and demanded the 24-year-old's property.


It was not clear if the victim moved to give up his things, but the man opened fire, shooting the victim in the chest, police said. Then the shooter got back in the car and fled west on 54th Place.

The victim was taken to University of Chicago hospital, where he died.

...




Friends of the victim are fed up with the violence that took their friend's life.

"He was the one who told us about the Citizen app, and how it tells you about the shootings around here, so it's ironic and said," said another friend, who did not want to be named.


Police have not released any further description of the shooter or the car he was in. No one is currently in custody.


...

^ ^ No worries, we got Kim Foxx on the case, she'll get justice. Anyhow, damn, when you Google streetview the location of that shooting, it's like......wow that's about as safe an area that you could possibly expect, especially at 2 pm.

I'm sure that the grad student who got shot and died that day never could have, in his wildest dreams, woke up that morning and imagined that it would be his last day on earth.

:( Just sad beyond belief

Much better article with more information: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...cdq-story.html

It's very sad, and fortunately doesn't happen too often, not that that's very helpful for the victim. Unfortunately armed robberies can happen anywhere and at any time, are difficult to prevent as long as guns and (presumably stolen) vehicles are prevalent, and some fraction end up as homicides.

What I don't really understand is that they can't really be very profitable most of the time. Nobody carries cash anymore, credit cards will get canceled quickly, and phones are all locked and don't have much resale value (and more over, will track where the perp is). I guess you might have your laptop in your backpack, but what can the resale value of that be once it's fenced and such?

Hyde Park is a very successful, diverse , and attractive neighborhood that my daughter moved into last year, and where my wife owns a condo. Sadly what i have noticed after observing a robbery in that neighborhood is that lately there is too much loitering and suspicious trafficking throughout some of the business thoroughfares and off- streets. What i would advise Lightfoot and the Alderman to do is increase the Police presence in the business area, establish a no loitering zone, and i know implementing a light stop and frisk policy is highly controversial, but it may be effective for the immediate time. These steps may seem draconian for some people of color like myself but we cannot afford to let Hyde Park regress as it represents a good success story in Chicago.

Thinking about recent high-profile incidents, they've involved likely-stolen vehicles. I know privacy advocates would hate this and it wouldn't be cheap, but installing license plate scanners at most stoplights in the city would be pretty effective in making it much harder to use stolen vehicles in crime and to get away from drive-by shootings with witnesses. My understanding is that the University is proposing something like that in Hyde Park (will find out more in half an hour...) . Yeah, it can in principle be used for big brotheresque tracking, but most of us carry surveillance devices in our pockets anyway (and anyway, I don't have a car, so I only get tracked my my cell phone and my ventra app).

This is a no brainer. Tons more speed cameras, red-light cameras, facial identification cameras and license plate scanners would make Chicago--most cities--much more livable and safe. It's dumb that anything a policeman can do, were he present, would be problematic if a cop was looking at a camera instead.

^ The City seems to be more interested in extracting money from taxpayers via red light cameras, which make $$, than facial recognition cameras which might put people in jail that Kim Foxx is trying with her heart & soul to bring to justice but, sigh.....if only there were some evidence!

Facial recognition cameras, while obviously a great source of information that can bring people identified as criminals to justice, is also a major source of consternation for me from a privacy perspective. It's too damned big brother for me, quite honestly.

Perhaps it can be used in very specific areas/circumstances, but widespread use seems to be a severe violation of the right to privacy.

Aaron (Glowrock)

They have arrested suspect, based on surveillance camera / license plate reader evidence. The suspect was 18 and had no criminal history (though according to the Tribune was wanted on a warrant?)


https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/11...chicago-police
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...5wq-story.html

What I don't understand is this:
- If the stolen car got picked up by license plate readers, this was undoubtedly not the first time. Does CPD not bother to use the license plate readers to catch stolen cars? It seems like it wouldn't be THAT hard (though it requires sufficient license plate reader density, I suppose).
- The robber/murderer made $100 off this robbery/murder. Armed robbery doesn't seem very profitable...
- Should the electronics store be under investigation? They must know when something like this is stolen, no?

You know what else was regarded as a huge violation of privacy? License plates. "You mean the police can just track my car?!" Same story with social security numbers. "What if I just want to leave my family and get a new job with a new name in California. Now I can't do that!"

There's no reason to conflate cameras that track Glowrock wherever he goes all day all time with ones that simply act as eyes on the street that can be investigated retroactively in the event that a crime has occurred. Imagine that Chicago has an officer walking around the same block all day who knew most of the people in the neighborhood. If the officer saw one of those people break a car window and then called in his name to the station, that extremely effective policing method would be a state invasion of privacy in the same way that having a camera there would be.

The best system would involve something like a warrant. If there was a high-res camera floating on a blimp 90,000 feet above the city, it would be an invasion of my privacy to create a report of where my car traveled all day everyday. It would not be an invasion of privacy to get a warrant to check the video to see where the car involved in a hit and run drove to and parked.

I see where your coming from (I was born in a country with https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securitate ), but given that we happily carry surveillance devices in our pockets, i kind of feel like that battle is already lost for the most part. If the government wanted to track you, they already have the means and extra surveillance probably adds little.

It is something that really needs to be thought about. One can choose to not carry a phone and or lock it down if they dont want to be tracked. HOWEVER , there is NO choice if you allow facial recognition cameras all over the place. It is not something i would trust with anyone without the strictest guidelines...and even then i would be afraid of what we would have put in motion.

If we're going in on enforcement/surveillance, I'd prefer to see more speed cameras and bus-lane cameras. The number of Chicagoans killed each year due to traffic collisions and reckless driving dwarfs the number of people killed in carjacking attempts (although overall homicides are still much higher than traffic deaths).

I own a rental building on Wellington in Lakeview with a friend of mine; it is a 3 unit frame building built in 1889 and we are considering demoing for new construction (friend is a home builder in lakeview/north center), jury still out if we will hold and rent or sell units individually.

We are meeting with an architect this week, and just curious on what people here think of a couple items there are disagreements on.

The details:
- 37.5 x 125 lot
- Can build up to 4 units
- Will have a 4 car garage

Items being debated:
- Front Balconies: I think they are table stakes in 2021, my partner hates the look. i've suggested, balconies for the top units and no balcony for the 1st floor unit (with a really nice back covered deck)

-Number of units: We can build 4, I think we go 4. Partner thinks 3 units (Duplex Down, Simplex, Duplex Up) - middle units are TOUGH to sell, but easy to rent.

-Brick vs. Indiana Limestone: This will probably come down to whether we rent or sell, but we both want Limestone 10ft up the front facade with Brick covering the remaining area, but holy shit is it expensive right now!

This is the first time i've gone through this process, just curious what thoughts others have and cool design elements I can bring up to the architect.

Thanks for reading!

^ Before anyone advises you, you REALLY need to decide whether you are going condo or rental before anything else. Because that dictates the strategy

100%. Our architect (who my partner has used dozens of times) is drawing up plans for both options. We need to estimate costs on both approaches before making decisions. My thought is we are over building for rental, given each floor will have ~1,900 sq ft of space.

Wait. How can you invest in new construction in Lakeview? How could that be profitable since no one can live there due to the cost/benefits? You've ranted on here more times than I can count that the taxes are too high for it to be viable.

The building in question has had long term tenants (all have been there 7-10 years) and the building has a ton of deferred maintenance that will require the units to be vacated for an extended period of time. We also got quite the deal on the building when we purchased. However, to answer your question, there will certainly be considerable upfront costs, but long term would be quite the opportunity, regardless of rental or condo.

Right, the issue isn't carjackings directly (as bad as they are), but that stolen vehicles seem to be used in other crimes a lot (though I don't have numbers, and have no idea if a lack of stolen vehicles would actually reduce other crimes).

Funny anecdote: a close architect friend whom I've known since college moved out to SoCal in June after finding a really good job out there. She lived in Chicago her whole life, but always wanted to live near a (saltwater) beach/warm climate. She loved it at first, but I just spoke with her and she said she can't wait to move back. I asked her why, and she said "there is energy in Chicago, it feels alive. Everything here is too...sanitized, and perfect. Almost everyone I meet is very nice and thoughtful, but it's also about getting 'connected', not necessarily making friends, etc. There are no flaws. That's not what a city is, that's not a life. That's a museum, very well-curated, but doesn't tell the real story." It blew my mind to hear her say that, especially after her wanting to move out there for the past 8-10 years.

Again, just an interesting anecdote, didn't know where else to put it..

That's kinda how I feel after being in Europe for three months. Totally ready to be back in the mix of deep dish pizza, strolls down LSD, West Loop, and weekend shenanigans in Boystown. I don't think people in Chicago realize how amazing the city is.

I haven't heard anything about the West Coast being too 'sanitized', so that's a very weird perspective in my book. But I have heard an anecdote about (SF in particular) having lost its life and vibrancy, and that Chicago felt far more energetic and interesting. And this from a Bay Area native

Well, my adoration of Chicago definitely was rekindled a bit this weekend when we stayed downtown for my wife's conference. Albeit it was a token family oriented weekend (swimming pool, Shedd Aquarium, taking kids to the arcade, etc) but the city felt as vibrant as it has been for a long time since COVID.

I am disappointed in the loss of stores to COVID/rioting scumbags and ecommerce that we may never get back (thanks, techie douche bros! :rolleyes: ) but either way we had a really nice time.