CHICAGO | General Discussions

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by sentinel

This is more of a Chicagoland/suburban thing, but nonetheless very cool for the entire region. I'm very familiar with this place and how lovely it is, glad to see it's getting some neat recognition (also considering my go-to brewery borders it):

Palos Preserves Named Largest ‘Urban Night Sky Place’ In The World

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/08...ght-sky-place/

https://www.darksky.org/our-work/con...preserves-u-s/

But... they close at sunset? Hopefully the fix that?

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

But... they close at sunset? Hopefully the fix that?

The individual grove/park/preserve entrances are closed, but you can still park on dedicated parking areas alongside certain roads, such as along 95th near Maple Lake, certain areas along Archer Ave, 107th along Saganashkee Slough, etc.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by sentinel

The individual grove/park/preserve entrances are closed, but you can still park on dedicated parking areas alongside certain roads, such as along 95th near Maple Lake, certain areas along Archer Ave, 107th along Saganashkee Slough, etc.

Awesome, thanks! I'll have to check it out next time I rent a car.

[Chisouthside]

Originally Posted by sentinel

The individual grove/park/preserve entrances are closed, but you can still park on dedicated parking areas alongside certain roads, such as along 95th near Maple Lake, certain areas along Archer Ave, 107th along Saganashkee Slough, etc.

Thanks, just pinpointed a couple spots on google maps thanks to your suggestions.

[Chi-Sky21]

Originally Posted by sentinel

The individual grove/park/preserve entrances are closed, but you can still park on dedicated parking areas alongside certain roads, such as along 95th near Maple Lake, certain areas along Archer Ave, 107th along Saganashkee Slough, etc.

I don't recommend parking on the side of Archer at night in that area unless you have a death wish , people run off the road there a lot. You can always camp at Bullfrog lake if you want. You talking about Imperial Oak brewery? Hit that place up after bikerides all the time.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

I don't recommend parking on the side of Archer at night in that area unless you have a death wish , people run off the road there a lot.

you might also cross paths with Resurrection Mary.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

I don't recommend parking on the side of Archer at night in that area unless you have a death wish , people run off the road there a lot. You can always camp at Bullfrog lake if you want. You talking about Imperial Oak brewery? Hit that place up after bikerides all the time.

I meant pullover driveways that lead into smaller preserves, not along the street, sorry should have clarified. Yes, Archer is notoriously dangerous at night. IO brewery is a great little oasis there that I frequent. Too much maybe?

There's also a really nice parking lot off 95th, on the north side of Maple Lake that is great for stargazing at night.

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

you might also cross paths with Resurrection Mary.

Ooohh, I know of many many stories.

Point is, I personally think it's fantastic that such a quiet place is getting recognition, a little validation that natural areas have significant value in large, urbanized settings.

[BrinChi]

Curious whether anyone thinks it's necessary to get a building permit to perform about $5,000 worth of tuckpointing. It would include replacing about 100 bricks. The mason I'm working with is already licensed with the city, but is it risky to skip the permit? I'm in a landmark district so I could get my permit fees waived, but looks like that process takes 90-120 days lol.

[Steely Dan]

^ we've never bothered with permits for various tuck-pointing projects on our 3 flat. I think that kinda minor shit just falls under regular maintenance.

But we're not in a historic district, so I don't know if those have special rules.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by BrinChi

Curious whether anyone thinks it's necessary to get a building permit to perform about $5,000 worth of tuckpointing. It would include replacing about 100 bricks. The mason I'm working with is already licensed with the city, but is it risky to skip the permit? I'm in a landmark district so I could get my permit fees waived, but looks like that process takes 90-120 days lol.

Literally just did a project this size. Getting permits didn't even cross my mind.

For most smallish ongoing maintenance items like this, the city doesn't want to be involved. Just make sure you are doing it right so if the city does show up, you can tell them to get lost because you are just keeping up your property the right way.

Oh and please don't use cement bearing mortar mix. Ideally your contractor is using 4 parts sand to one part lime. Type O will work too which is 7 parts sand to one part lime and one part cement. Anything with too much cement will destroy your old masonry.

[BrinChi]

^^ Thank you both for your input! I knew the mortar mix has to be particular, but didn't know the specifics. Now I can ask the right question.

[ardecila]

Should qualify that statement about mortar - LVDW's correct if your wall is the typical Chicago common brick, or even most historic face brick. It sounds like that's probably the case since you're in a landmark district. But modern brick from the 1940s or newer is much harder and fired at higher temperatures, so a modern mortar mix is appropriate.

Also, being in a landmark district may increase your risk. The risk of nosy neighbors calling the city on you goes up dramatically in a landmark district... you'll probably be OK still, but just be aware. Masonry repairs are usually an Easy Permit which isn't too hard to get but you also need an Air Quality permit for grinding/sandblasting activities, which is a little tougher (need to notify your neighbors formally, etc).

[BrinChi]

Yep it's common Chicago brick - from 1887.

I do have a nosy neighbor but he mostly cares about unauthorized changes to landmark structures, not maintenance/repair.

My direct neighbor decided to blow up his front steps (with limestone!) and he was reported to landmarks. Still getting worked out. I don't think he got permits though because i never got any notice about all the jackhammering and concrete-cutting that covered my flowers and front steps in a layer of gray dust lol.

We'll see - I still have one more quote to get. Any masonry company recommendations are also welcome

[emathias]

Originally Posted by marothisu

For awhile as some may have seen I was taking note of every sale above list price i could find. Tons of them in the South Loop (which technically has part of it in The Loop community area). West Loop was kind of hot too. So much of town has been hot for this.

The only part of Near North with this type of activity was River North near the river but west of La Salle. Streeterville, Gold Coast, main part of River North, main part of The Loop, and southern Lincoln Park? Not much going in.

So this certainly jibes with with data I had collected. I think you'd probably see that submarket part of River North with increasing prices but outside of that in NNS..nope.

I live in River North, and there is a perception that crime is higher. Statistically it probably is higher.

But I think a lot of it, too, (sadly) is that a lot of new residents are much more culturally diverse. I've lived here 17 years. It used to be that 90% of the people of color you'd see were either kitchen staff or homeless. Now there is a much more diverse population, which I'm happy to see, but might be intimidating for even older people used to it being a mostly white neighborhood once the Cabrini Green highrises were torn down.

I walked around on a photo walk tonight about midnight carrying about $4,000 in cameras equipment with no real concern. It has also gotten noisier due to the much higher number of restaurants and clubs.

Overall, i don't feel any less safe, i just feel it's more popular and adjusting to that is harder for some people.

Then again, I'm pretty fearless. One of my homeless friends i hadn't seen in a while (an elderly woman) rang my buzzer at 11pm tonight. I was slightly annoyed, but not scared. She was just excited to tell me she finally got stable housing and so wouldn't be on the street anymore. I was genuinely happy for her and have her a hug. So my tolerance is pretty different than most people.

[Chi-Sky21]

Well seeing the double beat down on state street the other night while everybody else was filming and or twerking on the street was the 1st time I actually REALLY thought to myself I would not feel safe around there with my wife. I have lived all over Chicago and walked around at night without even thinking about it. Maybe i am just older but that was pretty crazy to see.

[the urban politician]

Could it be that crime incidents in the downtown area are just rising due to the explosion in population? Anybody got any per capita stats for downtown area neighborhoods?

I’m downtown as I write this and it feels as safe as it always has been. Of course, there are plenty of people waking around.

[BrinChi]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Oh and please don't use cement bearing mortar mix. Ideally your contractor is using 4 parts sand to one part lime. Type O will work too which is 7 parts sand to one part lime and one part cement. Anything with too much cement will destroy your old masonry.

Is Type N acceptable for Chicago brick? I believe it's 1 part Portland cement, 1 part lime, and 6 parts sand, and that's what both masons I got the best quotes from said they use. One of them said they would use O upon request but that's not their recommendation.

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ Either type will work, type O is basically what they would have used for everything 100 years ago. But it's very soft and doesn't need to be THAT soft. So it's OK to have a small amount of Cement in there and go with N.

For my buildings I use Type O when it's just patching empty joints. It cleans up better and is super easy to work with. If there lintel work, rebuilding, grind and point, then yeah, N is probably better because it's a bit stronger and you want to really glue any bricks you loosened up tightly in place. O is nice because you can just smash it into the joints and still broom it off 30 min later.

[Rizzo]

I’m inclined to say a permit is required for masonry repairs in this case because it’s a landmark district. Just about everyone else wouldn’t need one if they aren’t obstructing public ROW and creating a mess.

[SolarWind]

Originally Posted by sentinel

This is more of a Chicagoland/suburban thing, but nonetheless very cool for the entire region. I'm very familiar with this place and how lovely it is, glad to see it's getting some neat recognition (also considering my go-to brewery borders it):

Palos Preserves Named Largest ‘Urban Night Sky Place’ In The World

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/08...ght-sky-place/

https://www.darksky.org/our-work/con...preserves-u-s/

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

But... they close at sunset? Hopefully the fix that?

With permission, I'm sharing an email that Mike McNerney sent to the Northwest Suburban Astronomers (NSA Club):

I received a response from the FPCC administrator handling the Urban Dark Skies Place designation for the Palos preserves. I expressed the desire to have after hours access for night sky viewing and imaging. I explained that I’m a member of NSA and IDA and that I, along with all of our members, understand the protocols of protecting nature in the process of our endeavors. I also told him that many members of our group live in Cook County, so he wouldn’t feel I was a lone wolf. Here’s his response:

Thank you so much Michael for writing this. I really, really, appreciate your feedback, concerns and eagerness to enjoy our preserves. I am scheduling a meeting with my team later this week to discuss this more. I, or someone else on my team, will get back with you once we have our internal meeting, to keep you in the loop on where we are, and hopefully provide some alternatives to you. Will keep you posted.

Anthony Daniel Tindall
Policy & Sustainability Manager
Office of the General Superintendent
Forest Preserves of Cook County
69 W. Washington, Suite 2040 • Chicago, IL 60602-3155

Prior to the email exchange with Anthony Tindall, Mike spoke with a Ranger:

The Ranger’s take was that, for the foreseeable future, they expect after hours access to be limited to planned “hosted” events for the public (of which there are none yet), and access to camping at Bullfrog Lake (which Cook County residents can do now). He didn’t have an answer about the question of space to allow for telescopes to be set up. Bullfrog has a small parking lot for tent campers at the end of a sizeable parking lot. The big lot has a decent horizon and is on top (or near to the top) of a hill. That’s where we had basecamp on Utopia. Groups could always get a permit for a special event under the regular permitting process, but it’s pricy. It’s geared toward TV shows and films shooting overnight.

Mike mentioned Amazon's 'Utopia' series had their basecamp in Palos Preserves. Here's Mike McNerney's IMDb page if you're interested.

Finally, here's a link to a light pollution map of Palos Preserves. You can zoom out and see light pollution for the rest of the world. It also has overlays for prior years showing how light pollution is increasing over time.