CHICAGO | General Discussions

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

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



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



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.

Thanks for sharing that - last month, my best friend filmed a number of scenes near Maple Lake (or one of the adjacent sloughs) for an upcoming big-budget Amazon sci-fi series called "LightYears"..he's described the premise to me over the course of filming, and it sounds pretty bonkers/amazing.

[Chi-Sky21]

^that is filmed in downtown Frankfort. Seems like Amazon likes filming around this area. Also , all of Homer Glen (near Palos) is a dark sky community and host stargazing at their parks a few times a year.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

^that is filmed in downtown Frankfort. Seems like Amazon likes filming around this area. Also , all of Homer Glen (near Palos) is a dark sky community and host stargazing at their parks a few times a year.

The main setting is a farmhouse in Woodstock, that they've been filming on and off at since the beginning of June.

[Chi-Sky21]

hmmmm , ok, thought i read they were filming in downtown Frankfort the other day. Maybe just for that day.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

hmmmm , ok, thought i read they were filming in downtown Frankfort the other day. Maybe just for that day.

Oh I'm not doubting you, they have been doing location shoots all around Chicagoland, including a quarry, the Palos forest preserve, a pool hall in Willow Springs, etc. I just know that the main setting/location is a big farm house in Woodstock.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by 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.

It utterly depends on what type of crime you're even talking about. Some are up, but overall crime is actually statistically down in almost every corner of the city. I think downtown doesn't have a major decrease in crime count, but the rate is lower due to an exploding population. Some of the biggest decreases in some of the more violent crimes except for shootings and murder are actually in the highest crime areas.

This is true though all across the US in that everyone thinks violent crime is up when in large part it's down - but for some reason shootings and murders are up almost everywhere. However, i think the fact that we get news about literally everything right away makes people believe that most violent crime is up when it's actually down. Nate Silver last year did a little study on this and found that people are generally really terrible at assessing their risk of being the victim of a crime. Somehow though they're really good at determining their chances of losing their job though.


This is the total of any assault, battery, or robbery for each year up until 9/9 for Near North Side, The Loop, and Near South Side combined. Not counting NWS in this right now..


2002: 2593 reported incidents
2003: 3875
2004: 3769
2005: 3505
2006: 3431
2007: 3354
2008: 3227
2009: 2749
2010: 2729
2011: 2376
2012: 2430
2013: 2227
2014: 2191
2015: 2205
2016: 2646
2017: 3092
2018: 3343
2019: 3442
2020: 2289
2021: 2677

So far in 2021 in these areas, it's about the same as in 2016, but 2017 thru 2019 really surged and each are a bit higher than 2021. I think 2020 was probably down due to lock downs and all that. From a per 100K rate perspective, you have 2010 at 2762.14 per 100K while 2021 is at 1516.08 per 100K. Rate wise that's a pretty significant reduction even though the overall number of incidents isn't much lower.

Now let's look at the incidents above involving a gun:


2002: 163
2003: 211
2004: 183
2005: 169
2006: 131
2007: 153
2008: 126
2009: 138
2010: 97
2011: 74
2012: 84
2013: 55
2014: 67
2015: 97
2016: 148
2017: 149
2018: 169
2019: 147
2020: 135
2021: 211

There is an uptick in assaults, robberies, and batteries with a gun and it was the same level as 2003. Keep in mind that these 3 areas in 2020 have 77,774 more people than in 2010. Per 100K rate of this in 2010 was 98.18 while in 2021 (using 2020 populations) is 119.49.

[SIGSEGV]

this weekend might be a good one to bike on the I&M trails: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-revi...tage-corridor/

[pip]

I biked on that new elevated path just west of Navy Pier for the first time. Is it a walking or biking path?

[jpIllInoIs]

Originally Posted by pip

I biked on that new elevated path just west of Navy Pier for the first time. Is it a walking or biking path?

Its both- did you really expect separate structures for Ped & Bike? Plus all other electric motorized modes of movement.

[pip]

I did not expect separate structures. I was curious as I thought it was just a bike path

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by 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

I used Marion Restoration for a little rehab project on our 1903 workers cottage. The limestone decorative elements/lintels above windows were badly soot/weather stained and they did a beautiful and sensitive job bringing them back with the least harsh methods possible. They also used Type O mortar where appropriate, hand chiseled when needed as opposed to relying on grinder, etc.

They were also the only firm we had out who didnt just blindly quote us for work. Theres a crack in our brick garage we wanted addressed but their project manager actually advised us to talk to a structural engineer first, so that the work they did didnt just re-appear. Everyone else just sent some kid out to send photos back to the office and wrote us up a quote for work they didnt even have a good grasp on. I could have easily just blindly walked into one of those bids and not known better. They also steered me away from other "cleanings" to my facade I thought might improve the look, but they advised it would be a bad idea and probably needlessly wash out or damage our finely tooled original mortar in those sections. They'll likely get my work in the future as a result. Its unlikely theyll be the cheapest but it will get done right.

Before


After

[sentinel]

^^Oooh looks great!!

[LouisVanDerWright]

Very nice VIA, looks like you've got a particularly fancy cottage on your hands!

Also glad you didn't go with any caustics to clean, that's really only acceptable when trying to get paint off. Usually all you need to do is powerwash the brick on its lowest pressure setting with the widest tip to get 80% of the grime off. The patina of the original brick surface can't be reproduced, unless you wanna wait another 100 years...


And yes, can't tell you how many step fracture repairs I've seen where a new fracture just forms like two feet over because the underlying issues haven't been addressed. That reminds me, I gotta get a mason to address a water infiltration issue I'm having at one of my buildings where old porthole windows were improperly bricked in causing water to collect and enter the wall... Maybe I'll give them a call...

[Via Chicago]

yeah, they advised even against power washing the face brick and ive come around to the patina. they used some sort of non-caustic putty mixture on the limestone (not sure which but guessing it pulled the dirt out of the pores), let that set, and gently washed that off a few different times. definitely one of the only firms Ive found that has a preservation oriented mindset. if there are others out there id love to learn about them.

its definitely satisfying brining those little touches back. theres lots of boring expensive work that needs to be done to homes like this as you know, but anything involving a flourish on the facade is one of those really enjoyable and fun projects to see come to fruition. and it wasnt particularly expensive either in the scheme of things, just a quick day project they squeezed in amongst bigger stuff. one of these days we'll get a nice stained/leaded glass popped back in that opening, but that'll be the cherry on top once we get a lot more important stuff done lol. and theres quite the list.

but yeah, contractors are a minefield and places like Yelp arent super helpful especially for nuanced things like masonry, because most people reviewing dont even know what they got vs what they SHOULD have gotten. "tuckpointing" especially.

[Rizzo]

I think choosing the right contractors are one of the most difficult things homeowners will ever deal with. I feel fortunate to grow up in a family background involved in the trades. Same situation with a bunch of my friends who do most of their own renovations with competence. They’ll save thousands of dollars, and when it comes to hiring a contractor, they can tell during the estimate process who knows what they are talking about. I’ve hired much more expensive contractors only because there were more complex problems that needed resolution in order to fix the cosmetic ones.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

yeah, they advised even against power washing the face brick and ive come around to the patina. they used some sort of non-caustic putty mixture on the limestone (not sure which but guessing it pulled the dirt out of the pores), let that set, and gently washed that off a few different times. definitely one of the only firms Ive found that has a preservation oriented mindset. if there are others out there id love to learn about them.

its definitely satisfying brining those little touches back. theres lots of boring expensive work that needs to be done to homes like this as you know, but anything involving a flourish on the facade is one of those really enjoyable and fun projects to see come to fruition. and it wasnt particularly expensive either in the scheme of things, just a quick day project they squeezed in amongst bigger stuff. one of these days we'll get a nice stained/leaded glass popped back in that opening, but that'll be the cherry on top once we get a lot more important stuff done lol. and theres quite the list.

but yeah, contractors are a minefield and places like Yelp arent super helpful especially for nuanced things like masonry, because most people reviewing dont even know what they got vs what they SHOULD have gotten. "tuckpointing" especially.

The putty was probably some kind of clay that works like a mud mask, you should have put cucumbers over your windows...


If you want to get a window PM. I have a guy in Milwaukee that has literally hundreds of salvaged windows that are pretty affordable, especially if leaded glass is the style you need. You could probably send him your measurements and he could send you pics of what's available in that size range. He's extremely affordable, we got six windows we used in our rehab for like $800 total.

[BrinChi]

Thanks Via for the tip about Marion Restoration. They did a beautiful job on your window as others said.

Thankfully my front facade doesn't need any mason work yet (some of the wood trim around the windows needs some touching up). My project is brick on the sides and rear - I'm looking for good tuckpointing touch ups around windows, caulking around windows, and two sections of effervescence that need the most work (some bricks are flaking and need replacement). Hoping that if I do a little bit of tuckpointing every few years I can avoid needing a big expensive one in 20 years. As Rizzo said, finding the right contractors is a challenge of itself. My dad is an engineer and never hired work out if he could help it because he wanted to ensure it was done right. I always try to find the sweet spot of someone who will do it right for a fair price, but it's hard to decipher that from the interaction during a quote. Personal references are still the best search tool in this case.

[Via Chicago]

theres a guy who did all his own tuckpointing on my block last year with a hammer/chisel and im not exaggerating he was out there every day by himself for almost the entire summer. i guess if you want it done right...lol

but yeah in my limited experience, you tend to quickly learn during the quote process who wants your business and who dosent just based on how they interact with you, their response time to questions, they way they present proposals, etc. Or at least it gives you an insight into how the work is going to go once it actually starts. Also, always ask for references/examples of similar projects theyve done to what youre asking for so you can go in person and actually look at it. The other thing is if you have an issue could that could be structural in nature but is presenting itself as a "cosmetic" issue, are they acknowledging that at all and are they suggesting other underlying issues you should be looking it. Also, probe them on the type of mortar they intent to use, their methodology for ensuring good brick matches for replacements, how they intend to grind out old mortar and how deep theyre going to go, what type of bead they intend to lay, etc. The good thing is once youve got a "guy" you should just be able to go to him directly in the future and save yourself the headache of vetting every time.

The approach youre taking is a good one tho! An ounce of prevention and all.

[pip]

Today and tomorrow being most likely the last of the 80+ degrees until next year, I decided to bike through Bridgeport and part of Canaryville. Bridgeport was interesting and obviously a thriving neighborhood. It's certainly not the Irish stereotype of years ago. I was disappointed in the lack of a large intact commercial strip - that I saw. Halsted is kind of yeah it doesn't looks bad only. While going through only the northern part of Canaryville I couldn't get out of my head don't go to far south - it really will be the worst Chicago has to offer. Overall it was a good experience and I do like Bridgeport.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by pip

Today and tomorrow being most likely the last of the 80+ degrees until next year, I decided to bike through Bridgeport and part of Canaryville. Bridgeport was interesting and obviously a thriving neighborhood. It's certainly not the Irish stereotype of years ago. I was disappointed in the lack of a large intact commercial strip - that I saw. Halsted is kind of yeah it doesn't looks bad only. While going through only the northern part of Canaryville I couldn't get out of my head don't go to far south - it really will be the worst Chicago has to offer. Overall it was a good experience and I do like Bridgeport.

Bridgeport is over 42% Asian now - it is the highest percentage of any of the racial groups there. Most of this is Chinese too and there's more Chinese people now in Bridgeport than Chinatown next door. There's also a good sized population in Canaryville now. There are some good eateries on Halsted, especially Chinese food - but knowing just how many Chinese people live there it could be WAY more. That and Archer.

Go check out Zhou B Art Center by the way - Chinese artists who have been in Chicago since the 80s and I think have a gallery in Beijing now. My wife and I were married there and it's full of some really awesome art not only from them, but also from other artists on upper floors. They are a lot more connected than I'd realized too - they even have some stuff up in the UN building in NYC. Really good stuff.