the beaches of your city

[LA21st]

Yea, I don't want that mess. I can't imagine hurricane destruction in LA and SF every few years.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by 10023

Of course Lake Michigan is dirtier than the Pacific Ocean. It’s both much smaller and it’s fresh water.

Yeah that's not how any of this works.

[Maldive]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

And that's a good thing. That's what keeps us from getting hurricanes.

Yeah wetsuits aside there's pretty much zero hurricane threat in SoCal.

But there is the wildfire issue (every year it seems).

[BrandonJXN]

As someone born and raised in SoCal and who lived in Chicago, you couldn't pay me to dip my toes in Lake Michigan. It's gross. People die in it on a regular basis. I wasn't impressed with Chicago beaches aside from Montrose Beach which is my favorite beach in Chicago. I had to venture far north of Chicago to find a really nice beach. Rosewood in Highland Park is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It sits on a bluff and even getting to the beach you drive down a narrow road through a winding ravine with dense shade trees all around. Beautiful beautiful place.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

As someone born and raised in SoCal and who lived in Chicago, you couldn't pay me to dip my toes in Lake Michigan. It's gross. People die in it on a regular basis. I wasn't impressed with Chicago beaches aside from Montrose Beach which is my favorite beach in Chicago. I had to venture far north of Chicago to find a really nice beach. Rosewood in Highland Park is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It sits on a bluff and even getting to the beach you drive down a narrow road through a winding ravine with dense shade trees all around. Beautiful beautiful place.

People "die in Lake Michigan on a regular basis"?

Sure, like in any large body of water where people swim and go boating, but I've not heard of somebody dying due to illness.

People die from drowning.

Am I missing something?

FYI I'll have to check out Rosewood in Highland park, though. Never been there...

[Kenmore]

if anything chicago's beaches are probably underrated, quite clean with beautiful clear water.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

People "die in Lake Michigan on a regular basis"?

Sure, like in any large body of water where people swim and go boating, but I've not heard of somebody dying due to illness.

People die from drowning.

Am I missing something?

Well for the 5 years I was in Chicago, the amount of people that I heard die in and around Lake Michigan was pretty jarring to say the least. People running along the shore, slipping and just like that, they most likely drown as unless you are a really strong swimmer and/or near an actual beach. Chicago has beaches but also those revetments with ladders spaced so far apart. Being from SoCal, you learn to respect the ocean and the Lake Michicagan is no different. But Lake Michigan is petty sinister.

[Steely Dan]

^ just so i understand you:



this: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.1670...!7i8704!8i4352

is one of the most beautiful places you've ever seen.



but this: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9027...7i10240!8i5120

is gross and unimpressive.



you have very strange opinions.

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

People die in it on a regular basis.

and people don't drown in the pacific off the california coast?

or any body of water anywhere on the fucking planet where people routinely swim?

that's one of the dumbest things i've heard in awhile.

[the urban politician]

I think Brandon's point is that people in Chicago don't "respect" the sinister nature of Lake Michigan, while people in SoCal do indeed "respect" the sinister nature of the ocean.

Therefore, people in Chicago continue to fall in and die.

It really sucks living next to a death machine..

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I think Brandon's point is that people in Chicago don't "respect" the sinister nature of Lake Michigan, while people in SoCal do indeed "respect" the sinister nature of the ocean.

Therefore, people in Chicago continue to fall in and die.

It really sucks living next to a death machine..

lake michigan can certainly be a treacherous body of water at times. no doubt about that.

rip currents on it are notorious because of all the natural sand bar formation, and many people unfortunately drown every summer, all around the lake, not just chicago.

i myself got caught in a rip current as a young child on a really wavy day at gilson beach in wilmette, and if not for my older sister's quick action, i might have been a lake michigan drowning victim too.

it is no joke, the lake must be respected.

that said, the vast majority of drownings on the lake happen to those who can't swim/can't swim well. my own kids have been in swimming lessons for couple years now because i feel strongly that swimming is an absolutely vital life skill that every single able-bodied human should master.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

It really sucks living next to a death machine..

Water must be freezing even the summer over there. Doesn't it feel freezing when temperature is above 85°F out there?
It's just like our rivers and lakes in the Alps.

It's no real problem to bathe in these freezing waters; it might even be good for your heart and blood circulation. I'm no doc, but heard something along these lines several times.

People just need to be cautious when there's an impressive gap between air and water temperatures.
Oftentimes, they stupidly drown from fainting because they would dive straight into water without taking any little time to wet themselves first, which really is a most stupid way to die.
Jesus...

They need to splash their necks and chests, to gradually get used to colder water.
Once they're accustomed to water temperature, that only takes a couple of minutes and a little bit of pain (lol), they can dive in there.
That's all.

[Chisouthside]

Thats a nice looking beach in Highland Park, will have to check it out as well.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Water must be freezing even the summer over there.

not really. the southern end of lake michigan is relatively shallow and warms up decently in the summer sun. i mean, it's not caribbean warm, but you can properly swim in it most of the time.

typical surface water temps at chicago beaches in the summer are usually 70 - 80 degrees.



for reference, here's a water temperature swim guide:

- 60 is fucking cold. Wet suit required for anything other than a quick jump in/jump out dip.

- 65 is doable for short spurts.

- 70 is still kinda chilly, but you can warm up to it.

- 75 is nice and refreshing, a lovely temp for swimming on a hot summer day.

- 80 is bathwater.

Source: a lifetime spent swimming in the great lakes.

[mousquet]

^ That sounds reasonable, though really quite cautious. I'm astonished by these official recommendations.

I'll tell you, I had to face some French sadists that would immerse me (bare naked) into some 47/46°F water, just to see how fast I could get out of it. But it was different. It was nothing about swimming, it was about surviving brutally cold water.
They were training us for kayaking fast rivers in the Alps, and it was actually necessary.
Those bastards were laughing hard at us, though... I won't forget.

Anyway, that's just not the same environment or kind of exercise.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ just so i understand you:



this: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.1670...!7i8704!8i4352

is one of the most beautiful places you've ever seen.



but this: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9027...7i10240!8i5120

is gross and unimpressive.



you have very strange opinions.

But I saw Oak St Beach almost on a daily basis with driving up and down Lakeshore Drive. But I drove up Sheridan one early Sunday morning (as everyone I know kept telling me to take Sheridan as far north as you want since it basically goes to Milwaukee). That drive alone is beautiful as you pass by the Bahai Temple, and gnarly looking Northwestern University (love the Gothic architecture). Rosewood isn't big but it's location on a beach next to a bluff that was carved from glaciers during the Ice Age is pretty cool since Illinois is flat. The fact that I got there at around 9 in the morning and no one was on the beach aside from a few people doing yoga and walking around was a TOTAL contrast to the constant noise of Chicago. I recommend it to anyone.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

I said nothing bad about Chicago beaches and especially not Oak St Beach. Unimpressive is not a word I would ever use when describing anything Chicago.

yes you did.

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

As someone born and raised in SoCal and who lived in Chicago, you couldn't pay me to dip my toes in Lake Michigan. It's gross. People die in it on a regular basis. I wasn't impressed with Chicago beaches

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

yes you did.

Well I did and I misspoke. Unimpressive is certianly not a good word to use when describing anything Chicago. Oak St is nice. But a beach in the middle of downtown sounds cool but I like to get a way from the noise when going to a beach. Oak St is popular. But I wouldn't call it my favorite.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

But a beach in the middle of downtown sounds cool but I like to get a way from the noise when going to a beach.

which is fine. lake michigan has 1,600 miles of shoreline to go get lost on. much of it more beautiful than chicago's lakefront from a nature perspective.

this all started because i made the following post:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

chicago's famed oak street beach, one of the best urban beaches in the nation:


Palm Trees in Chicago by SolarWind - Chicago, on Flickr


Oak Street Beach by Jay Clark, on Flickr


source: https://horschgallery.herokuapp.com/...ncock-building

and i still 100% stand by that. oak street beach IS one of the best urban beaches in the nation. i didn't claim that it was the best beach in the world. or that it's better than more naturalistic beaches in other places, just that as far as US urban beaches go, oak street is one of the coolest. i mean, where else can you splash around in the water and catch some rays on the sand all while one of the mightiest supertall skyscrapers ever erected looms over you?

it's a relatively unique relationship between city and beach that you don't find in most american cities.

[Handro]

I 100% agree Rosewood Beach/Park is gorgeous. I drove up there randomly one day last summer when I took the day off of work, had never spent much time on the north shore. Ended up at Rosewood Beach by chance and stayed all afternoon, it really was amazing. An amazing beach for the exact opposite reason that Oak Street is amazing.

[10023]

Originally Posted by The North One

Yeah that's not how any of this works.

Saltwater is going to be cleaner than freshwater. That’s exactly how salt works, and the reason people have been curing meat and fish for thousands of years.