Adrian Holovaty of EveryBlock points the followers of his Twitter feed to davidwilson1949's Flickr sets of Chicago transit photos and city pics shot mostly between 1966 and 1970. Those of you who've been discussing the status of the Lincoln Park Lofts might recognize the intersection above. (For those of who who don't, it's Fullerton and Ashland.) And would you recognize the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Orleans Street (below) these days, or the Loop as seen from Wacker Drive and Congress Street (at far bottom)?

This striking photograph of Marina City's construction comes courtesy of Wikipedia user Sba2, who uploaded the photo and licensed it through Creative Commons' Attribution 2.5 license. Credit for the photo goes to Chalmers Butterfield.

The snapshot - a Kodachrome print, judging from the description - shows Marina City's first tower under construction. It doesn't include a date, but Marina City was under construction in the early 1960s. The skyline in the background - or lack thereof - is fascinating, mainly because it's bereft of so many of the familiar landmarks we see today.

Variety-show jokes aside, does anyone know the story of this home? It's on the 2100 block of South Prairie Avenue in the South Loop, near the future home of Prairie 21, and it looks downright naked with only vacant lots on each side.

As you can see in these photos, the house is quite close to McCormick Place. It's also managed to escape demolition, despite the fact that it doesn't lie within the protected boundaries of the Prairie Avenue District.

It's landscape architecture day. Our intern Lou, who's planning on a career in the field, received a generous offer of advice from commenter Mike.

We just received, on YouTube, the above video in response to one we shot last winter at Garfield Park Conservatory. If you haven't been to Garfield Park or the Conservatory you're missing one of Jens Jensen's masterpieces and a great way to escape a wintry day.

We enjoy getting email from our readers, and it's even better when they pose a question to you, the YoChicago reader. Today we received a missive from Local Realtor, a Yo regular, bemoaning the sorry state of some developments in Chicago.

"Last night I was watching the PBS documentary on folk musician Pete Seeger. One film clip showed him singing the famous Malvina Reynolds (1900-1978) song "Little Boxes" with its famous description of look-alike suburban houses "all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same."

I suppose I'm "dating" myself by saying that I remember that song being played on the radio back in the 60's. But it springs back into my memory every time I look at a poorly-designed or -renovated housing development, whether a "luxury" condo building in downtown Chicago or a collection of "new construction" single family homes in a former cornfield.

How about it, Yo'ers? What housing monstrosities have you seen lately that make you want to cry out, 'Malvina, come back! We need you!' "

We can't resist a good batch of grousing. Care to offer up some likely candidates?

Of all the groups threatened by gentrification and soaring mortage payments, senior citizens might be the most at-risk. This singular demographic is the focus of a new feature article from the always-impressive Chicago Reporter.

The mag looked closely at the statistics and found that the city lost about 50,000 seniors from 1990 to 2006; at the same time, senior populations in suburban Cook County swelled by about 11 percent.

Rapid condo development occurred in seven of the 10 community areas where the highest percentages of seniors moved between 2000 and 2007.

The statistics are troubling, says Lori Clark, executive director of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, a grassroots nonprofit that addresses quality of life issues for senior citizens.

“Seniors add value to the communities. They are mentors to young children. They’re the most active volunteers in a community. They’re your good neighbors, your quiet neighbors, the people who care about keeping the community in good condition,” Clark said. “The people who helped build the city of Chicago shouldn’t be thrown away.”

The Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards ceremony that was held last Thursday to honor a year's worth of forward-thinking urban development. Crain's has a brief writeup on the winners; read on to learn more about the winning projects, organizations and people.

Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Strategy of the Year: Lawndale Christian Development Corporation

Richard Driehaus Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project: The Center on Halsted

Outstanding For-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project: Rancho Verde (part of the larger Chicago GreenWorks eco-industrial park)

Special Recognition Award: St. Leo’s Campus for Veterans

Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design

First place: Solid Ground housing facility
Second place: Pacific Garden Mission
Third place: Margot and Harold Schiff Residences (formerly known as the Near North Apartments)

Friend of the Neighborhoods Award: Richard H. Driehaus

Norman Bobins Leadership Award: Carlos Nelson, executive director of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation

This interesting project - 64 condos in the heart of Portage Park on the Northwest Side - managed to completely escape our notice while it was under development (at least in the annals of YoChicago). Now Klee Plaza at Six Corners is in delivery, and about 20 condos remain.

In this video, developer Marc Sussman walks us through several model units. The Klee Building's interior layout afforded some interesting homes, including a handful on the top level that aspire to true loft-hood. This week we'll follow up with an updated price list and some still photos of the project - including the 19,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space that's still under construction.

After more than two years of marketing, Shoemaker Lofts (a redevelopment of the old Florsheim Shoe factory on the Northwest Side at 3963 W Belmont Ave) has surpassed the 75-percent-sold threshold. A sales agent with developer Dubin Residential reported today that the property has 39 units available out of the initial 175.

The price points have been adjusted since Yo checked in last November; the most recent figures show one-bedroom units starting in the $180s, and two-bedroom units topping out near the $490s.

A successful incentive program rolled out late last year has been extended as well. Buyers who close on 10 selected units before the end of the first quarter of 2008 can expect discounts from $15,000 to $33,000 on their homes, according to a sales agent.

In its latest review of the city’s threatened historical places, Preservation Chicago moved beyond buildings and neighborhoods and added a set of laws to its endangered species list.

The Chicago Landmarks Ordinance topped the 2008 Chicago 7 most-threatened list following the dismantling of the Farwell Building at 664 N Michigan Ave, the attempted facelift of the Palmer House at 17 E Monroe St, the proposed construction of 29 South LaSalle at the site of the New York Life Insurance Building, and the use of Jewelers Row facades to mask a parking garage at 21 – 37 S Wabash Ave.

Preservation Chicago president Jonathan Fine said the same strain of facadism that preserved only the faces of Jewelers Row buildings now threatens the Chicago Athletic Association building at 12 S Michigan Ave (pictured above), inside the Historic Michigan Boulevard District. Developers have proposed to demolish the rear two-thirds of the building to make way for a new addition for Omni Hotels. (more…)