Category: Vignettes
The Fair Clair at Saint Banks Plaza
You couldn't blame a homebuyer for getting more than a little confused when he or she surveys the Streeterville housing market. When developers are ma [...]
Think River South is hot? Wait till you see NoNo-WeWe-LeLi
It's exciting to think of the new "River South" neighborhood we referred to in an earlier post. Sure, the new name would confuse people who might assu [...]
I live in the South Loop, er, River South
They're at it again, messing with the South Loop. Developers may have failed in their all-out effort to brand the neighborhood as SoLo in the 1990s, b [...]
It's fun to stay at South Side YMCA
Young man, there's no need to feel down. A couple of weeks ago Yo's Joeff Davis caught up with Jalen Hughes, 3, while he was getting (suffering?) a f [...]
Trib's birdseye view never leaves ground for Trump story
Chicago Tribune reporter Emily Nunn offers an interesting, though ultimately disappointing day-in-the-life story about a crane operator at the Trump T [...]
Yet another sign of the times on Chicago streets
Ald. Thomas Allen (38th) has put aside a proposal to bestow a stretch of West Monroe Street with the honorific name "Chairman Fred Hampton Way." We wo [...]
Birds of prey preside over development at busy Uptown intersection
Who needs gargoyles when you've got these birds watching over your intersection? Meet the peregrine falcons who have made the gentrifying corner of [...]
Vivant is mort – but there's no hotter place than Melrose
Recently we told you about Vivant, the self-consciously Francophile condo project at 515 W Melrose St. Today, we were perusing that bible of Lake View [...]
Richard Dent – the new MVP of Chicago real estate
The celebrity real estate shopper who we mentioned yesterday is none other than legendary Chicago Bears defensive end Richard Dent. The 1985 Super Bo [...]
Chicago real estate celebrity sighting
Tomorrow at Yo: This famous Chicagoan has been spotted at several high-profile real estate events around town recently. Who is he, and where has he be [...]
Estate lots in Orland Park
If you saw today's New York Times article about the resurgence of private mausoleums — at $250,000 and up — you're probably dying to find [...]
North Kenwood – streetscapes to die for
I revisited Chicago's North Kenwood neighborhood today for the first time in nearly 15 years.
In many ways the area has changed dramatically. The v [...]
Yes we have no mezuzahs
Just in time for Passover, Governor Blagojevich signed into law a bill that permits condo owners to display religious symbols on their doors.
The leg [...]
Separated at birth: A thrill from Cherry Hill and a blunder in Buena
Cherry Hill Home Builders did a spot-on job living up to the artist's rendering of these three single-family homes at 832-838 W Lill Ave in Lincoln [...]
North side gargoyles – are they doing their job?
We present the first in an occasional series of north side gargoyles.
Gargoyles are more than merely decorative. They have a practical purpose: war [...]
Bunnies in the boonies
These things are popping up all over the north shore. Any sightings in the city? [...]
Tales from the rental front: rat invasions
Disgusting wormy tails, large hairy bodies, red eyes visible from down the alley. It's a nearly universal opinion, held by all but a sick and twiste [...]
Signs of the times on Chicago streets
In the pantheon of urban blight, you've got to rank bad store signage at or near the top of the list. Back-lit plastic signs are the scourge of the [...]
Slums in the cornfields
Maybe it's due to growing up in New Jersey, but my mind equates the absence of trees with a slum.
I'm just back from the Joliet / Plainfield area - t [...]