Category: Vignettes
When a real bubble really bursts
The Wall Street Journal has an entertaining video of the ghost towers of Bangkok, high-rise buildings left in various stages of completion and abandon [...]
Waiting for the second-floor penthouse
Our recent post on the penthouse at 2520 was a welcome relief from the relentless overuse of the word by real estate agents.
It seems that agents hav [...]
Did your balcony cost more than your parking space?
Perhaps it's because I haven't been paying close enough attention, but it strikes me that developers are getting more and more aggressive in stating t [...]
Suggestion of the day – sell naming rights to new neighborhoods
Neighborhood groups, pay heed.
Are you upset that developers and real estate agents are vying to slap a new name on your neighborhood? Take control o [...]
Born on the 4th of July
Country Club Hills residents raised an 80 - by - 50 foot flag today at Community Park at 175th Street and Pulaski Road, near the intersection of I-8 [...]
Real estate laugh line
In one of the glossy mags, a newer home is described as being in "the fashionable and fast-appreciating Avondale neighborhood."
Can anyone tell me wh [...]
Marilyn Monroe, Elvis sightings in Roscoe Village
Forget Los Angeles and Graceland - Roscoe Village is the place to be if you're Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. These cutout figures are on display at Nig [...]
Pioneering green in Lincoln Park
Living green is all the rage these days, but this Lincoln Park pioneer seems to have gotten there a few steps ahead of everyone else. [...]
Scenes from Lincoln Park: conservatory fountain
This ornate fountain is wedged in between the Lincoln Park Conservatory and the Lincoln Park Zoo, among sprawling flower beds and winding park paths [...]
Scenes from Lincoln Park: single file, everyone!
The 151 Sheridan bus, which runs through the eastern swath of Lincoln Park, is in our experience one of the quickest and most convenient to downtown [...]
Tale of two houses: Lincoln Park
Cue the Sesame Street music: "One of these things is not like the other." We saw shades of David and Goliath in these two houses, on Wrightwood Aven [...]
Residents protest $45M development planned for South Side's Carney Gardens
This is the first we've heard of the $45 million mixed-use development planned by Royce Messner for the South Side neighborhood of Carney Gardens. In [...]
Sizzlin' signs at The Twisted Lizard in Lincoln Park
The Twisted Lizard, 1964 N Sheffield Ave, has a sizzlin' window display. The large yellow and black lettering makes the display stand out, as does a [...]
Scenes from Lincoln Park: Lincoln Park Zoo
Monkey alert! This little guy kept staring at us when we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo, 2001 N Clark St, earlier this week.
The zoo is home to 1,200 [...]
The parks of Lincoln Park: Wiggly Field
About the only thing I can imagine that might be worse than the smell of napalm in the morning is Wiggly Field when temperatures are pushing into th [...]
At the Old Town School of Folk Music in Lincoln Park
Don't let the name fool you: Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music is a Lincoln Park institution.
The store was first located within the boundari [...]
Lincoln Park speaks: Katherine San Fratello
Katherine San Fratello, 44, has lived in Lincoln Park her entire life. She says her parents invested in the neighborhood long before it became one o [...]
The parks of Lincoln Park: the land of Oz
Lincoln Park is home to more than just its eponymous lakefront park. The neighborhood has 16 parks, according to the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerc [...]
Scenes from Lincoln Park: the Park West
We're used to seeing the Park West at night, so we were a bit surprised to walk by the theater in broad daylight and see this gray, clunky exterior. [...]
Real estate curmudgeon – architecture that makes me cranky
A YoChicago t-shirt to whoever comes up with the most apt description of the architectural style of this home. Ethnic slurs such as "-ski chalet" wi [...]