Category: Vignettes
How to be treated as a comment spammer
The spam filter on our new platform is, it seems, a bit more sensitive than on the previous one.
If you use a phony e-mail address that includes anat [...]
Carnival of Real Estate: comp killers, homophobes and short sales
This week's Carnival of Real Estate is hosted by the Christian Real Estate Network. If you're an agent representing bargain-seeking buyers, you might [...]
A rainy day at the South Shore Cultural Center
Although the South Shore Cultural Center is not in Jackson Park Highlands, it has been the site of gatherings in honor of its residents, like Jesse [...]
Jackson Park Highlands: the surrounding environs
Jackson Park Highlands is a small piece of the larger South Shore neighborhood. To get a sense of South Shore, check out Yo's South Shore photo set on [...]
Block of the day: Indiana Avenue south of 33rd Street
We posted recently on some of Bronzeville's seedier spots. The 3300 block of Indiana Avenue, nearby in The Gap neighborhood, appears to be a very di [...]
Pilsen street scene: eccentric cyclist at 18th and Paulina
We're not certain what's going on down in Pilsen, but every time we're there it seems as if someone comes by on some kind of self-designed bike. We [...]
Preservationist spotted in Lake View
Driving west on Belmont this afternoon, we suffered a bout of existential angst. Not sure why. [...]
Signs from Bronzeville: Otha's Soul Food Restaurant
This sign, just off 47th Street in Bronzeville, seems a apt metaphor for parts of the neighborhood: succumbing to urban entropy but still vibrant so [...]
The castle on the Kennedy
The neighbors were upset when The Legend Records' CEO Rudolph Acosta rezoned the corner of Parkview and Lawndale for this castellated manse on the e [...]
Champagne is like "Butter" in the West Loop
We've posted about the restaurant scene in the West Loop, but we haven't been to Butter, 130 S Green St. But this mural on the wall outside makes u [...]
Monday roundup on a Tuesday: what will happen to Lake View's Diplomat Hotel
Sure, we usually do this on Mondays, but, hey, yesterday was a holiday which gives us no option but to do it today. Let's take a go around the Yo.
In [...]
Church of the day: Pilgrim Baptist Church
Pilgrim Baptist Church made news in January 2006 when a fire gutted the Louis Sullivan-designed structure at 3301 S Indiana Ave. It still looked lik [...]
Scenes from Chicago's Lake View neighborhood: a kid's take on the skyline
I noticed this interpretation of Chicago's skyline on Sheffield Avenue in Lake View, just outside the JCYS Lakeview Family Center, 957 W Grace St. I [...]
Shooting the photographer
A quiet moment at the Wallace Bowl in Wilmette's Gillson Park. [...]
Past and present collide in Bronzeville
We posted recently about the rising value of property in the Bronzeville area. There are deals to be had because the neighborhood is still emerging, [...]
Are Cicadas an inspiration for wary homebuyers?
We spotted these cicadas , precocious little buggers apparently, in Flossmoor last weekend. City neighborhoods are allegedly awash in them, but we ha [...]
A walk through the West Loop's Skinner Park
Skinner Park, 1331 W Adams St, was founded as Jefferson Park in 1850. In 1955 the city renamed it for the adjacent Mark T. Skinner School. Today, th [...]
Auburn Gresham resident gets a hand from the New Communities Program
If you're curious how LISC Chicago's New Communities Program might spend the $26 million it just received from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthu [...]
Real estate curmudgeon – mortgage brokers, toxic waste
Is there any difference between mortgage brokers and toxic waste? I can think of at least two differences.
Watch more Curmudgeon at YouTube. [...]
Waiting for the bus in the West Loop
Like much of the city, the West Loop lacks good north / south transport via train. The bus is often the best option for public transportation riders [...]