Former Chicago architecture critic Lee Bey joins blogosphere
Lee Bey, erstwhile Sun-Times architecture writer, Mayoral chief of staff and presently director of media and government affairs for Skidmore Owings & [...]
Ugly Wendy's bites the concrete
A scant two months ago Yo singled out the Wendy's on Belmont for its ugliness. And now it's closed.
Fast food outlets don't die often. Anyone know [...]
Shell game scam artist stars in CTA red line movie
Aah, the shell game. Many of us probably fell for this timeless scam in the schoolyard (I can think of a certain boss who once lost $50). Yo was in fo [...]
More gunfire than some neighborhoods
That's one resident's take on Evanston, at Gapers Block's open thread on the pros and cons of various Chicago neighborhoods. Head on over for the insi [...]
A Chicago building inspector talks about how to spot a good development
Sometimes, just sometimes, building inspectors like what they find when they inspect a home. Yo's resident building inspector, Tom Corbett, who owns t [...]
Chicago townhome roundup: South Side
With high-profile condo high-rises hogging the new construction spotlight, some have speculated that the townhome may be an endangered species. But [...]
More green for green roofs in downtown Chicago buildings
The Mayor has a very green approach to residential recycling: reroute cash to friends with ties to organized crime rather than wasting it on a progr [...]
Roti relative makes a fortune from failed Blue Bag Program
In a post yesterday, we mentioned how a New York Times story praising Chicago's environmentally friendly approach to development and civic life failed [...]
Terrapin's Toy Town in the West Loop
Construction is well underway at Terrapin Properties' 901 Madison, the company's third mid-rise in the West Loop. The project is about 55 percent so [...]
The ugly side of condo gut rehabs in Chicago
When people live near construction they usually complain of high noise levels and dusty debris. But what about the fact that gut rehabs can also be a [...]
New Chicago condos for five figures
We're always surprised to find new condos with a price tag of less than $100 grand (especially when you can drop $60,000 on a parking space these day [...]
At least this Uptown condo box has more than four sides
Shooting pictures in Uptown and Edgewater last week, we came across more bland boxes than we cared to count. Maybe that's why this boldly geometric bu [...]
Hometown appraisal fraud
An FBI sting operation netted residents of Wilmette and Highland Park in an appraisal scam that inflated the value of a rundown property by more than [...]
Cafe society: Southport Avenue chapter
They say that there are only two seasons in Chicago: Winter and Road Construction. But really, a better gauge of the change in seasons is the sudden [...]
Rezko files for bankruptcy on Hudson Tower condo deal
Given the number of new residential high-rises that have been built in Chicago during the last decade, it's surprising that more of these projects hav [...]
New Homes Magazine names Chicago's best new homes
Read it even before it's hot off the presses: the new issue of New Homes Magazine names Chicago's best new homes in the categories of high-rise, lof [...]
A boozy neighborhood scavenger hunt
We're all for exploring neighborhoods while completely sober but when Centerstage posted a list of 13 new bars in different neighborhoods in Chicago, [...]
As talk of bubble rises, Chicago Mercantile Exchange trades housing futures
Are you pretty certain the much feared housing bubble is ready to burst? Think the whole idea of a bubble is misguided? Well, now you can put your mon [...]
A 57-percent spike in housing activity
Actually, it's a huge increase in the rate of Chicagoland foreclosure filings, according to RealtyTrac, which reports that Chicago foreclosures were u [...]
Story on Chicago's development "mulch" spreads some manure
We just came across a recent New York Times story glowing about Chicago's green approach to development and urban planning. Reporter Keith Schneider p [...]