Hayward

Just revisited my travel list. I've spent this morning buying all the flights to the places I'm traveling. NOT ONE SINGLE FLIGHT COST OVER $250 round trip!!!!!!! The round trip flight to Atlanta was just $130 Some of them were bought through the $65 nonstop flights through Southwest. Also, the #1 benefit of flying out of Chicago is flights are always guaranteed to be cheap. September 2011: Washington DC Traveled to DC end of September October 2011: Pittsburgh Did not happen October 2011: Milwaukee (Riding my bike there!!!!!!!) Did not happen November 2011: Ann Arbor and Detroit Spent a weekend in Ann Arbor and Detroit. November 2011: Saginaw ,MI Thanksgiving December 2011: Saginaw, MI Christmas ADDITION: January 2012: Went to Detroit and Ann Arbor for a Red Wings Hockey Game + Autoshow ADDITION: February 2012: Went to Indianapolis for Superbowl ADDITION March 2012: Cincinnati April 2012: Atlanta, Seattle, and Los Angeles. No Seattle or LA. I'm going to go to Atlanta for an entire week and also hit up Savannah May 2012: Bike ride to Milwaukee May 2012: New York City and Philadelphia June 2012: Minneapolis. Extended my time on this trip so I can explore more of the city July 2012: Toronto August 2012: San Francisco 1 full week. September 2012: Florida. University of Michigan residence hall reunion...looking at a cruise (several days) With the exception of the SF trip already booked, I really only know for certain my trips up until my Atlanta trip. I really need to squeeze LA in there somewhere, and I'd like to go to Pittsburgh It's contingent on how much vacation time I use up on alot of these already planned trips.

^ University of Michigan gave Mos Def an honorary PhD or maybe it was visiting professor... I can't remember. Either way he got something.

That's awesome. My sister lives in Santa Monica close to downtown and loves it. So do I, since I get out to SM about twice a year. Let me know if you have any questions. Oh and just because everyone drives cars in LA doesn't mean anyone should avoid transit the Big Blue Bus is a great, quick and cheap way to get around.

I've been distant from this thread for awhile since I've been busy. But since I'm staying in this freezing cold weekend, I'd figure I'd share some updates. Sorry they are blurry. My hand was shaking the phone alot from this freezing cold weather. This is Lincoln 2520. Nearly finished, but the brownstones behind it haven't begun construction yet. There's also supposed to be a gigantic mansion on the property, but that hasn't begun construction either. Regardless, the tower is getting closer to occupancy. AMLI and twin hotels. Nothing really to show. AMLI is at about 1 floor, and the twin hotels are still excavating, but have begun core construction. Both of these projects replaced surfaced parking. K-Station. This will tie into the elevated viaduct from where I'm standing and also build over the Northbound / Westbound lanes of I-94. The more buildings covering up a freeway the better.

Can I see photos of that new 2 story, extremely long building going up on Gratiot? I forget where it is...kind of distant from downtown, but I've been hearing its supposed to be very well designed.

Great looking house!! Yeah the first thing that came to mind when I saw this was craftsman style. It's got a few touches of a bungalow style, but think it as intended to be built as craftsman. A house like that in Chicago would sell for millions of dollars, especially since it's in good condition and a ton of the original woodwork.

There shouldn't be any questions what to do if a permanent span is in the near future. There are several companies in the US and Canada that would be able to ship a rental section to keep this bridge in working order. Leasing a temporary section would be a lot cheaper than the state rebuilding the section from scratch only to tear it down. This is why bridge rental companies exist.

Taptalk is okay, but in some ways unnecessary. The iphone is pretty adept at zooming in at text box features, buttons etc using the web. When I'm surfing, I hate having to leave and open up an app just for urban ohio. I did notice this problem this afternoon but thought it was just a one time glitch. I'm also annoyed by the fact that everyplace on the internet has become connected to facebook.

I don't like when a meeting is scheduled for a certain time, in a particular conference room and then one of the attendees comes down early and stands by your desk.....instead of going into the conference room.....and waiting for when other people come.....On Time.

The delivery sounds like something from Young Money and the voice almost of Wiz Khalifa. Dig the beat.

I shouldn't look at my high school friends' photos of home renovations on facebook. Stuff poorly constructed or not to code. One of them has built stud walls out of non-pressure treated wood right up against the block wall and concrete floor of their basement. It's going to swell, rot and mold up in no time.

Big loss here. Fine grain architecture makes a city. If you don't have it, your city sucks. This is a big step backward IMO. Isn't there some ugly empty 1960s skyscraper they can demolish?

its hideous along with the carpet and wall color. Maybe the best thing for them is to have the house burn down, with no loss of life. Jeez mts you sound like my landlord. She constantly rips on me for my failures at interior design... or "lack of any design," but just "a few scattered pieces of showroom floor models". I told her if she comments again I will paint the apartment all black and choose ugly granite for the counters.

I rarely watch tv since I'm out and about more but my building provides free extended cable and T3 Internet...which I get better use out of. I don't miss having to pay comcast, and I definitely don't miss cable Internet

I know parents hate it when a friend or even a stranger tells them how to raise their kids, but I think I found a good example today where this should happen. A highschool friend of mine installed an electric fireplace in their baby's room. It's a standalone object and does not attach to any walls. It's actually unusually tall. 1. The manufacturer of most of these do not recommend installing them in children's rooms 2. They are tested to function on a carpeted floor, but recommend you still keep on eye on them 3. This particular fireplace stands tall and has a projecting shelf...it's a tip hazard. I'm 27 and single, have practically ZERO experience caring for children except occasionally watching a few of my younger cousins when I was in high school. But I would NEVER, NEVER install one of these in a kids room. That's like installing a stove a foot above the floor. I think it's best they move that to the living or dining or the master bedroom where it belongs. She posted it on facebook, so now friends in our circle can all now be open and critical about it. http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/430900_748797907918_208702812_35333778_392035485_n.jpg FYI, I grew up in a house with a fireplace....my parents kept that thing barricaded until I was 7.

I think the new truss design is better. The old one is strange and lopsided.

Mts article reminds me of Chicago's coyote problem. Though the program has done more good than bad, there's still the occasional strange story of downtown encounters like one coyote walking into a loop Quiznos to nap in a refrigerator. I think as temperatures fall (and rise), wild animals that have become accustomed to humans find places like subways, parking garages, and vacant property as safe havens.

I'm shocked, stunned...that I don't see more of this in Chicago but I bet I will sooner or later.

Both sound like interesting jobs to me! So fast forward about a month to today and I still have temporary counters in my apartment because I bombed my counter lamination project. The stupid propane torch went out when I was halfway bending curvres and though I tried to bend it warm it failed. I'm now thinking Corian or granite. I got quoted about the same for $60 / sq ft for materials only. Which do you recommend? Labor on this is more heavy duty and will have to be done by my landlords staff

Very cool. I love these old truss bridges. I hope we can continue to preserve many of them There was a guy named William "Tiny" Zehnder that would collect and rehabilitate old bridges in Saginaw Co ,MI) He restored this one, and though it can technically carry vehicular traffic now, they decided to make it a bike / pedestrian bridge instead http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickm15/5353475182/#sizes/l/in/photostream/

Ritz

Coast Tower Optima. Ronald McDonald house wrapping up construction behind it. There's rumors of stair improvements you can see in the top left of the second photo below, similar to Illinois heading toward Navy Pier where there is an escalator for pedestrians. Goose Island Bridge Modernization and Replacement moves along. Halsted over the North Branch near Division has reopened. Halsted bridge near Chicago has closed, but will be updated instead of torn down. Prior to closure, the Halsted bridge near Chicago ave could be crossed by vehicle, but was very dangerous to pedestrians because the deck had so severely buckled. It's likely the Division Street Bridge will come out next. The goose island bridges are really the only historic structures in danger of replacement or have already been replaced. Most of Chicago's other bascule bridges were incredibly overbuilt and carry large traffic volumes. They will be maintained and restored for many years to come. The feeling of those old dinosaur bridges on the North branch shaking violently when traffic goes over will be lost to the next generation of Chicagoans. They could have been updated and restored, however explosive growth in downtown areas have brought traffic well beyond maximum capacity. A before image:

It is actually

Another highrise....I dunno, I hope SOAR has a word or two to say about the base if it's in their jurisdiction. Look at all that concrete!! Original image source anonymous:

It was time for a reboot on my computer. A-OK. That's odd. I've only seen black images appear when I've tried to load a thread in a basement, subway station or something on a weak connection using a phone. ------------- Great photos! The 2nd and 4th photos are some of my favorite infill in the city.