Hayward

With the exception of the wood storefront columns, it's load bearing masonry construction. You technically don't need interior structural members to save the building, although I'm sure they provided some lateral stability as the building settled over a century. The problem is the exterior columns were so damaged in the fire, the facade is sagging in parts. I personally liked this building because I also like old brick buildings. But really it's not, and never was great architecturally. Just old. Very cheap construction and little embellishment for it's time. Notice how the front columns aren't even cast iron. At it's completion, I'm certain residents found it simple and plain (even for Depot Town). However, it's purpose is incredibly rich historically. I hope it does get rebuilt, and part of me thinks it wouldn't be all that difficult for the reasons above.

I can appreciate JCBeal's positivity despite this uhm......setback. ........Like the Broderick Tower in Detroit without all the fire.

Looks like Pizza to Go is gone... Those slawdogs don't sound half bad though.

Wow, I'm all happy and stuff in that photo, little did I know I'd come down with the flu and have to take 3 days pto that week.....thanks red line....you virus transporter Excellent set, you captured our buildings quite nicely Woah, I couldn't believe you could see the United Center from my window. I had to go run and check, sure enough

Just got word that some building(s?) in Greektown were demolished today. No word on their replacement. Lafayette demo is in full force.

Great shots!

Incredible campus. I love all the red brick. The birthplace of my old fraternity, Phi Delta Theta. Shame on you for not getting photos of it!

I can't imagine owning something that expensive. I don't take care of my camera like I should. It's always out of the case getting dust in the sensor. Not to mention I'm always putting too much methanol solution on the sensor to clean it. I'd probably damage that beauty.

I've contemplated bringing a bike to Chicago, but I've been intimidated by what I've seen there. I'm not sure there's a place for somebody my age who isn't and never was an athlete. Even though I ride steadily and predictably and stay to the right, I'm not fast (~12mph) and I like to take in my surroundings. I think I'd probably feel terrorized. Then there's the logistics issue, anyway. Because of SRO loads even on many off-peak trips, the only bikes permitted on South Shore trains are folding bikes in bags, stowed on the overhead racks. Rob, in all honesty if you can't remain constant ABOVE 15 mph, do not bring your bike to Chicago. It's the only speed I've found to be comfortable with in traffic. Anything slower I'm up on the sidewalks doing 3mph so that I don't make pedestrians uncomfortable. I've modified my bike to make traveling at 25-30 mph much easier. I now use the left most lanes on Chicago streets. Believe it or not, using the left lanes as opposed to the right lanes feels safer, though it probably isn't. But you avoid buses and taxis, people parked, etc using the right lanes. As long as you bike with the same speed of traffic you are fine. You also need good acceleration at green lights. Be sure you can accelerate just as fast as traffic, or it can create problems. I bought really expensive sprockets for my bike that held up stronger than the last ones which I completely tore up. Sure there are bike lanes where you could go slower, but from what I've seen as well, people move quick. Overall, motorists in Chicago are respectful of cyclists. At the same time, they trust that you are safe and know what you are doing.

Excellent photos! Not a city I see much of on these internets

Very nice! A city I have yet to see in person.

What is it's name? 156 W. Superior. I would have not known that had I not driven to work today. ....yes i know i drove.......... shame on me, but I felt lazy today. BTW, what dish do you enjoy the best at Bistro Margot? I've only had the crepes there. Excellent

That building is at least 7 blocks south and 3 blocks west of me I believe. I'm pretty sure I recognize it. I have to say I really love my view from work. You think I'd be looking out the windows everyday, but some days I don't even think to, despite that I'm up against one. If I turn from my desk immediately to the left I see Trump, IBM, and Marina Towers. Here's a couple more views from the office:

Specifically what residential neighborhood? I live in Near North, the single family homes were Edgewater near Bryn Mawr. MTS, I was hoping you'd comment on that photo. Plenty of stores you wouldn't find me. The day I moved in, I felt I brought the hood to Oak Street.

My new home. It's been crazy busy the past two weeks moving in and starting work. But on Saturday I had time to photograph the city. A few were also taken on my commute to work, which is basically walking 15 blocks down Michigan Ave. Hopefully when things calm down a bit, and I fix the flat on my bike I'll get to taking more photos of neighborhoods. For now, I'll use my lunch break to compose this post. The photos are just various places across the city. Starting from home - Views _______________________ And from the office: _______________________________ From the commute It's actually almost a 30 minute walk. But hey no need to pay for gas and parking. ________________________________ View of the neighborhood: Taken from a nearby garage looking North into the gold coast. Most of the shops near where I live it's unlikely I'll ever go in lol. Barneys is here on the corner in this old photo. They've since moved into an incredible 5 story structure across the street. Area restaurants actually pretty reasonably priced, and superb atmosphere. Division Street Farmers Market. It runs about 2 long blocks. Let's head to the northside on the red line: If you have good zoom (which I didn't in this one) be sure to get a shot of L trains at the end of the platforms. ^ Classic Chicago Infill is great to have in any city, but alot of it has gotten overwhelming. Certain areas have bulked up maybe more than they should have. I found this great street up in Edgewater. The above homes are not commonly found in Chicago. I felt like I was right back in Michigan. This particular island of wood single family homes is surrounded by hundreds of blocks of walkups, rows, brownstones and courtyard apartment buildings. End, and more to come.

Fireworks have been disappointing everywhere. Many shows require private sponsorship, and that has dwindled during the recession. I just did some flickr searching around July 4th to find that fireworks shows indeed had much larger displays prior to the recession.

I shower at Xavier's gym :) There was a day I biked and the gym was closed for cleaning that week (I missed the notice), but it wasn't that bad. My co-workers didn't seem to mind. Do you work at Xavier? If so, great, as I was referring to showing at WORK, and I don't know too many workplaces that have showers. Lots of offices have them. And many more don't. ;) But most will soon. Every place I've ever worked from retail to professional jobs have had showers. My current building has a fitness center and basketball court so I hope people choose to use the shower before returning to work lol.

They begun adding express lanes to the bike paths here in the Chi for those who want to go blazing speeds. Onramps that take cyclists down then beneath the path have also helped reduce accidents at congested points. Pedestrians are SUPPOSED to stay behind the white line, but they rarely do. The path gets very congested and the bike cops try to keep it flowing below 15 mph, but it doesn't seem to help much. I ride up to the Northside once a week to check on my car, and I brush sleeves about 10 times. So far no collisions.... but I've heard when it happens, just shake it off and move on. Not much that can be done about it. Interesting story jmecklenborg. I really wish parents these days would do a better job keeping their kids under control. There's really no excuse. When I used to work in a hobby store I could really tell what kids were taught properly to behave in public and which weren't.

Very cool! Hope you post more

Grand Rapids is such an amazing city. So many neighborhoods near downtown are full of thousands of beautiful homes, carefully restored. The downtown is pretty active, has an attractive core, and provides good urban living lifestyle.

I have a big question for all you cyclists. What do you worry about more when you are out cycling: cars, other cyclists, or pedestrians? Shockingly, I'm going to say I worry about cars the least. It seems like 95% of the time I bike in the city it's the pedestrians not looking. They dodge out in front of you on streets, walk in the bike lanes, or block limited access bike paths. Most of the time in my life I'm a pedestrian, I walk to work, to stores, to restaurants etc, so I can understand the impatience of waiting at a crosswalk for the light to change. I just wish they'd remember to look out for more than just cars when jaywalking.

That's very clever and gross at the same time. Just imagine the confusion and smell the next morning. I've heard of people really going all out on pranks at some colleges. I can't recall anything going on beyond trash cans of water, or maybe a soft serve ice cream cone from the cafeteria dropped between the stairs on freshman.

Chicago | CTA and Metra trains and buses New York | MTA subways and buses, PATH Philadelphia | subways and buses Toronto | subways and streetcars Los Angeles | bus San Francisco | BART train and MUNI buses San Diego | Streetcars Columbus | bus Saginaw | bus Ann Arbor | bus Washington DC | subway Pittsburgh | light rail Detroit | AG and bus Minneapolis | Light Rail All over Switzerland and parts of Italy...trains trains trains.... Because I live right near the Mag. Mile in Chicago I typically walk the 15 blocks to work and get my basic needs within a few blocks and don't need the CTA. But I know when the weather gets ridiculously cold I'll be using those Michigan Ave. express buses

Back in college I leaned a trashcan full of water on my friend's dorm room door one time. But he was hungover from the previous night and really didn't care, so it wasn't much of a prank.

There's a classification level for malls, and I can't remember how it goes. But there is one particular class of small indoor malls like this that all seem to be doomed. I've seen plenty more like this. Although I hate what malls have done to downtowns, I can't justify their closures either. It just seems like more waste on top of the pile. I just read that the plans are to demolish the unused portions.