The positions at SIUC were supposed to start this academic year so they apparently have not found someone who has experience and a master’s degree yet.
My first time through Zoning was a treat. First of all, you definitely need to arrive really early, because it is a first come, first served ordeal, with people lining up outside the door at 6.
Actually, in my experience this has changed since they started issuing the expeditor cards. The expeditors still line up in the morning, because they want to have their day finished by noon or whatever; but they seem to be mostly cleared out by the afternoon. I have frequently gone just after lunch and only had to sit around an hour or so and was seen in the afternoon. Much better than the days I was getting up at 5am to be down there.
Mostly, you need to be aware that there will probably be random arcane zoning requirements you're not aware of, and allow a couple of weeks (2 weeks) to get your zoning through IN ADVANCE of when you were planning on applying for permit. For example, once when working on a small condo renovation I was hamstrung for a couple of weeks by zoning, because they discovered that the condo building -- the association itself, not my client -- owed back taxes on their driveway dating from the 1950s. This meant that in order to get my simple little interior renovation permit for my private client within the building, we had to get the condo association to file drawings & pictures of their driveway with the driveway permit desk (did you even know there was such a thing? I did not) and also with CDOT, which then lost the paperwork and it took me another week to track down who had it and who it needed to go to. The departments do not talk to each other, which means that any time you have to get things approved by multiple desks, YOU are the go-between. You have to be there and check up on them day after day, remind them of your project, and then be there to pick up whatever form they needed to sign and take it to some other person to sign -- they won't take it themselves, even if it's all part of the same form. (Did that make sense?) Then after I had done the run-around with CDOT, it turned out that some other person had to take payment for the back taxes. The total time delay was something like 3 weeks, and I had to go there 5 or 6 times within this time (and the condo association was obviously involved as well).
The city has begun using Zoning review as a sort of catch-all process that will uncover any kind of random fees or fines related to the property itself, that may or may not actually have anything to do with your project. Therefore, zoning review in my experience has become by far the biggest hassle of the project. Just be ready for that.
Secondly, make sure you clear any weird accessibility or life-safety (fire code) issues in advance with MOPD (accessibility) and Asif Rahman (head fire code reviewer). This will hopefully cut down on any weird plan review revisions.
Finally, just be ready for nit-picking at the Plan Review desks. Unfortunately, the reviewers vary WIDELY in knowledge and in jerkiness, and I agree completely with Synergy that there is very obvious favoritism (as well as anti-favoritism) in effect. You can't really pick your reviewer, so come prepared with your best zen-like mental state and be as calm and patient as Buddha himself. Do not lose your temper, do not argue, just thank them for their time and try your best not to piss them off. I have never had success in challenging a stupid (bullshit) "issue" on the drawings with the reviewer him/herself; the best thing to do is take it, and deal with it in your resubmittal. Document it if you disagree. This is why it helps to get any weird potential issues cleared by the head people ahead of time.
The curb cut back taxes are their new thing. Also be aware that every single building in the city is in violation of the new "public way permit" meaning footings, signage, fire escapes etc that all go into or over the public way, even if they are 90 years old, are not in compliance. To rectify this the city will you a cittation, with a fine that you wont have to pay but by some arcane leagal logic they must issue a fine to make it official, then you will document the existing public way incursion and submit an application for public way incursion with aldermans signiture to the depart of public way compliance in the Depaul Center - not city hall because that would be too convienent. Once approved then you go back to zoning. By approved I mean you've paid the application fee and 2 fat ass Democratic Machine Moles say they looked at it. In our case this took 6 weeks and no one ever came out, the just asked us to sign an avidavate saying it was as we said.
I'm not sure how you italicize text like that, but this is from Mantaray's:
Mostly, you need to be aware that there will probably be random arcane zoning requirements you're not aware of, and allow a couple of weeks (2 weeks) to get your zoning through IN ADVANCE of when you were planning on applying for permit.
I 100% agree. My first project through was a simple deck repair (which was required by a city inspection, and was a life safety issue, mind you). We were held up in zoning for at least two weeks because the existing building had a bay window that extended into the public way, and had back fees owed for this bay window permit. Ridiculous.
I also agree with your point about just taking their comments. For the most part, you often just have to the do the mental calculation, which will take more time and cause more stress, arguing about this little point, or just adding the unnecessary dimension, view, etc they are requesting.
ps. how do I italicize text like that? do you cut and paste it in, or is it an html thing?
Good point about the public way obtrusion thingy -- I had forgotten about that. Zoning is such a bitch. And know in advance that if you are digging foundations more than 12' below ground, you will need full review and approval from the Office of Underground Coordination in advance of permitting -- which can take up to 3 months, and is minimum about 1.5 months it seems.
Syn, archinect uses some obscure branch of html; instead of carrots, you use straight brackets, like so : [ i ] text you want italicized [ / i ]
EXCEPT take out the extra spaces I added in those brackets. Bold is the same, but with "b" instead of "i", underline "u", etc. I can't remember how to do strikethrough. Color is just the name of the color.
Synergy that there is very obvious favoritism (as well as anti-favoritism) in effect. You can't really pick your reviewer,
Sure you can. You need to keep hitting the back button and picking a new time. A new plan examiner will come up and you can avoid some of the real strokes that sit behind the desks down there.
The public way permit thing has been going on for years. If you are a new tenant or if the owner changes, then you need one. The lost one application 2 summers ago and actually were quite apologetic and helpful. Have a plan drawn and some photographs ready.
I lost a letter on the 2nd sentence of the third paragraph:
They (the office at 333 S State St) lost one application 2 summers ago and actually were quite apologetic and helpful. Have a plan drawn and some photographs ready.
Dimension how far the fire escape or sign juts out over the public way. I think the drawing, really a site plan, goes on their application or at least an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. It's pretty simple. You also need to run it by the Alderman and get a letter from him.
Strange name person that made my year. One of the best clips Ive seen on you tube ever. I shot my latte out of my nose when he said, "What kind of asshole cant get through the workday without a nap". Im still crying.
I think the cubs filing bankruptcy is just a formality to limit their liability from the tribune company as they conclude their sale to the Rickets family.
The Cta fare hike stinks, but I'll still be riding.
The Vetro building is also a branding exercise. Specifically it's a poor copy of the W concept. It's very mediocre.
His personal house was on the auction block. I don't think it's all that great either. He spent millions on it. It's sort of a Werner Sobek knock-off. Give 10 motivated architects that kind of cash and you'll see some incredible work. This house ain't it. I think he turned it in for an AIA award like 4 or 5 times before he got it.
The parking lot thing was a real debacle.
David Hovey's accomplishments, another Arch/Developer and IIT person, in comparison are truly incredible.
Thanks for the IIT info. I should have looked deeper for the connection.
I guess that's how Garofalo got the UN Studio Pavilion architect of record gig then (through UIC)?
I was not too impressed with the detailing work at the Hyde Park Art Center. I'm sure the budget was low, but I've got some photo's that make me cringe.
BTY, I'm not slamming on Rozack. I just found it all somehow interesting, like driving by an auto accident.
Make, thanks also for the introduction to Jonathan Meades. It is a first for me.
After just a brief few minutes of watching your link, I've decided that he he reminds me quite a bit of Louis Theroux, albeit with a completely different subject matter and level of intellectualism.
The irony is that Millennium Park has probably lived up to the hype that the examples cited by Jonathan Meades have not. It is probably the most successful new cultural district outside of Bilbao in terms of it helping energize an area and bring in tourists and money. Chicago already had both but the old railroad yard and the dilapidated Grant Park had more vagrants and rats than anything else.
So did Millennium Park bring $230 million (or whatever the amount of public money was) into the City and pay for itself or did it transfer money and steal attention from someplace in the City?
The Hadid thing is really weird because it is all about what Meades is talking about. It added nothing to the park except for the jokes about filling it up with junk. It was simply a leftover project that found a home in Chicago. Joseph Rosa isn't acting as an Architecture Curator but a branding consultant.
We have closed the doors of THE PRAIRIE AVENUE BOOKSHOP after a glorious era in the history of architecture. The Bookshop is a proud accomplishment and made many other things possible.
We published a magazine on a seminal movement, THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL REVIEW, which defined a period in Midwestern architectural history, published books on Sullivan, Wright and Griffin, wrote a Student Guide leveling the playing field for students in Idaho, wrote a history of the 19C leap of Chicago to the forefront of world architecture, and opened this mecca ("the best architectural bookshop in the world", LONDON FINANCIAL TIMES) for architects from all over the world. All this while Bill was planning and supervising the restoration of Wright's Dana House and Sullivan's Cedar Rapids Bank, among others. The master plan for the Robie House with Getty funding was also part of the mix with too many others to list.
Granted we rode a revival in preservation and historical studies, and a publishing revolution as well: facsimile printing and President Johnson's junior college program in the 60's, the duotone and color technology by the Italians and Japanese in the 60's and 70's, instantaneous ordering by fax and then by the web, the photolithography process for printing THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL REVIEW in the 60's, and self publishing on the computer, all while several new movements in design came to the fore. Why, a couple of my Prairie Avenue Bookshop catalogs with contemporary architectural bibliography were even offered online in England for 15 pounds.
Then of course came the debacle of Amazon and its destruction of 1000's of independent bookstores and the Senate Committee disallowing sales tax on the internet sales which punished brick and mortar businesses, ours included, (which in turn hikes your state's budget shortfalls and local real estate taxes). The unnoticed present and future destruction of publishers is in progress. And critical editing in general will disappear as foretold in the Graham Foundation's seminar several years ago. In Chicago, Cook County's 10.25% sales tax was the final nail in the coffin.
But that's another story.
Bill's book THE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURAL CLUB, Prelude to the Modern, chronicles the change in architectural historiography itself: a club, letters, drawings, blueprints, magazines documenting ideas and design, as opposed to the 20C telephone, e-mail in lieu of letters, the death of magazines, and CAD--the death of drawing. Such a book will not be written on 20C architecture. No one writes or keeps that kind of record today. Alas!! Artistic works such as Sullivan's A SYSTEM OF ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT and Wright's WASMUTH PORTFOLIO will not be produced. We donated a "carload" of documentaiton from THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL REVIEW and later nineteen boxes of research (including too many drafts) for the CAC book to the Art Institute of Chicago, which in turn has skipped nearly all of the 20C of Chicago architecture and cuts Jack Brown's Ryerson /Burnham Library budget first in every financial crisis. Should records we donated be catalogued, at least historians in the future can see how it was done.
But--it's been a great ride. We enjoyed talking for 48 years to visiting architects, architectual historians, architectural critics, students and architectural buffs. We will miss you all, and especially our incredibly loyal staff, particularly Beth, Karl and Emily, known to all of you, who stayed with us to the end.
Now it's time to retire. Marilyn's two new knees and Bill's ubiquitous cane spell the end of exciting professional lives. Bill will be finishing his new book on Dwight Perkins--the man he considers the third in the triumvirate of turn-of-the-century architects, Sullivan, Wright and Perkins--and Marilyn is delving into literary criticism again.
I really don't understand the naming rights hoopla. Advertising is not the panacea that's going to miraculously solve the CTA's issues. The city and the state both need to commit to the system, build the circle lines, stop cutting service, and funnel more money to the RTA. The only way the CTA will survive is if the state chooses to make the CTA indispensible to Chicagoans. (And, incidentally, advertising revenue will also increase if this happens -- you NEED RIDERS to make advertising revenue a significant revenue!) People keep acting as though slapping a few more ads into the 10 remaining unused square feet of space is suddenly going to make the system profitable.
...One wonders where all of our 10% sales tax goes? I still see hordes of fat shopping bags on Michigan Avenue everyday so I know that's got to be a good source of revenue.
This mayor and his entire coterie need to be kicked far, far out of the city.
Exactly Mantaray, the more they bring in the more they spend out - not nessessarily on the things that need to be done. I feel like the selling of city assets and naming rights is like being an enabler for a drug adicted spouse's bad habit.
I don't know, I've thought about this a lot, I feel like the government employees/programs should be cut back somewhat in proportion to what the rest of the economy is experiencing. Specifically, I think some of the government unions are so powerful they are practically holding their governing body hostage. For example, I read recently, in discussions relate to CTA funding shortfalls, that the CTA management is trying to get the unions to forgo 3% pay raises mandated in their contracts. This is infuriating to me, everyone else in the country is cutting back hours, taking pay cuts, having lay offs, etc. and these guys are expecting to get pay raises!?! I realize that the people who negotiate those deals, on both sides of the table are responsible, and I'm not interested in seeing them suffer just because everyone else is suffering, but I would like to see a little more awareness on their part. Cops or fireman could take pay cuts too, or maybe just stop protecting their own when they get caught beating up female bartenders...
I agree mantaray about the attitude toward the CTA, the entire perception of the system is completely off. I feel the CTA's primary focus should be to infill their system as much as possible and repair/improve the most critical areas. Personally, I'd like to see the loop reworked so that every train line doesn't run on the same set off tracks. It is so congested and clumsy. If it were reworked, you could have trains arrive much more frequently, and with many fewer delays (every notice how if one train line has problem, the whole system seems to seize up?) I think projects to expand the system out further are completely off base, the discourage density and lower the overall efficiency of the system. If the existing system was super reliable, comfortable and clean, people would relocate to utilize it more. Afterward, it would be an easier step to extend out to outlying areas. As it is, the CTA don't seem to have any real logic or vision. The CTA can't simultaneously be extending the system out further and raising the overall system performance. It is counter to logic and its counter to every example of successful systems I have been on.
According to Chicagoist Apple will pay the CTA $4million and fix up the station and get 100% of the advertising space but WILL NOT get naming rights. Apple will however get right of first refusal if the CTA decides to sell the station naming rights in the future.
Sad about Duckworth. Thats a name I had'nt heard in a long time.
Duckworth used clay like a sculptor rather than with the traditional methods of a potter.This is an interesting and fertile working method that can be applied to Architecture.
I think projects to expand the system out further are completely off base, the discourage density and lower the overall efficiency of the system.
Synergy, I completely agree. Did you see the proposed new lines? An extension to the Oakbrook MALL, are you fucking KIDDING?! What are we, regressing to 1960 all of a sudden? That's the stupidest idea I've heard of since I moved here. The second stupidest idea is cutting train and bus service. Yeah, that's really going to juice the system. Reminds me of what every restaurateur says -- the moment you know a restaurant is months away from going belly up is the moment you see the sign on their door showing that they're cutting back hours. On the other hand, more / speedier trains on the existing lines and infilling projects that serve existing underserved density (here's looking at you, green line through west loop) would be great. A tight circle line, or extending the brown line to meet the blue line (which, by the way, would serve an area of one of the densest pockets of transit riders in the city), these would be great. Now THAT'S how to fuel development, Mayor-Despot Daley, and it AIN'T through huge TIF mono-packets going to developers trying to woo out-of-state (or foreign!) speculators!
UGH. Sergio Palleroni's lecture last week, and a couple other things I've been reading about lately, have really got me thinking about what spurs real, lasting, community-oriented development in a city. Investment in transit is one thing. Small-scale, community-targeted development is another. The way this mayoral administration wields its TIF projects does nothing but fuel rampant real estate speculation on big monolithic projects. And look where that's got us...?
An interesting article that puddles posted : (worth reading to the very end)
I've been following the progress on the Apple store, it does seem to be moving ahead pretty quickly. I think it will be a nice addition to that intersection. Before there was little of note in that spot, was it a gas station? I can't remember for sure. I'm hoping that the Apple store encourages more foot traffic in the area and continues the development that has been going on there as that neighborhood continues to define itself. As for advertizing on the trains, I don't have too much of an issue with it, but agree, it isn't going to be a the CTAs savior. Since apple is adopting the station, hopefully it will be cleaned up and made human urine stench free.
On the surface it seems like extending the blue line to OakBrook is a silly idea but when you look at the density of the near western suburbs, the Eisenhower corridor in particular, it becomes appearant that the 2 Metra lines servicing the region are not enough. The Oakbrook area is a huge employment center and the density of Lombard, Elmhurst, Western Springs and Forest Park far exceed the West Side of the city. I think extending the lines AND creating better inner city options like the circle line should be done. By extending the lines you will help break down that ever present Chinese wall between the near west burbs andf the West side. The Us / them divide.
I dunno... i dont really care how much density is in the suburbs. Im not convinced that extending the lines so that suburban shoppers can easily come spend money downtown over the weekends is right. Both in a planning sense and a moral sense.
As manta and synergy suggested, there are seriously undeserved areas of the city which could immediately benefit from infill. The infrastructure already exists for train stations to boost immediate densities and commerce. I dont think that can be said about the inner ring suburbs quite as much.
The metra already runs out there... in many ways the 'burbs are already better served than huge tracts of the actual city limits. Lets get the CITY the transit it deserves before we start spreading ourselves even thinner.
I dunno... i dont really care how much density is in the suburbs. Im not convinced that extending the lines so that suburban shoppers can easily come spend money downtown over the weekends is right. Both in a planning sense and a moral sense.
As manta and synergy suggested, there are seriously undeserved areas of the city which could immediately benefit from infill. The infrastructure already exists for train stations to boost immediate densities and commerce. I dont think that can be said about the inner ring suburbs quite as much.
The metra already runs out there... in many ways the 'burbs are already better served than huge tracts of the actual city limits. Lets get the CITY the transit it deserves before we start spreading ourselves even thinner.
If you've ever comuted to and from downtown with the other 100,000 or so suburban drivers and train riders you would know it's not a moral issue but one of logistics. The near west suburbs are closer to the Loop than Rogers Park or Lakeview yet by choosing to live there they are imoral? What crack have you been smoking?
No Jack, i think we'll disagree on this one. the cta is a public utility. Its primary objective should be to aid transit in the city of chicago. There are tragically under served areas of the city already. They pay city taxes, they shop exclusively in the city, they pay property taxes to the city. Those people deserve improved services via CTA before suburban riders do.
It is a logistics issue yes, but it is also a moral issue and a planning issue. We want to A) improve the well being of the people of Chicago B)encourage increases in density whenever possible. Both of those are more readily achieved by beefing up the current system via infill and greater inner city access in my view.
You have a very narrow view of what "Chicago" is concidering less than 1/3 of the population lives within it's boundry. To suggest the trains only serve less than 1/3 of the people who live and work in this region, where little to no taxes are paid to the county, city or state, is a continuation of the failure of governance that has brought the city of Chicago to the point of having to sell it's train stations.
Jack, how many miles of new track would be needed to service all the way to Oakbrook? Where would the logical connections be made?
I think Rogers park and certainly lakeview are closer than the western suburbs you mentioned.
I still think that rather than attempt to provide crummy service to an ever growing and huge area, the CTA should focus its funding and efforts on improving the areas it already covers. If the quality were higher, more potential riders would use the system and populations would shift to enter CTA covered areas. And as I said above, I really think the loop is one of the biggest problems of the entire system. It makes it impossible to run most of the train lines any more frequently than about 1 train ever 10 to 15 minutes or so. It would be a monster project, but more of the train lines should be dropped down as subways, on multiple levels, within the loop. Can you imagine if the green line or brown line or orange line etc. all could simultaneously run trains at every 3 to 5 minutes during rush hour, and the only train in front of them would be another train of the same color? Everyone would take the trains.
Who are the potential riders on the westside? Theres no jobs, 1/2 the land is vacant - it looks like Detroit. The only people living there are paid by the government to live there. Its Detroit.
If you want to do right and good you need to activate the area by running the rails to the suburbs. Forest Park is 8 miles west of the Loop, a little more than Wrigley Field. Westchester 9 miles. Elmhurst 11. Oakbrook 11. Rogers Park 12.
Oakbrook is home to McDonalds, Ace, Hiffman, Private Bancorp to name a few - its a major employment center. Hell the mall alone is an employment oppurtunity for the west side people in the gehttos who are not going to be working at the Board of Trade no matter how well connected they are to downtown. Theres a massive new hospital being built on Roosevelt at Elmhurst, another major employer. Theres the 25St industrial corridor in Bellwood that would be a great stop as well.
Think about it this way; If you had $1billion to spend, would you spend it in an area where there was little to no chance of leveraging that billion into something more than a money pit for the next 30 years or spend it on a truely metropolitan system that could create synergies between the city and suburbs and result in better economic potential for all citizens?
Jack, you make some good points, but the truth is that the CTA is the Chicago Transit Authority.
There are city limits, and they exist for a reason. The CTA has a duty to serve the city first and foremost. The suburbs, though main contributors to our financial well being, are NOT chicago. Just as Chicago police dont patrol oakbroak, chicago firefighters dont put out fires in elmhurst, and chicago doesnt fund capital projects in westchester, the chicago transit authority shouldnt be spending its money on suburban development when so much of its city is under served.
You argue that there are already jobs to be served in the west suburbs and that the west side of the city is a desert. I argue that the jobless areas of the city are the areas of the city in MOST DIRE NEED of increased transit availability. Transit can have a profound effect on the economic viability of the immediate vicinity. It can be one of the best tools available to city governments to spurn growth in areas.
That being said, i think you see why i believe we need to better serve the city as a priority. the RTA can spend as much as it likes to increase suburban to city synergies, and i hope they do so. B
Aggregate Chicago
talked with a guy on the train who said they put an ad for an architecture position in chicago up on AIA, they had 250 resumes the next day
The positions at SIUC were supposed to start this academic year so they apparently have not found someone who has experience and a master’s degree yet.
saw this billboard on the Eisenhower today
postal, that is extremely depressing.
re : plan review --
My first time through Zoning was a treat. First of all, you definitely need to arrive really early, because it is a first come, first served ordeal, with people lining up outside the door at 6.
Actually, in my experience this has changed since they started issuing the expeditor cards. The expeditors still line up in the morning, because they want to have their day finished by noon or whatever; but they seem to be mostly cleared out by the afternoon. I have frequently gone just after lunch and only had to sit around an hour or so and was seen in the afternoon. Much better than the days I was getting up at 5am to be down there.
Mostly, you need to be aware that there will probably be random arcane zoning requirements you're not aware of, and allow a couple of weeks (2 weeks) to get your zoning through IN ADVANCE of when you were planning on applying for permit. For example, once when working on a small condo renovation I was hamstrung for a couple of weeks by zoning, because they discovered that the condo building -- the association itself, not my client -- owed back taxes on their driveway dating from the 1950s. This meant that in order to get my simple little interior renovation permit for my private client within the building, we had to get the condo association to file drawings & pictures of their driveway with the driveway permit desk (did you even know there was such a thing? I did not) and also with CDOT, which then lost the paperwork and it took me another week to track down who had it and who it needed to go to. The departments do not talk to each other, which means that any time you have to get things approved by multiple desks, YOU are the go-between. You have to be there and check up on them day after day, remind them of your project, and then be there to pick up whatever form they needed to sign and take it to some other person to sign -- they won't take it themselves, even if it's all part of the same form. (Did that make sense?) Then after I had done the run-around with CDOT, it turned out that some other person had to take payment for the back taxes. The total time delay was something like 3 weeks, and I had to go there 5 or 6 times within this time (and the condo association was obviously involved as well).
The city has begun using Zoning review as a sort of catch-all process that will uncover any kind of random fees or fines related to the property itself, that may or may not actually have anything to do with your project. Therefore, zoning review in my experience has become by far the biggest hassle of the project. Just be ready for that.
Secondly, make sure you clear any weird accessibility or life-safety (fire code) issues in advance with MOPD (accessibility) and Asif Rahman (head fire code reviewer). This will hopefully cut down on any weird plan review revisions.
Finally, just be ready for nit-picking at the Plan Review desks. Unfortunately, the reviewers vary WIDELY in knowledge and in jerkiness, and I agree completely with Synergy that there is very obvious favoritism (as well as anti-favoritism) in effect. You can't really pick your reviewer, so come prepared with your best zen-like mental state and be as calm and patient as Buddha himself. Do not lose your temper, do not argue, just thank them for their time and try your best not to piss them off. I have never had success in challenging a stupid (bullshit) "issue" on the drawings with the reviewer him/herself; the best thing to do is take it, and deal with it in your resubmittal. Document it if you disagree. This is why it helps to get any weird potential issues cleared by the head people ahead of time.
The curb cut back taxes are their new thing. Also be aware that every single building in the city is in violation of the new "public way permit" meaning footings, signage, fire escapes etc that all go into or over the public way, even if they are 90 years old, are not in compliance. To rectify this the city will you a cittation, with a fine that you wont have to pay but by some arcane leagal logic they must issue a fine to make it official, then you will document the existing public way incursion and submit an application for public way incursion with aldermans signiture to the depart of public way compliance in the Depaul Center - not city hall because that would be too convienent. Once approved then you go back to zoning. By approved I mean you've paid the application fee and 2 fat ass Democratic Machine Moles say they looked at it. In our case this took 6 weeks and no one ever came out, the just asked us to sign an avidavate saying it was as we said.
Have fun.
I'm not sure how you italicize text like that, but this is from Mantaray's:
Mostly, you need to be aware that there will probably be random arcane zoning requirements you're not aware of, and allow a couple of weeks (2 weeks) to get your zoning through IN ADVANCE of when you were planning on applying for permit.
I 100% agree. My first project through was a simple deck repair (which was required by a city inspection, and was a life safety issue, mind you). We were held up in zoning for at least two weeks because the existing building had a bay window that extended into the public way, and had back fees owed for this bay window permit. Ridiculous.
I also agree with your point about just taking their comments. For the most part, you often just have to the do the mental calculation, which will take more time and cause more stress, arguing about this little point, or just adding the unnecessary dimension, view, etc they are requesting.
ps. how do I italicize text like that? do you cut and paste it in, or is it an html thing?
Good point about the public way obtrusion thingy -- I had forgotten about that. Zoning is such a bitch. And know in advance that if you are digging foundations more than 12' below ground, you will need full review and approval from the Office of Underground Coordination in advance of permitting -- which can take up to 3 months, and is minimum about 1.5 months it seems.
Syn, archinect uses some obscure branch of html; instead of carrots, you use straight brackets, like so : [ i ] text you want italicized [ / i ]
EXCEPT take out the extra spaces I added in those brackets. Bold is the same, but with "b" instead of "i", underline "u", etc. I can't remember how to do strikethrough. Color is just the name of the color.
circle line options
Sure you can. You need to keep hitting the back button and picking a new time. A new plan examiner will come up and you can avoid some of the real strokes that sit behind the desks down there.
The public way permit thing has been going on for years. If you are a new tenant or if the owner changes, then you need one. The lost one application 2 summers ago and actually were quite apologetic and helpful. Have a plan drawn and some photographs ready.
Good luck!!!
omg, I can't believe I never tried that ! (re : hitting the back button and picking a new time). Will DEF do that next time.
I lost a letter on the 2nd sentence of the third paragraph:
They (the office at 333 S State St) lost one application 2 summers ago and actually were quite apologetic and helpful. Have a plan drawn and some photographs ready.
Dimension how far the fire escape or sign juts out over the public way. I think the drawing, really a site plan, goes on their application or at least an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. It's pretty simple. You also need to run it by the Alderman and get a letter from him.
Did anyone see Lynn Becker's link to this collection of stills from movies where the city is used as a backdrop? Pretty cool...
[url=http://forgottenchicago.com/features/chicago-odds-and-ends/drama-documentation-discontinuity/
]link[/url]
Not sure if you've seen this but:
Mayor Daley learns that Chicago has lost the 2016 Olympics
Re-subtitled segment from the film The Downfall. NSFW if Nazi's and/or profanity in on screen subtitles are not tolerated.
Are there any real reasons to vote for this guy again?
Have the Daley’s run out of $ friends $ ?
Strange name person that made my year. One of the best clips Ive seen on you tube ever. I shot my latte out of my nose when he said, "What kind of asshole cant get through the workday without a nap". Im still crying.
In other news - CTA to hike fares to $3 a ride.
Chicago Cubs filled for Chapter 11.
Manta-- that strange code is called UBB. It's to prevent jokers from using some of HTMLs more obscure tags to wreak havoc.
I think the cubs filing bankruptcy is just a formality to limit their liability from the tribune company as they conclude their sale to the Rickets family.
The Cta fare hike stinks, but I'll still be riding.
Speaking of bankruptcies, and further back about the the Zaha pavilion delay.
Condo developer Roszak files for personal bankruptcy
Do you think he'll get to keep his house?
Glass House: A Family Home
I didnt realize he was an architect / developer.
Yea and this did not help him either:
Condo complex parking deck collapses
Sienna sued over handicap access
How he got chosen to work with Zaha is beyond me.
It was from IIT to whom he has given a bunch of money. I think he is on the board.
We got our Zaha!!!! We are saved!!!! We have bought into the international brand of STARARCHITECTS!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrryg7Ffygk&annotation_id=annotation_580362&feature=iv
The Vetro building is also a branding exercise. Specifically it's a poor copy of the W concept. It's very mediocre.
His personal house was on the auction block. I don't think it's all that great either. He spent millions on it. It's sort of a Werner Sobek knock-off. Give 10 motivated architects that kind of cash and you'll see some incredible work. This house ain't it. I think he turned it in for an AIA award like 4 or 5 times before he got it.
The parking lot thing was a real debacle.
David Hovey's accomplishments, another Arch/Developer and IIT person, in comparison are truly incredible.
David Hovey, I will have to check him out then.
Thanks for the IIT info. I should have looked deeper for the connection.
I guess that's how Garofalo got the UN Studio Pavilion architect of record gig then (through UIC)?
I was not too impressed with the detailing work at the Hyde Park Art Center. I'm sure the budget was low, but I've got some photo's that make me cringe.
BTY, I'm not slamming on Rozack. I just found it all somehow interesting, like driving by an auto accident.
Make, thanks also for the introduction to Jonathan Meades. It is a first for me.
After just a brief few minutes of watching your link, I've decided that he he reminds me quite a bit of Louis Theroux, albeit with a completely different subject matter and level of intellectualism.
The irony is that Millennium Park has probably lived up to the hype that the examples cited by Jonathan Meades have not. It is probably the most successful new cultural district outside of Bilbao in terms of it helping energize an area and bring in tourists and money. Chicago already had both but the old railroad yard and the dilapidated Grant Park had more vagrants and rats than anything else.
So did Millennium Park bring $230 million (or whatever the amount of public money was) into the City and pay for itself or did it transfer money and steal attention from someplace in the City?
The Hadid thing is really weird because it is all about what Meades is talking about. It added nothing to the park except for the jokes about filling it up with junk. It was simply a leftover project that found a home in Chicago. Joseph Rosa isn't acting as an Architecture Curator but a branding consultant.
A sad sad day
We have closed the doors of THE PRAIRIE AVENUE BOOKSHOP after a glorious era in the history of architecture. The Bookshop is a proud accomplishment and made many other things possible.
We published a magazine on a seminal movement, THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL REVIEW, which defined a period in Midwestern architectural history, published books on Sullivan, Wright and Griffin, wrote a Student Guide leveling the playing field for students in Idaho, wrote a history of the 19C leap of Chicago to the forefront of world architecture, and opened this mecca ("the best architectural bookshop in the world", LONDON FINANCIAL TIMES) for architects from all over the world. All this while Bill was planning and supervising the restoration of Wright's Dana House and Sullivan's Cedar Rapids Bank, among others. The master plan for the Robie House with Getty funding was also part of the mix with too many others to list.
Granted we rode a revival in preservation and historical studies, and a publishing revolution as well: facsimile printing and President Johnson's junior college program in the 60's, the duotone and color technology by the Italians and Japanese in the 60's and 70's, instantaneous ordering by fax and then by the web, the photolithography process for printing THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL REVIEW in the 60's, and self publishing on the computer, all while several new movements in design came to the fore. Why, a couple of my Prairie Avenue Bookshop catalogs with contemporary architectural bibliography were even offered online in England for 15 pounds.
Then of course came the debacle of Amazon and its destruction of 1000's of independent bookstores and the Senate Committee disallowing sales tax on the internet sales which punished brick and mortar businesses, ours included, (which in turn hikes your state's budget shortfalls and local real estate taxes). The unnoticed present and future destruction of publishers is in progress. And critical editing in general will disappear as foretold in the Graham Foundation's seminar several years ago. In Chicago, Cook County's 10.25% sales tax was the final nail in the coffin.
But that's another story.
Bill's book THE CHICAGO ARCHITECTURAL CLUB, Prelude to the Modern, chronicles the change in architectural historiography itself: a club, letters, drawings, blueprints, magazines documenting ideas and design, as opposed to the 20C telephone, e-mail in lieu of letters, the death of magazines, and CAD--the death of drawing. Such a book will not be written on 20C architecture. No one writes or keeps that kind of record today. Alas!! Artistic works such as Sullivan's A SYSTEM OF ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT and Wright's WASMUTH PORTFOLIO will not be produced. We donated a "carload" of documentaiton from THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL REVIEW and later nineteen boxes of research (including too many drafts) for the CAC book to the Art Institute of Chicago, which in turn has skipped nearly all of the 20C of Chicago architecture and cuts Jack Brown's Ryerson /Burnham Library budget first in every financial crisis. Should records we donated be catalogued, at least historians in the future can see how it was done.
But--it's been a great ride. We enjoyed talking for 48 years to visiting architects, architectual historians, architectural critics, students and architectural buffs. We will miss you all, and especially our incredibly loyal staff, particularly Beth, Karl and Emily, known to all of you, who stayed with us to the end.
Now it's time to retire. Marilyn's two new knees and Bill's ubiquitous cane spell the end of exciting professional lives. Bill will be finishing his new book on Dwight Perkins--the man he considers the third in the triumvirate of turn-of-the-century architects, Sullivan, Wright and Perkins--and Marilyn is delving into literary criticism again.
Thank you for your conversations and support.
Marilyn & Bill Hasbrouck
Marilyn Hasbrouck
Prairie Avenue Bookshop
Appearantly they forgot to turn off the website, link
Is it me or is that letter awfully petty?
How is the letter petty?
anybody from chicago way available for a sun 25 oct meetup? i'll be downtown...
Dear God no link
apple gets naming rights to North /Clyborn Redline Station
I really don't understand the naming rights hoopla. Advertising is not the panacea that's going to miraculously solve the CTA's issues. The city and the state both need to commit to the system, build the circle lines, stop cutting service, and funnel more money to the RTA. The only way the CTA will survive is if the state chooses to make the CTA indispensible to Chicagoans. (And, incidentally, advertising revenue will also increase if this happens -- you NEED RIDERS to make advertising revenue a significant revenue!) People keep acting as though slapping a few more ads into the 10 remaining unused square feet of space is suddenly going to make the system profitable.
...One wonders where all of our 10% sales tax goes? I still see hordes of fat shopping bags on Michigan Avenue everyday so I know that's got to be a good source of revenue.
This mayor and his entire coterie need to be kicked far, far out of the city.
Exactly Mantaray, the more they bring in the more they spend out - not nessessarily on the things that need to be done. I feel like the selling of city assets and naming rights is like being an enabler for a drug adicted spouse's bad habit.
Did you see the cop's retort of eliminating twenty-five Alderman? This would save an estimated $10 million a year.
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Chicago.City.Council.2.1272167.html
There's not much going on down on the 9th floor. They fired their last consultant who was one of the most professional Plan Managers.
So if twenty five of the Alderman go, should they go down like Gladiators or draw straws?
I don't know, I've thought about this a lot, I feel like the government employees/programs should be cut back somewhat in proportion to what the rest of the economy is experiencing. Specifically, I think some of the government unions are so powerful they are practically holding their governing body hostage. For example, I read recently, in discussions relate to CTA funding shortfalls, that the CTA management is trying to get the unions to forgo 3% pay raises mandated in their contracts. This is infuriating to me, everyone else in the country is cutting back hours, taking pay cuts, having lay offs, etc. and these guys are expecting to get pay raises!?! I realize that the people who negotiate those deals, on both sides of the table are responsible, and I'm not interested in seeing them suffer just because everyone else is suffering, but I would like to see a little more awareness on their part. Cops or fireman could take pay cuts too, or maybe just stop protecting their own when they get caught beating up female bartenders...
I agree mantaray about the attitude toward the CTA, the entire perception of the system is completely off. I feel the CTA's primary focus should be to infill their system as much as possible and repair/improve the most critical areas. Personally, I'd like to see the loop reworked so that every train line doesn't run on the same set off tracks. It is so congested and clumsy. If it were reworked, you could have trains arrive much more frequently, and with many fewer delays (every notice how if one train line has problem, the whole system seems to seize up?) I think projects to expand the system out further are completely off base, the discourage density and lower the overall efficiency of the system. If the existing system was super reliable, comfortable and clean, people would relocate to utilize it more. Afterward, it would be an easier step to extend out to outlying areas. As it is, the CTA don't seem to have any real logic or vision. The CTA can't simultaneously be extending the system out further and raising the overall system performance. It is counter to logic and its counter to every example of successful systems I have been on.
Jack, this :
I feel like the selling of city assets and naming rights is like being an enabler for a drug adicted spouse's bad habit.
Is such a great description. I totally agree.
Make, which plan manager did they let go????? I have to get in there for a permit in the next 3 or 4 weeks.
I dont know why the government workers even have unions - are they afraid the tax payers will exploit their labor? Whos their competition?
Ruth Duckworth passed away...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/arts/25duckworth.html?hpw
According to Chicagoist Apple will pay the CTA $4million and fix up the station and get 100% of the advertising space but WILL NOT get naming rights. Apple will however get right of first refusal if the CTA decides to sell the station naming rights in the future.
Sad about Duckworth. Thats a name I had'nt heard in a long time.
Duckworth used clay like a sculptor rather than with the traditional methods of a potter.This is an interesting and fertile working method that can be applied to Architecture.
Synergy, I completely agree. Did you see the proposed new lines? An extension to the Oakbrook MALL, are you fucking KIDDING?! What are we, regressing to 1960 all of a sudden? That's the stupidest idea I've heard of since I moved here. The second stupidest idea is cutting train and bus service. Yeah, that's really going to juice the system. Reminds me of what every restaurateur says -- the moment you know a restaurant is months away from going belly up is the moment you see the sign on their door showing that they're cutting back hours. On the other hand, more / speedier trains on the existing lines and infilling projects that serve existing underserved density (here's looking at you, green line through west loop) would be great. A tight circle line, or extending the brown line to meet the blue line (which, by the way, would serve an area of one of the densest pockets of transit riders in the city), these would be great. Now THAT'S how to fuel development, Mayor-Despot Daley, and it AIN'T through huge TIF mono-packets going to developers trying to woo out-of-state (or foreign!) speculators!
UGH. Sergio Palleroni's lecture last week, and a couple other things I've been reading about lately, have really got me thinking about what spurs real, lasting, community-oriented development in a city. Investment in transit is one thing. Small-scale, community-targeted development is another. The way this mayoral administration wields its TIF projects does nothing but fuel rampant real estate speculation on big monolithic projects. And look where that's got us...?
An interesting article that puddles posted : (worth reading to the very end)
detroit land auction
I've been following the progress on the Apple store, it does seem to be moving ahead pretty quickly. I think it will be a nice addition to that intersection. Before there was little of note in that spot, was it a gas station? I can't remember for sure. I'm hoping that the Apple store encourages more foot traffic in the area and continues the development that has been going on there as that neighborhood continues to define itself. As for advertizing on the trains, I don't have too much of an issue with it, but agree, it isn't going to be a the CTAs savior. Since apple is adopting the station, hopefully it will be cleaned up and made human urine stench free.
On the surface it seems like extending the blue line to OakBrook is a silly idea but when you look at the density of the near western suburbs, the Eisenhower corridor in particular, it becomes appearant that the 2 Metra lines servicing the region are not enough. The Oakbrook area is a huge employment center and the density of Lombard, Elmhurst, Western Springs and Forest Park far exceed the West Side of the city. I think extending the lines AND creating better inner city options like the circle line should be done. By extending the lines you will help break down that ever present Chinese wall between the near west burbs andf the West side. The Us / them divide.
I dunno... i dont really care how much density is in the suburbs. Im not convinced that extending the lines so that suburban shoppers can easily come spend money downtown over the weekends is right. Both in a planning sense and a moral sense.
As manta and synergy suggested, there are seriously undeserved areas of the city which could immediately benefit from infill. The infrastructure already exists for train stations to boost immediate densities and commerce. I dont think that can be said about the inner ring suburbs quite as much.
The metra already runs out there... in many ways the 'burbs are already better served than huge tracts of the actual city limits. Lets get the CITY the transit it deserves before we start spreading ourselves even thinner.
I dunno... i dont really care how much density is in the suburbs. Im not convinced that extending the lines so that suburban shoppers can easily come spend money downtown over the weekends is right. Both in a planning sense and a moral sense.
As manta and synergy suggested, there are seriously undeserved areas of the city which could immediately benefit from infill. The infrastructure already exists for train stations to boost immediate densities and commerce. I dont think that can be said about the inner ring suburbs quite as much.
The metra already runs out there... in many ways the 'burbs are already better served than huge tracts of the actual city limits. Lets get the CITY the transit it deserves before we start spreading ourselves even thinner.
If you've ever comuted to and from downtown with the other 100,000 or so suburban drivers and train riders you would know it's not a moral issue but one of logistics. The near west suburbs are closer to the Loop than Rogers Park or Lakeview yet by choosing to live there they are imoral? What crack have you been smoking?
No Jack, i think we'll disagree on this one. the cta is a public utility. Its primary objective should be to aid transit in the city of chicago. There are tragically under served areas of the city already. They pay city taxes, they shop exclusively in the city, they pay property taxes to the city. Those people deserve improved services via CTA before suburban riders do.
It is a logistics issue yes, but it is also a moral issue and a planning issue. We want to A) improve the well being of the people of Chicago B)encourage increases in density whenever possible. Both of those are more readily achieved by beefing up the current system via infill and greater inner city access in my view.
You have a very narrow view of what "Chicago" is concidering less than 1/3 of the population lives within it's boundry. To suggest the trains only serve less than 1/3 of the people who live and work in this region, where little to no taxes are paid to the county, city or state, is a continuation of the failure of governance that has brought the city of Chicago to the point of having to sell it's train stations.
Jack, how many miles of new track would be needed to service all the way to Oakbrook? Where would the logical connections be made?
I think Rogers park and certainly lakeview are closer than the western suburbs you mentioned.
I still think that rather than attempt to provide crummy service to an ever growing and huge area, the CTA should focus its funding and efforts on improving the areas it already covers. If the quality were higher, more potential riders would use the system and populations would shift to enter CTA covered areas. And as I said above, I really think the loop is one of the biggest problems of the entire system. It makes it impossible to run most of the train lines any more frequently than about 1 train ever 10 to 15 minutes or so. It would be a monster project, but more of the train lines should be dropped down as subways, on multiple levels, within the loop. Can you imagine if the green line or brown line or orange line etc. all could simultaneously run trains at every 3 to 5 minutes during rush hour, and the only train in front of them would be another train of the same color? Everyone would take the trains.
Who are the potential riders on the westside? Theres no jobs, 1/2 the land is vacant - it looks like Detroit. The only people living there are paid by the government to live there. Its Detroit.
If you want to do right and good you need to activate the area by running the rails to the suburbs. Forest Park is 8 miles west of the Loop, a little more than Wrigley Field. Westchester 9 miles. Elmhurst 11. Oakbrook 11. Rogers Park 12.
Oakbrook is home to McDonalds, Ace, Hiffman, Private Bancorp to name a few - its a major employment center. Hell the mall alone is an employment oppurtunity for the west side people in the gehttos who are not going to be working at the Board of Trade no matter how well connected they are to downtown. Theres a massive new hospital being built on Roosevelt at Elmhurst, another major employer. Theres the 25St industrial corridor in Bellwood that would be a great stop as well.
Think about it this way; If you had $1billion to spend, would you spend it in an area where there was little to no chance of leveraging that billion into something more than a money pit for the next 30 years or spend it on a truely metropolitan system that could create synergies between the city and suburbs and result in better economic potential for all citizens?
Jack, you make some good points, but the truth is that the CTA is the Chicago Transit Authority.
There are city limits, and they exist for a reason. The CTA has a duty to serve the city first and foremost. The suburbs, though main contributors to our financial well being, are NOT chicago. Just as Chicago police dont patrol oakbroak, chicago firefighters dont put out fires in elmhurst, and chicago doesnt fund capital projects in westchester, the chicago transit authority shouldnt be spending its money on suburban development when so much of its city is under served.
You argue that there are already jobs to be served in the west suburbs and that the west side of the city is a desert. I argue that the jobless areas of the city are the areas of the city in MOST DIRE NEED of increased transit availability. Transit can have a profound effect on the economic viability of the immediate vicinity. It can be one of the best tools available to city governments to spurn growth in areas.
That being said, i think you see why i believe we need to better serve the city as a priority. the RTA can spend as much as it likes to increase suburban to city synergies, and i hope they do so. B
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