Archive for the 'Chicago'

Let’s start here. I want our relationship with public objects to feel like this. It does not feel like this currently. But let’s back up to a street scene in Chicago in the late 1930′s for context. You’re walking at a clip downtown because it’s storming. You hunch over and tilt your umbrella into the sheeting rain as people scamper for cover and taxis. Luckily your destination is this building and you know, thanks to having walked this route before (and a...
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Recently, as we sometimes do to fill time, my family and I were asking each other trivia questions. My six-year-old daughter piped up with one from left field that made me laugh out loud — then had us thinking for the rest of the evening. She asked: What’s the square root of Chicago? Didn’t have an answer for that one, but it was ready-made for my Twitter followers and they did not disappoint. The literalists looked at ranking and square mileage, but perhaps this town if...
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Heading into winter late last year we were told that it was going to be one for the record books. And so it has been. Temperatures have yet to go into minus territory and there are towns in Texas with more snowfall than we’ve had. It’s downright bizarre. But I’m a believer in meteorological karma. Sure, we’re trending way behind average snowfall to date. But that doesn’t mean Old Man Winter can’t go for a late game Hail Mary. I’ll put away the shovel...
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In a wonderfully comprehensive overview of Government 2.0 in 2011 up at the O’Reilly Radar blog Alex Howard highlights “going local” as one of the defining trends of the year. All around the country, pockets of innovation and creativity could be found, as “doing more with less” became a familiar mantra in many councils and state houses. That’s certainly been the case in the seven-and-a-half months since Mayor Emanuel took the helm in Chicago. Doing more...
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There’s a somewhat unknown symbol of Chicago called the “Municipal Device”. Basically a Y in a circle. It’s a representation of Wolf Point, where the main, north, and south branches of the Chicago river converge. It’s not nearly as ubiquitous as the Chicago flag or the city seal, but it’s actually all over the place if you look carefully. It’s embedded in building facades, attached to an occasional streetlamp, and the logo of the Chicago Public Library....
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