sphem.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Tribune editorial: "If the mayor is going to keep adding more cameras, officials should at the very least give us some legitimate proof that it’s improving safety." Apparently the editorial board didn't bother to ask CDOT for the latest safety data, here: chicago.gov/content/dam/...

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

Waitress: “are you all celebrating something?” Me: “Yes! The Broadway Land Use Framework, which passed through the Plan Commission last week! It will allow 18,000 more homes in the neighborhood” Thank you for your leadership on housing @leniann.bsky.social!

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

There are over 3000 places in Chicago where two one-way local streets intersect each other. If we built curb extensions on just half of them (to prevent drivers from illegally parking within 30' of the stop sign, as shown below) we could depave over 3 million square feet of roadway.

submitted 3 days ago • 6 comments

Didn't city council just reject a 25mph speed limit last week because they thought it was a cash grab?

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Counterpoint: community engagement for this kind of thing should begin and end with “this is happening fyi”

submitted 8 days ago • 5 comments

A good, workhorse building we should build more of: Either 12 units for singles or 6 family-sized units. Everyone gets a balcony. Easily fits on a standard 5,000 square-foot lot. Fits around six parking spaces in the back. And yet, illegal to build in the typical US residential neighborhood.

submitted 23 days ago • 26 comments

Higher revenue IS NOT a sign that the tolling plan is working. The purpose of the toll is to dissuade driving, more toll revenue means more driving.

submitted 9 days ago • 7 comments

Here's the final City Clerk tally of who voted for/against a 25 mph speed limit. Previously unknown: Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd): 👎 (opposed) Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th) 👍 (in favor) Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th) 👎 Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) ❓ (didn't vote) chicityclerk.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public-...

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

Today, the Chicago Plan Commission approved the Broadway Land Use Framework, which includes a recommendation to rezone both sides of Broadway to B3-5. This means thousands of new, transit-oriented homes can be built by-right! 🥳🏗️🚇 Huge shout-out to our members for speaking in favor of the plan. 👏

submitted 12 days ago • 3 comments

One of the biggest challenges people are facing is housing. The Director of Housing Solutions proposed a slate of reforms to unlock new financing, attract capital, incentivize builders, and eliminate barriers. This year, we put those recommendations to work.

submitted 13 days ago • 13 comments

Bad news: The ordinance to lower Chicago's default speed limit from 30 to 25 mph, which data from other cities shows would have saved lives, did not pass the City Council. We'll have more info soon.

submitted 13 days ago • 2 comments

A majority of alders voted against a 25 mph speed limit, citing equity concerns. Responded Ald. Vasquez before the vote, "What we don't talk about when we talk about equity is who's also disproportionately impacted by traffic crashes." chi.streetsblog.org/2025/02/19/m... @betterstreetschicago.org

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

It's quite the stark contrast where lower speed limits (i.e. 20 or 25 MPH) are found in Chicago today. Data is from OpenStreetMap as of 02/19/2025 See the data for yourself overpass-turbo.eu/s/1Z3U

submitted 13 days ago • 2 comments

If Chicago city council cared about #s, facts, objective reality, improving the quality of life of Chicagoans theyd unanimously pass a lower speed limit. They'd rather play political games with our lives though. What word describes people who do things like that? www.dailyherald.com/20250216/tra...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

The letter neighborhood associations opposing the upzoning of Broadway have sent to try and block it

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

In honor of Donald Shoup we must kill the concept of the Mandatory Parking Minimum nationwide.

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

Rest in peace to Donald Shoup, a true legend who changed the world for the better.

submitted 25 days ago • 6 comments

i’m sad that i didn’t know anything about urbanism when i was at ucla and could have actually taken a class with prof shoup. on top of being a legend of parking reform, he is a style icon as you can see with his baller crochet sweater spanning multiple decades

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

My introduction to urbanism :(

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

A brief history of an outside-the-box cycle shop: Urban, Uptown, and now Broadway Bikes. chi.streetsblog.org/2025/02/04/a...

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

Here's a missed opportunity if I've ever seen one. This three-flat at Spaulding and Belden, which is in the Northeast ADU zone, is replacing its two-car garage with... a new two-car garage. Corner lots are especially well suited for ADUs, IMO. I wonder if the owners even knew that was an option.

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

I redid my organization’s website! Two new features: an interactive map of code reform proposals across the U.S. and Canada (both single-stair and elevators!), and a mailing list you can sign up for centerforbuilding.org

submitted 28 days ago • 4 comments

Cohousing: when strangers live in separate living quarters, yet share a common area, meals, and other parts of their lives like childcare. This is not your 1960s hippie commune, but a modern arrangement that seeks to bring together a need for community and privacy.

submitted 29 days ago • 6 comments

If you’ve been to Venice, the word Doge only makes you think of one thing

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

Principles 9/10 have the strongest vision: "prioritize people, transit access, the public realm and programming" and with "fixtures that encourage people to sit", but why has Sundays on State gone from 8 times a year to 2? Reversing that trend is what will revitalize the Loop

submitted 30 days ago • 0 comments

Some good news out of Illinois: Bill just introduced to allow 2-4 plexes on any residential lot in cities with population >25,000. ilga.gov/legislation/...

submitted 31 days ago • 5 comments

sharing final photography for the North Side Housing Shelter - a 10,000-square-foot non-congregate facility in a formerly vacant building, that provides a much-needed place of shelter for 70 homeless men. Trauma informed design infuses the notion of home and safety throughout (c)Gensler/Gillian Fry

submitted 33 days ago • 3 comments

This is great news

submitted 34 days ago • 3 comments

The Illinois state code has been updated to allow cities to restrict the size of trucks on roads. This will mean that cities can design smaller intersections. Previously, intersections had to be designed to accommodate 65-foot trucks. Thank you Senator Simmons! www.ilga.gov/legislation/...

submitted 35 days ago • 2 comments

A small victory in the sea of mass destruction around us

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

After three years of negotiations, Alderman Brian Hopkins has killed the 500 home development proposed at North and LaSalle in Old Town. The project would have included 💯 affordable homes in one of Chicago’s most expensive neighborhoods. Wondering why we have a housing crisis? Look no further.

submitted 39 days ago • 7 comments

This should be a massive TOD opportunity with a transit line under Ohio, has anyone ever looked into this

submitted 42 days ago • 2 comments

I think Chicago's fanfare for having its buildings "powered" by a solar panel farm in W. Illinois is overblown given... 1. the buildings were already powered by clean energy 2. it does stuff like build a 13 acre parking garage, which has construction emissions and attracts ongoing driving emissions

submitted 42 days ago • 3 comments

Bluesky has been flooded with automated reply bots - they'll offer a sort of confrontational opinion as a reply. They're pretty convincing and we all need to train ourselves to not reflexively reply to all responses until we check Dead giveaway is new acct, few followers + original posts

submitted 43 days ago • 326 comments

This video went viral on my tiktok account the day before the 12 hour long ban… and somehow the momentum continued on after they opened the app back up. That app feels way too dystopian at the moment so I figured I’d share some #gulljoy on here instead #birding #bird #🪶 #chicago

submitted 44 days ago • 0 comments