Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 9h

Let’s expand downtown zoning along the entire lakefront!

Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 9h

Despite being two blocks from the 'L' and in the shadow of a half-dozen 20-30 story high rises, this site only allows a FAR of 2.5 by right. And that's with one of the highest-density residential zonings! By my calculation, the existing building has a FAR of ≈2.47. We gotta up those numbers.

Eric Erins @ericerins.bsky.social · 15h

Huge Development site hit the market in Edgewater. Right on Sheridan, just south of Loyola, couple blocks from the redline. Demolition in progress on the old hospital. Asking $6M for the entire site. Can the market support a new highrise again finally? www.loopnet.com/Listing/6130...

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 12h

Even the street design in 1983 was leaps and bounds ahead of what we're doing today in the US. I'd kill to have traffic diverters like that in my neighborhood.

Hackney Cyclist @hackneycyclist.bsky.social · 14h

Frans Halsstraat, Amsterdam in 1983 and today

There are no trees in 1983 and the road is tarmac. Today it is paved and very green. A young girls cycles on her bike

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 1d

There's actually a very good (by American standards) intercity Amtrak route between Milwaukee and Chicago. But it should be better.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 1d

PM2.5 concentrations in Cook County steadily fell from 2000 until leveling off in 2016. (Hmm, what else happened in 2016?) In recent years, we've seen several large spikes due to the impact of wildfire smoke.

The WHO recommends an annual average of 5 µg/m³. We've got a long way to go.

Average monthly PM2.5 concentrations at Cook County monitoring sites, 2000-2025

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 1d

Hello from the roof on this beautiful autumn afternoon. I just installed a mini weather station up here because that’s the type of nerd I am. I can already tell that I’m going to want an upgrade with more sensors.

A distant view of the Chicago skyline from a rooftop. The sky is blue and scattered with small white puffy clouds.

A weather station on a dresser with the time, date, indoor and outdoor temperatures, humidity, and wind speed/direction.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 1d

Woah! 280 sensors! That's awesome. Can't wait to see the data.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 1d

It seems like every few years, health experts decide to lower the threshold for what's considered safe levels of exposure to PM2.5, based on additional evidence linking it to all sorts of chronic and acute diseases.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 1d

There are only 12 official PM2.5 monitoring sites in Cook County, none of which are in the most densely populated areas.

This is admittedly not my area of expertise, but considering how much PM2.5 concentrations can vary over short distances, that seems woefully insufficient.

A map showing the location of the 12 official PM2.5 monitoring sites in Cook County

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Reposted by Jeremy Glover

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 1d

ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 2d

Absolutely hilarious moment in the Mariners game. Cal Raleigh smoked a homer straight to a guy wearing a “DUMP 61 HERE” shirt. And after he snagged it, he took off the shirt to reveal an identical one underneath that said “DUMP 62 HERE”.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 2d

Very cool, thanks for sharing

Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 2d

Love the sentiment, but I guarantee the community would fight tooth and nail to save the parking lot.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 2d

That’s what Jensen’s design shows, but I’m not sure if it was ever actually built.

Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 3d

OK, watching the Chiefs lose was a decent consolation prize.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 3d

All these elements--the gate, the brick, the windows, the door--scream "courtyard building" to me, so this super-slender thing looks very goofy to me.

A slender four-story yellow brick building behind a gate

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Reposted by Jeremy Glover

Esther Schindler @estherschindler.bsky.social · 3d

I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 3d

How the heck is the NLDS not on network television? It's been a long day and all I want to do is watch the Cubs lose.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 3d

Today in Cars Ruin Everything:

The Humboldt Park boathouse parking lot was actually designed as a “music court” for outdoor performances, and was used as such until the Parks Department began reconfiguring park space to accommodate the automobile in the late 1920s and 30s.

A modern photo of the Humboldt Park boathouse parking lot

A 1918 photo of the Humboldt Park boathouse “music court” set up for a performance

The statue of Alexander von Humboldt in 1916, with the boathouse behind it

An illustration from the early 20th century showing proposed improvements to Humboldt Park in Chicago. The “music court” has been circled.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 3d

The Leif Erickson statue is especially easy to miss, as it’s a bit sheltered. The boulder was once inscribed with the message “LEIF ERICKSON DISCOVERER OF AMERICA”, but is now illegible and there is no other info. It needs a plaque!

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 3d

Humboldt Park’s monuments get very little love, probably because they’re placed along Humboldt Boulevard. Nobody wants to linger by the traffic-choked street, so consequently the monuments are overlooked.

Well I paused today to admire Leif Erickson and the pair of World’s Fair bison.

A rinse statue of Leif Erickson atop a large granite boulder in a park

A pair of large bronze bison flanking a staircase in a park

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 3d

In 1945, the Bituminous Coal Institute commissioned artist Rockwell Kent to do a series of pieces to elevate the public's opinion of coal.

These examples are called "Endless Energy for Limitless Living" and "Power for the Wheels of Progress". They kinda slap, despite being trade group propaganda.

1945 painting by Rockwell Kent called "Endless Energy for Limitless LIving". It depicts a large figure emerging from the clouds holding a lump of coal, which is powering a large generator with lightning.

1945 painting by Rockwell Kent titled "Power for the Wheels of Progress". It depicts a large figure pointing forward while holding a lump of coal. Beneath the figure, a streamlined train is rocketing across the landscape.

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Reposted by Jeremy Glover

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 3d

4 months.

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 3d

🙃

“I’ve got the bulletproof glass here,” he said. “So when I hear shots, the first thing I do is go check the cameras. I stay inside, I don’t freak out. I live in a neighborhood where I hear shots a lot, and after living in America a few years, you get used to it.”

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Jeremy Glover @jgrantglover.bsky.social · 4d

Apparently the Humboldt Park beach use to be oriented such that you could enter from the the lower level arcade of the field house, as shown in these old Tribune photos. That would be so rad!

A person sweeping sand beneath an archway from within an arcade. Chicago Tribune photo from 1997 by Chris Walker.

A view of a lagoon beach from beneath an arcade. Chicago Tribune photo from 1995 by José Moré.

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