CHICAGO | General Developments

[Domer2019]

Originally Posted by Khantilever

I don’t know under what conditions and costs McD’s Corporate has the right to sell the underlying land, but I wonder whether the franchisee at this location saw a potential sale coming and decided to quickly remodel to discourage precisely that.

I bet Karavites pulls some weight given that he owns 22 locations, and corporate seems to be backing him to some extent in terms of the whole remodel push.

McDonald’s spokeswoman Anne Christensen said the restaurant will feature a new, unique theme that’s different from other “experience of the future” restaurants, but she couldn’t provide further details at this point.

“We can’t wait to show our customers the new design that reflects McDonald’s vision for the future,” Christensen said.

...

Another Karavites-owned McDonald’s, at Chicago Avenue and State Street, was the first Chicago location to get chain’s latest remodel last year.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...214-story.html

Soon enough, all this investment will be a sunk cost in terms of redevelopment value, but it's still probably bad PR in the short term to remodel then ditch it. Best case, they get a covenant 10 years from now to inhabit the property's retail space, and claim parking spaces a la Holy Name.

[IrishIllini]

Love what's happening on Clark near Belmont. The building that houses target at the NW corner really changed the face of the area. Just waiting on the MB, DSW and Sports Authority buildings to bite the dust. Think we're stuck with the parking lots for Walgreen's, CVS, and strip mall for a while, unfortunately. Clark St. Dogs is a gem, but I would be okay with the building meeting the wrecking ball if it meant building out the parcels from Clark/Halsted through the Binny's parking lot.

[left of center]

Wonderful repurposing of that old storefront. I wish more projects were like this. Our neighborhoods need further densification, but not at the cost of the historic building stock that currently exists and gives these places character and sense of place. Entire blocks on the North Side have been completely razed and replaced with new, glazed brick, cookie-cutter 3 flats.

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ I know Mark Thomas, the owner of the Alley, and he lobbied hard to keep the facade from being destroyed. I believe he actually made it a condition of the sale. Glad it was saved, what a fantastic storefront. The final product will be much more valuable because of it.

[SolarWind]

Chicago Smart Lighting Program Installation Map

http://chicagosmartlighting-chicago.opendata.arcgis.com/pages/installation-map

[UPChicago]

I saw they were installed on Boardway at the Halstead fork, I actually like the LEDs much better was on the fence at first.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

Chicago Smart Lighting Program Installation Map
...

It looks like they're doing the high-murder-rate neighborhoods first - do they expect the LEDs to help fight crime?

[woodrow]

Posted this in the OBP thread also, but I think it is interesting that the map is showing South and West side locations. Like UPChicago noted, it has been done at Broadway/Halsted. Also Racine to the North and South of Addison. My street is scheduled for the spring.

The residential two tier lighting is acutally nice. The spread is not as wide so the street and sidewalks are well lit but the light isn't shining into second story windows as much.

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by emathias

It looks like they're doing the high-murder-rate neighborhoods first - do they expect the LEDs to help fight crime?

I think I read that it indeed has a positive impact on crime. I cant quote a source though...

[Steely Dan]

i for one will dearly miss the yellow-orange perma-glow of chicago at night.

but i know those old sodium lamps and the light they throw are objectively bad.

it just goes to show that people can get nostalgic about absolutely anything.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

i for one will dearly miss the yellow-orange perma-glow of chicago at night.

but i know those old sodium lamps and the light they throw are objectively bad.

it just goes to show that people can get nostalgic about absolutely anything.

"Pretty blue lights along the way, help you right on by" Should have landmarked the old blue lights. or at least the green on lower Wacker.

[Busy Bee]

Not to mention that at one time really not that long ago in the scope of things it was the yellow sodium lamps that replaced the white mercury vapor and metal halide. So for that reason "nostalgia" is extremely subjective. I for one don't remember the pre-sodium era and a great many mental snapshots of my young adult life are tinted yellow, but I am not going to shed a tear for them, good riddance!

[MayorOfChicago]

Originally Posted by emathias

It looks like they're doing the high-murder-rate neighborhoods first - do they expect the LEDs to help fight crime?

Yes, apparently they do a better job at spreading their light and creating a brighter area, and also it lets people and cameras see things in a full color spectrum and makes it easier to recognize faces and people.

[Busy Bee]

It's also good politics, which is probably most of the reasoning

[710cl]

Do the LEDs give anyone else a bit of a headache? I can't imagine I'm the only one.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by 710cl

Do the LEDs give anyone else a bit of a headache? I can't imagine I'm the only one.

Not me or anyone in my family.

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by 710cl

Do the LEDs give anyone else a bit of a headache? I can't imagine I'm the only one.

Some can give me a splitting headache. For me, it seems mostly to be a factor of color temp and diffusion. If I address these, I don't get headaches.

I haven't been around the LED street lights enough to know whether or not they will bother me.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by 710cl

Do the LEDs give anyone else a bit of a headache? I can't imagine I'm the only one.

I'm usually okay with them, but some, especially older ones, have a rapid flicker that can give me headaches. It's not really consciously perceptible to me, but experientially it's like old CRT computer monitors - if they were below 72 Hz, I would get headaches using them. It seems like some LEDs have a similar flicker, causing me similar headaches. But most recent ones don't bother me at all, and most of my lights at home and the office now are LEDs.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by emathias

It looks like they're doing the high-murder-rate neighborhoods first - do they expect the LEDs to help fight crime?

As others have said, the spectrum of light emitted by LED is much closer to sunlight so humans (and cameras) see much better in LED lighting. The logic being that all kinds of seedy behavior will be discouraged and investigations furthered by the change.

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

i for one will dearly miss the yellow-orange perma-glow of chicago at night.

but i know those old sodium lamps and the light they throw are objectively bad.

it just goes to show that people can get nostalgic about absolutely anything.

Eh, I'm not nostalgic about it at all. The new heads are actually really sexy and a big aesthetic improvement beyond just the safety and energy savings.

[intrepidDesign]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

As others have said, the spectrum of light emitted by LED is much closer to sunlight so humans (and cameras) see much better in LED lighting. The logic being that all kinds of seedy behavior will be discouraged and investigations furthered by the change...

I also think I read that the descriptions given by witnesses are more accurate with white light. Was the suspect wearing a white shirt or an orange shirt or a beige shirt? It's hard to say in the sodium lights, but a pure white light it's much easier to give an accurate description.