Chicago Architecture River Cruise rated number 2 on the planet

[SIGSEGV]

Stopped by the CAC today to gawk at the model for a bit (and ending up going on a walk). They had a sign saying that the river tours were sold out for the day so I guess that's good?

[the urban politician]

One of the best things about the business of running this tour is this: for most businesses you have to make great and often risky capital expenditures to increase revenue.

But for the Chicago Architecture Tour, not so much.

As developers and their lenders, as well as the City (with riverwalk improvements, etc) spend their money building out the skyscraper canyons, the value of the River tour just keeps going up and up...

[mousquet]

I've never been to the Midwest yet. I guess I'd like to tour it all a lot, as I did a couple of large US regions already.
I hope it won't be too long before we can afford it from now. An extensive tour over there would be most interesting.

Anyway, I agree that this high-rise urban setting seems to be one of the most iconic on Earth, and it's only justice after all, since taller buildings (10+ storeys) were first developed over there.

I'm only wondering how actually clean the river can be. Would you guys let your kids swim in the river? I'm only asking.
It might be freezing, though.

That being said, it takes efforts, innovation, political will and commitment, clean and advanced businesses to have a neat river.
Sure they can make it. No doubt. If they really want to...

[jpIllInoIs]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Isn't the whole reason the topic of this thread is even possible is because the city is elevated by its natural features? I mean, it's pretty hard to have a popular architecture river cruise without a river. And isn't the lakefront also kind of important in terms of Chicago's beauty?

Yes- to me it is the scale of the water features. The lake is a vast sea, almost ocean like, but on calm days the water is like glass allowing for phenomenal images to be captures. And the river is large enough for big double decker boats to ferry tourist, but it is a rather compact river squeezed to the banks with soaring towers where it almost seems you are at the base of the buildings when on the waterfront. Then the spacing of the Chicago block grid which are small by some standards, encourages full block building or half block buildings and allowing air in between so we can appreciate the depth of each monument. You are surrounded by glass and stone and then the brawny iron bridges every 400 ft stitching the banks together pass over your head with constant movement to remind you that you are in a real working-living environment and that you are part of the scenery as passesrby wave to you as if you are the show that they came to see. It feels intimate and intimidating at the same time. Certainly you are left in awe of the art and design and craftsmanship and human accomplishments in making this city.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by mousquet

I'm only wondering how actually clean the river can be. Would you guys let your kids swim in the river? I'm only asking.
It might be freezing, though

The main branch is typically just lake Michigan water, and is by far the cleanest branch of the river. I wouldn't swim in it (there''s really no place on the main branch to swim even if you wanted to), but you'd be fine if you fell in.

The north and south branches on the other hand tend to have much dirtier water. I would certainly recommend against swimming.

Fortunately Chicago has numerous swimming beaches on the lake for those so inclined. The river isn't looked at as a swimming type of waterway. It's more for boating, kayaking, fishing, that type of recreation.

And speaking of fishing, the Chicago river is now home to over 70 species of fish. It has come a LONG way from the '70s when there were less than 10 species living in the river

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I wouldn't swim in it (there''s really no place on the main branch to swim even if you wanted to), but you'd be fine if you fell in.

Yeah, I know. I was being a fool on purpose.
Whatever.

Good job for the fish anyway! I hadn't read anything about it. It's encouraging.
You're pretty much in the same type of situation as ours in that matter.
A bunch of species came back from the cleaning.

And you know what? We might actually swim our river in our own region for real! But not in the central city. Lol, nah, certainly not.
I think it only happens for some occasional sport events, and I'm not even sure.
But in lower-density burbs that could accomodate large leisure centers, yes, it is feasible.
There's something like that planned. Swimming outside a narrow pool feels good as well, eh.

[The North One]

I've kayaked the river and it does not smell clean to say the least. I can't imagine anybody willingly swimming in it even if it was clean since there's so much traffic in the summer.

The architecture tour is nice but I always thought it was short, I also got "river baptized" by that damn fountain once. Boston's river boats seemed cool, maybe I'll try it this year.

[M II A II R II K]

Speaking of the Chicago river:


There’s a giant dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico — thanks in large part to pollution from Chicago

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...612-story.html

.....

- Just off the coast of Louisiana, where the Mississippi River lets out into the Gulf of Mexico, an enormous algae bloom, fueled by fertilizer from Midwestern farm fields and urban sewage, creates an area so devoid of oxygen it’s uninhabitable to most marine life every summer. Nutrients like nitrogen from fertilizer and phosphorus from sewage act as a catalyst for algae growth. While algae are the base of the food chain for some fish, when these green plumes proliferate beyond what fish are capable of eating, their decomposition consumes much of the oxygen in the water.

.....

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

There’s a giant dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico — thanks in large part ro.pollution from Chicago

What a stupid headline. Yes, pollution in Chicago's waterways contributes to the problem in the gulf, as does pollution from hundreds of other cities in the MASSIVE Mississippi River watershed, but agricultural fertilizer run-off is a MUCH larger piece of the problem.

[jpIllInoIs]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

What a stupid headline. Yes, pollution in Chicago's waterways contributes to the problem in the gulf, as does pollution from hundreds of other cities in the MASSIVE Mississippi River wathershed, but agricultural fertilizer run-off is a MUCH larger piece of the problem.

Horrible piece of writing by the tribune. In the article is declares the main problematic source...

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, agricultural sources in the watersheds of the Mississippi River basin contribute more than 70% of the nitrogen and phosphorus, versus about 9% to 12% from urban sources.:

So Chicago's share is a portion of the 9-12%, A portion shared by Des Moines, StL, Indy, Columbus, KC, Little Rock, Memphis, New Orleans, QC, Louisville, Cincy, Pitt, Peoria, Tulsa, Omaha and all of the other burghs. . Yet the headline reads as if Chicago is single handedly killing off the gulf marine life.

"Informative journalism is dying, thanks in large part to lazy headline writers"

PS> This is all off topic...

[badrunner]

You know what's funny though? Chicago gets to draw water from pristine glacier-melt Lake Michigan. But when Chicago flushes its toilets it flows downstream to the Gulf of Mexico. To add insult to injury, the effluent flows right by the cities it was competing against to become the major middle American metropolis .

I'm pretty sure it's the only major American city that straddles two watersheds in that manner (though it was no small engineering feat to make it happen). Maybe that's Chicago's secret geographic advantage - Chicago came out on top because shit flows downhill.

[mhays]

The green dye every St. Patrick's Day is pretty clear evidence that the river is dead and nobody cares.

The river is fantastic to look at though, and pretty unique.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by mhays

The green dye every St. Patrick's Day is pretty clear evidence that the river is dead and nobody cares..

What?

The chicago river has been cleaned up considerably over the past five decades and is now home to over 70 species of fish (up from 10 species in the '70s), along with an untold number of reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds who also make their home in and along the river, so it is a far, FAR cry from being "dead". That was an utterly preposterous declaration with not a shred of basis in fact.

And the annual St. Patrick's Day dyeing uses 40 pounds of a harmless vegetable based dye that lasts for less than a day. It has never been shown to have any adverse effect on the river's ecosystem. Even the Chicago river's greatest environmental protectors, The Friends of the Chicago River, freely admit that the dyeing is safe for the river and its inhabitants, but they do squabble with the optics of the spectacle.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by badrunner

You know what's funny though? Chicago gets to draw water from pristine glacier-melt Lake Michigan. But when Chicago flushes its toilets it flows downstream to the Gulf of Mexico. To add insult to injury, the effluent flows right by the cities it was competing against to become the major middle American metropolis .

I'm pretty sure it's the only major American city that straddles two watersheds in that manner (though it was no small engineering feat to make it happen). Maybe that's Chicago's secret geographic advantage - Chicago came out on top because shit flows downhill.

Well I guess it's better Chicago's crap doesn't infect the great lakes. However if Asian Carp gets into the great lakes it's all Chicago/Illinois' fault and I want their asses sued and punished on behalf of everyone in the watershed.

[Steely Dan]

^ how would it all be Chicago's fault? Certainly some of the blame would fall upon the fish farmer ass-hats who first brought Asian carp to north American waters to clean their commercial fish pens back in the '70s.

And the army corps of engineers has identified 18 other spots, in addition to the locks in chicago, where asian carp might cross into the great lakes watershed. Also, Asian carp DNA has already been found in 4 of the 5 great lakes, so the fish are probably already in the lakes, but they are river fish, not cold deep water lake fish, so they likely haven't found the great lakes to be a super hospitable home. They pose a far greater threat to any rivers that empty into the lakes than they do to the lakes themselves.

And suing illinois/Chicago would probably prove pretty fruitless as its the army corps of engineers who own and operate the locks on chicago's waterways. They're the ones who ultimately determine if the locks should be left open or closed.

[F1 Tommy]

I am more worried about these little suckers, although they do clean the lake and river water and make it look clearer and less green. They also cause a lot of bad side effects.

"Zebra mussels are native to Russia, but they spread through all of Europe a century ago. It took them longer to get to the Great Lakes. They hitchhiked to the Great Lakes in the ballast of a transAtlantic ship sometime in the mid-1980s". (a French ship)

[streetscaper]

Other than the already-mentioned Chicago Architecture Center, does anyone have any recommendation for specific companies todo the boat tour with?

I'm going to Chicago in less than two weeks (for July 4th weekend) and excited for this and other city adventures.

[mhays]

A better ecosystem doesn't mean a good ecosystem.

The most recent sources I'm seeing say the green dye hasn't really been tested.

Let's assume it's not toxic. We still don't know what effect clouding the water has. That alone would damage some species.

I was wrong to say nobody cares. Of course some people do. But defending a questionable practice isn't a good sign of it.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by mhays

A better ecosystem doesn't mean a good ecosystem.

The most recent sources I'm seeing say the green dye hasn't really been tested.

Let's assume it's not toxic. We still don't know what effect clouding the water has. That alone would damage some species.

I was wrong to say nobody cares. Of course some people do. But defending a questionable practice isn't a good sign of it.

You doing a Nat Geo special over here?

It’s getting better. A lot better. Be happy and hope for further improvement.

[Steely Dan]

^^ you claimed that the Chicago river was dead, which is a patently false claim. The river is now teeming with life, and the number of species found increases every time they do an official fish count.

An ecosystem flourishing with ever increasing numbers of fish, bird, reptile and mammal species is not a dead ecosystem.

As for the river dyeing, it's for ~12 hours on one day of the year with a very small amount of harmless vegetale dye. It's been done every year for a half century now and no adverse effects from the practice have ever been observed.

It's so not a big deal.

And it's a really fun, cool , and unique tradition.

It wouldn't be St. Paddy's in Chicago without a green river.


Source: https://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/gen...chicago-river/