An interesting look at the Chicago housing projects during the 1950-70s by Joy Connelly The communities created by the Chicago Housing Authority were all, by current wisdom, destined to fail. The new-built estates were large and isolated – Regent Park-style low-rises punctuated with high-rise towers. They were overwhelmingly black communities, drawn from the tenements on [...]
Chicago
The Worst of Saskatoon
When we moved to Saskatoon in the mid-80s, there was a magazine called Western Living that we received and it listed the Sturdy Stone Centre as one of the ugliest buildings in Western Canada (Moose Jaw’s crushed can was also on that list). I am not a big fan of brutalist architecture either downtown or [...]
When Irish Eyes are Crying
Michael Lewis on how Merrill Lynch stuck the Irish people with 106 billion euros in debt. Ireland’s financial disaster shared some things with Iceland’s. It was created by the sort of men who ignore their wives’ suggestions that maybe they should stop and ask for directions, for instance. But while Icelandic males used foreign money [...]
2009 in Review
This is late but we all need to deal with disappointment in our lives. Memorable events for 2009: Heading to Chicago Thanksgiving weekend freezing at the lake Freezing at the cabin in late April with snow on the ground Favorite books I read in 2009: The BLDGBlog Book The War by Ken Burns The Kennedys [...]
Photos from Chicago
Well I finally uploaded all of my photos from Chicago online. Each one of the photos takes you to the photoset on Flickr where they now live. This was taken inside of Bloomingdale’s in Chicago. A second after I took this photo I was approached by a pleasant staff who told me that photos weren’t [...]
Chicago in March
I am attending the Salvation Army Social Services conference in March which will be held in Chicago. Our free time is extremely limited and we will be downtown on the Magnificent Mile. Other than Navy Pier and Sear’s Tower, what do I need to see in downtown Chicago? What restaurants should we eat at? Where [...]
