Category archive for ‘CHICAGO WAY’ rss

  • Hello “Nature Boardwalk,” So Long South Pond Swan Boats

    7/28/10 • (5)

    The Lincoln Park Zoo has rehabbed the park’s South Pond into a spiffy new Nature Boardwalk. But now that the pond’s former shabbiness is gone, so are the paddle boats that plied its waters for more then a century. It’s a piece of the rehab project zoo planners haven’t mentioned much in the past two years.

  • The Homing Pigeon of State Street

    7/17/10 • (7)

    Two months ago I moved out of Marina City to head for a quieter life beyond downtown. But there’s something to be said for living at the center of it all. I’m learning the grass isn’t any greener outside the Loop–and the roaches sure do put up a fight.

  • The Status Quo Vs. The Local Blogger

    7/14/10 • (1)

    In Chicago, how people feel privately about the status quo and what they say about it in public are rarely the same. That applies to Chicago’s blogosphere, too. In a new-media space where dissent makes people run for cover, how can local bloggers hope to make change happen?

  • Blown Away by MSI’s Science Storms Exhibit

    7/13/10 • (3)

    Two years ago, Pastry Chef Chris and I visited Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry and I blogged that the most modern technology in the place was the Dyson hand dryer in the men’s room. In March, museum staff read that post–and invited me on a private tour of MSI’s jaw-dropping new Science Storms exhibit 24 hours before opening day. It’s amazing how easily a 40-foot man-made tornado can sway my opinion.

  • Transformer Ire

    7/12/10 • (6)

    This summer, downtown Chicago has been handed over to the Transformers 3 movie shoot–to film scenes glorifying Loop devastation and the the deaths of rank-and-file Chicagoans. As citywide media goes ga-ga for gargantuan robots, I’m wondering whether $20 million is the going rate for ceding civic pride?

  • Meet Me in St. Louis, Not Milwaukee: How Not to Oversell Your Urban Tourism Campaign

    7/09/10 • (15)

    The urbanist in me loves that St. Louis and Milwaukee are vying for Chicago visitors with cheeky local tourism ads. Here’s why the St. Louis campaign has me yearning to visit, while the Milwaukee campaign has me yawning and staying home.

  • Are Unpaid Social Media Internships Legal?

    7/07/10 • (4)

    Chicago nonprofits and businesses often use unpaid social media interns as a cheap way to gain institutional knowledge about building online community. But according to the U.S. Department of Labor, federal law requires that unpaid internships be for the benefit of the intern–not the company. And now the fed is investigating.

  • Exploring Chicago with Foursquare: An Unexpectedly Amazing Experience

    7/06/10 • (4)

    For months I dismissed Foursquare, the popular GPS check-in game, as a marketing gimmick. But a whirlwind day chasing down Chicago’s official tourism badges showed a friend and me how addictive it can be–and taught us a lot about our own city that we never knew before.

  • A Cautionary Tale Told in Feet

    6/30/10 • (7)

    There are many ways to enjoy an open-air concert date in Grant Park. Spending two hours trying to avoid being eaten by a surprise third wheel’s life-threatening lizard feet is not one of them.

  • Moving on from Marina City

    5/25/10 • (18)

    I am no longer a resident of Marina City. At the verge of 40, my life goals when I moved downtown five years ago just don’t match up with who I want to be in the next chapter of my life. So I’ve given up my high-rise home in order to get my feet back on the ground. In every way possible.