Sign in

jean

@jeanniebabies.bsky.social
678 followers 218 following 313 posts

bikes, transit, housing, chicago. in a band called hard femme. bureaucrat in training

PostsRepliesMedia
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Why is the southern terminus of Bike the Drive at MSI instead of the South Shore Cultural Center?
000
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I love having the most talented brother in the world who makes music videos for my band about how much we all fucking hate cars
040
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
TIL all Chicago Public Library cardholders get full access to the New York Times, including Games and Cooking. You have to create an account to redeem a code, and you have to refresh the code once per day, so it’s less convenient than paying. But it’s free! www.chipublib.org/resources-ty...
Text from the Chicago Public Library website that reads:

“Patrons outside the library can access The New York Times by redeeming a code.

• Click the link, then enter your library card number and PIN
• Click "REDEEM" (this code will expire in 24 hours, and you will need to retrieve a new code to continue use)
• You will be prompted to create an account if you are a new user.
Existing users will log in with their credentials.

Enjoy unlimited access to News, plus Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter, and The Athletic. View online or download the app.”
23411
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
If Ishbia moves forward with a megadevelopment at the 14th St Amtrak yard, will it foreclose the possibility of reactivating the St Charles Air Line Bridge as part of a crosstowner network? Or might it actually incentivize that work? CC @starlinechicago.bsky.social therealdeal.com/chicago/2026...
therealdeal.com
Justin Ishbia’s firm in contract for Amtrak rail yard near the 78 megaproject
The land could anchor a mixed-use development, potentially including a stadium-centered district for the White Sox near Related Midwest's The 78 megaproject.
060
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Do I even need to say it?
A photo of the Sears (Willis) Tower viewed from the Western Pink Line station. The station sign is visible in the foreground, with the roofs of three classic Chicago worker’s cottages right behind. A verdant tree canopy in the middle distance gives way to a small cluster of protruding skyscrapers on the horizon. The Sears Tower emerges from the middle of the pack.
0191
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
The TV sitcom South Side is so good, I don’t understand why I’ve never heard anyone talk about it before? Could be a me thing but I feel like it deserves more love
290
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Unpleasantly surprised to find that Ardmore is being resurfaced between Broadway and the Lakefront Trail, which means you have to backtrack all the way to Berwyn if you need a chill exit from the LFT. We need a bike detour system so bad
280
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Tomorrow —
010
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
I’m co-leading a Power Broker book club at Mouse Arts & Letters in Bridgeport on Saturday 4/18 — we’re only reading a couple chapters focused on municipal finance, so no need to commit to reading the whole book in order to join us for discussion mouseartsandletters.org/events/munic...
mouseartsandletters.org
131
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
#chiLFT mostly clear on this beautiful (fake) spring day, though still technically closed between Ohio St Beach and the curve. The upper level sidewalk is almost entirely clear if you can get your bike up the steps, however, and walking the icy patch around the curve isn’t bad if you don’t mind mud
A bike in front of the closed portion of the lakefront trail at Ohio St. The path is pretty icy in the background.Ice around the curve of the lakefront trail near Oak Street.
012
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
As a knowledge worker I find it unsettling how explicit the current crop of LLM tools are in their attempt to get me to internalize the logic of management. Like personally I do not want to review PRs and tell other people what to do all day, that’s why I’m a programmer and not a middle manager
182
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
The suburb of Harvey has 6 alders serving ~20k residents. For comparison, Chicago has 50 alders serving ~2.7m residents, so Harvey has ~16x more alders than Chicago by population. If Chicago had Harvey’s ratio of alders to residents we would have 810 alders www.cityofharveyil.gov/city-council/
cityofharveyil.gov
City Council – City of Harvey
050
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Does anyone have a copy of the Friends of the Parks’ complete “Last 4 Miles” plan from 2009? The only direct link I can find is in this 2022 WTTW story, but the link is broken and it wasn’t archived properly by any archive services I’m familiar with because it’s a PDF news.wttw.com/2022/06/20/c...
news.wttw.com
Chicago’s Lakefront Park System Comes Up Short at Both Ends. Is It Time To Revive the ‘Last 4 Miles’ Plan?
Friends of the Parks is re-starting the conversation surrounding the gaps in Chicago’s lakefront park system and what those four miles could mean for shoreline protection, promoting biodiversity and d...
4132
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Is there a cloud service I can use to upload and stream music files that I own without subscribing to the company’s library of licensed music? Plex seems to be the stock answer to this question but I don’t want to deal with any physical hardware and that seems to be a requirement for a Plex server
630
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Walking on Western after a snowstorm, a drama in three acts
Pickup plow truck blocking the sidewalkMountain of snow preventing access to the sidewalkA good samaritan in a red jacket and green grinch pants plowing the sidewalk
4191
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
I don’t know much about int’l law but it still seems like it would be a good idea for a future Democratic admin to start cooperating with the ICC if and when the coalition ever takes power again. Not only is it morally correct on the merits, but it‘s the only way I can imagine we’ll see justice
030
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Yes I'm vibecoding (putting on a vinyl record and lighting some candles)
190
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
[Bumping into Wallace Shawn on the street] “Hey aren’t you the guy who plays Wallace Shawn in My Dinner With Andre”
020
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
UP-N ➡️ BNSF ➡️ Salt Creek Trail ➡️ BNSF ➡️ Potsticker House ➡️ UP-N $7 with a Metra Saturday/Sunday Day Pass (dinner sold separately)
Six bikes stacked together on a Metra trainFour people shot from behind riding bikes on a shady, woodsy bike trailA table full of lots of Chinese foodTwo people walking bikes on the platform at Ogilvie Transportation Center, flanked by two Metra trains on either side
081
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
That iconic blast of heat as you turn the corner onto Ardmore at the northern terminus of the Lakefront Trail
071
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
I wonder what the revenue / politics would have looked like if Bring Chicago Home had only applied to single family homes, condos, and apartments with a price per unit >$1m. It probably would have left a ton of revenue on the table, but maybe clearer winners + losers would have helped the messaging
330
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Two normal elderly women in line behind me at the coffee shop chatting about car-free streets in Paris, Doug Ford ripping out bike lanes in Toronto, and how they’d bike more if more lanes were protected. Not totally correct on the details but solid on values. A small reminder that we’re winning
216813
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Is there any reason to believe adding noise barriers to expressway median L stations wouldn’t be extremely cheap, especially in proportion to the benefit to South/West side riders?
2230
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
I hadn’t biked to Logan Square in a while before tonight (probably at least a year) and I was pleasantly surprised to find that you can now get there from Edgewater basically entirely on greenways, protected lanes, and off-street trails
1170
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
My compromise position on cars is that they should be safe, legal, and rare
1222
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
We’re gonna save transit, folks
A woman (me) viewed from the back holding a sign that says “At this Pace we’re doomed… special session now”, where “Pace” is styled using the logo of the Chicago suburban bus operator
0964
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
God bless whoever put up this pro-upzoning poster in Edgewater, please put up more
A flier taped to a streetlight pole that reads:

“I also have access to a printer,
And I say
Upzoning is cool and good and it is my friend

Let ‘em build some housing! What're you worried about, people with jobs and homes using the Red Line?

Atraid of density? then why did you move to the big city my good friend [emoji making a ‘this guy’s nuts!’ gesture]

‘But I wanna drive my car!’
The bus is better because you can read a book on the bus

Dear ‘Save Edgewater’: If I ever see you again claming that increasing supply increases prices I will spank your bottom and enroll you in an econ class at Loyola

Say YES to proposed Upzoning in Edgewater
Email: Leni@the48thward.org Call: (773) 784-5277
212323467
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Pilsen rooftops
A photograph featuring a variety of different rooftops in Pilsen. In the foreground are four classic A-frame shingled roofs on top of worker’s cottages. Immediately behind them is a brown brick three-flat with a turret, whose roof is not directly visible, but is flat. Behind the three-flat is a red brick building with a dark mansard roof and dormers emerging out of the attic. Finally, the Willis (Sears) Tower is visible in the far distance in the center of the frame. The sky is blue but filled with large puffy cumulonimbus clouds of a variety of different shades, like you might see when the sky clears after a storm.
0130
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
The moment the rally started marching north on Dearborn, as seen from the County building
07710
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
A tale of two cities, Chicago bike edition: On the left is CDOT's map of bike infrastructure on the North Side, and on the right is the South Side. Even without the legend, you can tell that these are two different worlds, with I-55 acting as a border between them
A screenshot of CDOT's interactive map of bike infrastructure on the North and West Sides of Chicago. The map is bounded roughly by the south branch of the Chicago river to the south, Harlem Avenue to the west, Oakton Street to the north, and Lake Michigan to the east. Lots of greenways and protected bike lanes are visible across the extent of the map, with scattered off-street trails visible here and there as well.A screenshot of CDOT's interactive map of bike infrastructure on the South Side of Chicago. The map is bounded roughly by the Calumet Channel to the south, Harlem Avenue to the west, I-290 to the north, and Lake Michigan to the east. Lots of greenways and protected bike lanes are visible north of I-55, but there is very little aside from painted lanes south of that. Off-street bike trails are visible along the lakefront, on which the Lakefront Trail extends down to South Shore, as well as the Major Taylor Trail on the far South Side and a few sections of trail near Wolf Lake on the far Southeast Side.
7626
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Montreal Critical Mass
3977
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
You can tell a lot about municipal priorities in Chicago and Montreal by comparing the two cities’ “Green Alley” programs. Chicago’s program funds better types of concrete pavement (left), while a program with the same name funds people-first green spaces in Montreal (right)
A “green alley” in Chicago. The alley is mostly bare, except for a cobblestone street that appears to be constructed out of concrete pavers.A “green alley” in Montreal. The alley seems to have conventional pavement, but it is lush with greenery, decorated with paint and pennant banners, and appears to be hosting a block party.
3242
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
“Cold and windy” was not what I was asking for here
040
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Sorry to the Sun-Times newsletter editors who have to deal with it, but the typo in this morning’s edition did get a laugh from me
Text from the Sun-Times morning newsletter that reads “Good morning, Chicago. Below: The Chicago-porn pope was installed as the Catholic Churcn's first pontiff from the U.S. - and for those who knew him here…”
610722
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Today feels like a good day to reflect on the extent to which Jesus was a non-citizen who was detained and tortured on trumped-up charges in an attempt to suppress speech deemed threatening to the occupation of Palestine
160
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Just one time I would like for the weather to be warm without being windy, please
140
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Bus drivers should be allowed to play music while they drive
180
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Gone pseudonymous, DM me if you can't remember who I am
050
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Flagging, but instead of different color handkerchiefs it’s Clark Devon Hardware beanies
170
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Is there a name for this particular style of small multifamily building that seems to be common across Cincinnati’s west side?
A symmetrical, squat, yellow-brick two flat with two stories and what appears to be two units on either side. The building is set back from the street by a sloping, grassy lawn, in a midcentury American suburban style. Power lines hang over the street.Another symmetrical, squat, two-story duplex set off the street by a suburban lawn. This one features prominent ornamentation on a front piece that protrudes from the otherwise rectangular building.A third example of the form, with the same shape but mixing yellow and red bricks. There is a prominent tree in the front yard.Two of the duplexes, shown side by side from a 3/4 angle.
2100
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Seeing as deed-restricted affordable housing seems to be legal in IL (even if not rigorously tested in the courts AFAICT), would it be theoretically possible to restrict the deed on a multifamily property to require that tenants or owner-occupants not own cars?
100
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
One thing I really like about walking is that there’s no chance I could accidentally kill someone
3499
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Today is a great day to sweep and mop your Chicago Vintage Tile Floor
Entryway to a Chicago apartment building featuring an outer and inner vestibule, both with white porcelain tile and a green tile trim
1140
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Walking 20min down Randolph from Millenium to Ogilvie for a perfectly timed ME ➡️ UP-N transfer, thinking about how one day when we #BuildTheTunnel and make this a one-seat ride we will gain a convenient way to get from Hyde Park to Edgewater but lose the opportunity for a pleasant stroll in the rain
Looking south down LaSalle St from the middle of the intersection of Randolph and LaSalle, City Hall is lit up in purple lights on the left and the Chicago Board of Trade is illuminated in gold on the horizon in the center of the frameAn upward shot of the Cadillac Palace theater sign in the rain, with a red umbrella peeking into the top of the frameLooking north from the Randolph Street bridge on a rainy night, a CTA car passes along the Lake Street bridge in the bottom third of the frame while the Wolf Point towers loom over the top thirdThe caboose of a Metra car idling in Ogilvie Transit Center
3454
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
One particularly interesting historical detail here is that the two ads that are visible in the photo are for 1) a day labor agency in Uptown and 2) an anti-fire PSA, two of the most important focal points of political conflict on the far north side in the 1970s
2226
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
It’s wild to me that: * A non-journalist (Nik) FOIAed for the Red Line Extension budget * Discovered that costs have nearly doubled for mysterious reasons * Found the CTA is planning to issue $2.75B in bonds to plug the hole And yet no local news outlets seem to have picked up the story
39814
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
McKinley Park corners
A red brick corner two flat on a sunny day next to a very large Evergreen treeA pink vinyl-sided bungalow with an A-frame roof and an ornate brick front gateA red brick two-story builsing with a green roof and a prominent dormered atticDetail of the face brick on the dormered red brick building showing that the bricks are in fact a number of different earth tone colors, including red, green, blue, and purple
0244
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Sunny twins in Chatham
Twin orange-brick 3-flats on a residential street in Chicago with a partly-cloudy blue sky behind them
0253
jean @jeanniebabies.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
I bet I could beat this number in a single day if they let me write tickets
City of Chicago website about snow shoveling that reads “Can I be penalized for failing to shovel? Yes, you con receive a citation for failure to shovel. In 2014, 226 citations were issued. The fines range from $50 to $500. The amount of the fine is on a per-case basis, and determined by an Administrative Hearings judge.”
070
Reposted by jean
Laurie! Live! @laurie-merrell.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
Test your knowledge of 2024 Chicago local news with my quiz! 🏙️🤓 lauriemerrell.github.io/chicago-news...
lauriemerrell.github.io
Chicago Local News Quiz 2024
Chicago local news quiz 2024
84312