iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 07/09/2026

They taught us about all of these things in elementary school. They called them “simple machines.” Maybe once America is done inventing artificial general intelligence, we can investigate them.

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Going to Europe now I am like “Wow so many tower cranes for mid-sized construction,” “omg look at this garbage collection” and “Huh so these are the famed exterior blinds you can control from the inside.”

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

@ Chicago / Transit / Urbanist etc. Bluesky - About to leave for Amsterdam and Lisbon for two weeks - any recommendations? Especially things outside of the obvious!

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I am once again calling for more some bike racks at the California Park Pool @davidpowe.bsky.social even though this isn’t you any more 👀

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

It would be cool and at least slightly beneficial for their PR if the CTA could talk about ridership this quickly - @chicagocta.bsky.social what was Lolla ridership like last weekend? Top weekend of the year??

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Nilo @nilo.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Something that’s very underrated is a lot of elite universities have basically decided certain topics are irrelevant or unfashionable so vast swaths of the American economy simply had no questions asked about them.

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David Powe @davidpowe.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Divvy keeps breaking its own ridership records! Yesterday, riders took 47,700+ trips. Divvy is adding hundreds of new stations this year to support record growth, including the newest and IMHO most iconic station in Chicago at North Avenue Beach! 🚲🌊🏙️

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 09/08/2026

This is very interesting and speaks to the importance of building codes, and I am looking forward to the day when we have code reform tools to bring down costs of denser typologies that do not involve simply making the structure flimsier, more flammable, and less soundproof

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

New post, in which I try to coin an awkward new housing typology name (the "III-5"), and describe how what I thought was a parking reform story was actually a building code and parking reform story daniel-kay-hertz.ghost.io/the-birth-of...

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Big crowds on train and at stations tonight post game, and I’ve seen nobody smoking - @chicagocta.bsky.social is really making a comeback!

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

The thing is, Chicago also downzoned in the 60s-early 2000s--in fact, a huge chunk of Humboldt Park was downzoned. You will be shocked to hear that this has not prevented gentrification, and that in fact downzoned areas are associated with disproportionate growth of white residents.

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Star:Line Chicago @starlinechicago.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

I think Metra takes their extra board (additional workers on-hand without a scheduled run who can fill in for absent co-workers) more seriously, and I wouldn't be surprised if Metra also had fewer call-offs because they're less reliant on part-time shifts

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Steven Lucy @slucy.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Looks like there are two stairs outside the unit as well as the private stair between the two levels within the unit. The dual stairs appear to be between the north tier and south tier.

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Genuine and basic question - why does Metra basically always meet its scheduled headways and CTA consistently has these sorts of issues? Or am I wrong about metra? Is it about: 1) Staffing (more CTA surprise call-offs) 2) Public safety / “rider incidents“ more common on CTA? 3) ??

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Someone should write up a blog post about the major break points in the Chicago building code

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David Powe @davidpowe.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

🚲 New Divvy record: 47,400 rides yesterday! The previous record (42,000 rides) was set just last Saturday. For context, there was only one day over 40,000 rides in all of 2025. Divvy has now had three in the last 8 days. Chicago keeps riding 🚀

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Micheál Podgers @michealpodgers.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

If the Mayor can’t recognize Nora’s stellar performance as Acting President I hope the NITA Board does. @govpritzker.illinois.gov @tonipreckwinkle.bsky.social

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Micheál Podgers @michealpodgers.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

It’s Sunday evening. It’s raining. And @chicagocta.bsky.social Acting President Nora Leerhsen is on site at the Fullerton Red/Brown Line station helping to manage the Red Line reroute during construction this weekend.

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Alex @acannon.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Always 2-3 months behind. Would love to get on BART’s level. Top line number is usually available the next day, they’re behind right now but still have data through 5/31. www.bart.gov/news/article...

bart.gov

Ridership Watch: daily ridership update | Bay Area Rapid Transit

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Chicago, Bike Grid Now! @bikegridnow.org · 07/06/2026

Please, join us in community as we celebrate the life of Riley O'Neil and Jam in his honor. 📍 Palmisano Park (Fitness Course) - 41.84177, -87.64905 ⏰ Monday, June 8th, 7p Start, 6:30p Meetup

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Alex @acannon.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Last summer Armitage was doing 80-90% of peak weekday service on Saturdays. Since purple doesn't run downtown on weekends, it was already seeing more riders per car than weekdays! Its not 2019 anymore. Cutting brown line weekend service in half makes no sense.

Summer 2025 Armitage riders per day by day of week.

Avg riders added per arrival by day of week at Armitage Stop

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Is CTA ridership lower on summer weekends than weekends during the rest of the year? If anything I'd expect ridership to be higher as folks are more out and about? (Unless there's significant CTA -> biking, especially divvy, shift in the summer) @acannon.bsky.social

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Single funniest part of this hearing by far

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

When 3/4-flats aren’t allowed by right, neighbors don’t not gentrify - just the opposite! Moreover, if 3-4 flats *were* allowed by right, neighborhoods like this would absorb more demand and reduce the displacement pressure on the “gentrification frontier” in Logan, Humboldt, and Avondale.

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Nilo @nilo.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

My nutso conspiracy is that lawyers have a stranglehold on policy creation on the United States even in areas where they are vastly below median contributors, and this is responsible for like 95% of USA policy underperformance.

media.tenor.com

a man in a blue shirt and tie is pointing at a bulletin board with papers taped to it .

ALT: a man in a blue shirt and tie is pointing at a bulletin board with papers taped to it .

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Protect Bridgeport Bicyclists @stevevance.net · 21/04/2026

the 46th and 48th ward surveys are basically the same the 46th Ward survey asks if the respondent would vote for Hoan Huynh over Angela Clay

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Abundant Housing Illinois @abundanthousingil.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

It’s a great day to get out there and clear some drains, Chicago

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Reading Wuthering Heights and gotta say it I’m confused how they’re making a romance movie about this, when (~60% through) it seems best summarized as “BPD girl with a weak constitution and her abusive paramour screw up their own lives and also everyone else’s.”

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Reading both of these at the same time and lots of interesting nuggets / comparisons - among them, the questionable existence of “Greeks” as a useful category for at least ~1,000 years between these two events.

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Of course, it's also good to just not make people do 100 page reports that no one reads for routine City business.

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

This is a great example of Good Abundance imo: EDSs are required of private entities, so one could think of shrinking their footprint as "cutting regulations." But bc the City relies on private nonprofits, etc, to build housing, it's really increasing state capacity! bsky.app/profile/rsda...

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Alex @acannon.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

A lot going on here so bear with me but... Saturday and Sunday run way closer to their pre-covid numbers than weekdays do, especially in the summer and fall. They're much more sensitive to seasonality than weekdays. Monday and Friday run slightly behind Wed-Thurs but follow the same annual trends.

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 01/02/2026

Need a name for this mid-rise infill multifam typology all over wealthy urban developing world neighborhoods (Tehran, Hanoi, Mexico City, Lima): lobby half a story above grade, sloped garage to the side. Ugly, inaccessible, garage-driven, but ubiquitous – must be efficient for fitting a lot of cars.

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 01/02/2026

Sanctions-busting hero Hamed Zarepoor has uploaded tons of new Google Street View shots of Tehran. He used to only have the main streets, but now there are lots of side streets. You can see what the city actually looks like, not just what architects wished it looked like:

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Protect Bridgeport Bicyclists @stevevance.net · 31/01/2026

coming soon to @chicagocityscape.com: this chart showing new construction homes permitted per ward per year the * asterisk indicates that the ward saw fewer than 100 homes in the 8-year period shown

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Alex @acannon.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

and bus ridership was nearly flat YoY.

7-day moving average CTA Bus ridership 2022-2025

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Alex @acannon.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

The rate of growth slowed down considerably last year. For rail, the O'Hare branch was the only line making big YoY gains.

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

The sharp high income-low income border running N-S through Edgewater and Uptown just east of the lake is Broadway. That's the context for the furor over the Broadway rezoning, which has come 90% from the dark blue tracts

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Hoping to see some Uptown folks at tomorrow's meeting (5:30pm, 4737 N. Sheridan) about the Sarah's Circle Permanent Supportive Housing development tomorrow!

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Also - share any CDMX urbanism recommendations! (Not my first trip though I’m with family so I can’t just go look at buildings and streets the whole time!)

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Chinese electric cars with ranges of 240 miles advertised for ~$20,000 at the Mexico City Airport - gonna be a tough decade for the American/European auto industry…

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

A really welcome reinvention of a fairly standard five story infill apartment building from a newish local architecture firm, Org chicagoyimby.com/2024/10/plan...

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

CTA [Blue Line Automation!] when??

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Nilo @nilo.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Honestly they should try to figure out how to automate the blue line with that money. There will be so much work for the operators on the others…

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Is one possible reason for LIHTC projects' higher per unit costs in Chicago vs. market projects that they so often seem to be six stories? My understanding is that's where you can no longer do type III construction and there's a cost discontinuity chicagoyimby.com/2025/10/exte...

chicagoyimby.com

Exterior Completion Nears At 1237 North California Avenue In Humboldt Park - Chicago YIMBY

Exteriors are nearing completion for the new residential development from the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation at 1237 North California Avenue in Humboldt Park.

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Jesse Orr @jessezorr.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Community meeting about this tonight at the Center on Halsted at 5:30PM - come join us!

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Daniel Kay Hertz @danielkayhertz.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

It's cool that when they think the audience is progressive, the Edgewater residents organizing against the Broadway rezoning say they're fighting gentrification, but otherwise they're pretty open about what they're worrying about

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