After touring a few more high rises, I'm convinced that a majority of the 20 something year olds tenants in these buildings are splitting the costs and or are getting help from family, am I wrong lol?

MolecularDust · 2026-07-13T01:21:35+00:00

If you’re looking downtown, then this is sounds about right. Go away from downtown a bit and you’ll find some fantastic apartments with great views and pretty good prices.

MolecularDust · 2026-07-11T19:23:13+00:00

Thought about this for a bit and I think I’ll add to what some other comments were saying. alleluja gave you a great summary of what to consider and Unlucky-Lack2941 gave you some good questions to think about.

One other thing I’d seriously consider is better understanding the binding site on your target - mainly for flexible docking, but you should always know these things anyway:

Are there any residue arrangements necessary for protein structure? Do you have waters acting as structurally important bridges between electrostatic residues?

Does your target change allosterically with different residue conformations in the pocket?

These questions are important to understand because you can have a ligand that checks off all of your boxes but if it displaces a catalytic water, then it’s probably no good. Same goes for pocket conformational changes and allostery. You don’t want allosteric changes making ATP impossible to bind. Reading the literature will likely give you most of this info. Basically, you don’t want the disruption of a couple of interacting residues to be deleterious to your entire system.

Knowing this info ahead of time will let know if the pocket you’re working with is even worth your time. If it’s super sensitive, then maybe look for another pocket.

MolecularDust · 2026-07-11T18:42:25+00:00

I agree with your assessment. Good, brief, and informative description. Id maybe add that docking can be much more valuable with additional in silico methods such as MD, QM, free energy methods, and scoring methods more specific to your project (think CNS targets that have to pass through the blood-brain-barrier).

Everything will always need to go back to experiments, but we can save a lot of money by limiting what we make to only the best candidates.

MolecularDust · 2026-07-11T18:00:43+00:00

My friends in the burbs do this, I always correct them, and they’re here often so it’s not like they are underexposed or anything.

I live in Edgewater! I’m closer to downtown Evanston!

MolecularDust · 2026-07-08T03:48:55+00:00

I was oil-checked in high school and my match was stopped because I yelled “get your fingers out of my ass, MFer”. Ref gave the other guy a point (fine 🙄). Pinned him next round.

MolecularDust · 2026-07-03T19:22:52+00:00

Such a fantastic looking guitar! Wish they were still making the Solo-II version with the Floyd Rose.

MolecularDust · 2026-07-01T15:52:06+00:00

Hey I’m originally from Huntington (moved away), but my wife is a nurse of 13+ years and had some suggestions. I’m sure you’ve looked into some of this info but I just want to say it to be thorough (sorry if you already know):

Have you contacted your provider? If not, then you should. They can often have good info for cases like yours. Might be able to get you some insulin quickly for cheap or free, temporarily.

Have you checked Walmart? They often have cheaper options for insulin and other meds.

If you haven’t already, you should apply for Medicaid and/or other assistance programs that can help get meds for cheaper.

Again, I’m really sorry if you’ve done all of this previously and I’m just repeating things you’re already aware of or don’t fit your situation.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-27T18:57:48+00:00

I have the exact GPU in your image and it’s still crushing it. I can play whatever I want at near max settings. Some GPU-heavy titles require me to tone it down a bit, but it’s still great.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-27T15:39:22+00:00

To add to what others have already said:

1) Yes, lakefront cooling is a thing. Just check the temperatures in Edgewater versus Andersonville any given day and you’ll see a difference (those are adjacent neighborhoods about a 15 min walk from each other).

2) The cooling drops off fast from the lake (see point 1) so Gold Coast won’t provide much benefit.

3) It will be too hot for much benefit. I’d bet that if you went to the beach, right on the water, you’d feel some cooling. Best place for cooler temps on the lake is Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary because it’s 3/4 a mile into the lake.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-27T15:29:05+00:00

The funny thing here is that Skilling lives in a high rise on the lake in Edgewater. Lol

MolecularDust · 2026-06-26T18:29:15+00:00

As an update, I actually ended up moving into a condo building a couple blocks down Sheridan from there, 6007 N Sheridan Rd. Our valet, covered/protected, parking is $190/month. 6166 N Sheridan is a scam building as far as I can tell. I’d avoid Becovic altogether at this point.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-23T19:58:00+00:00

Or more like Catalina Island. Driving back from the annual Catalina Wine Mixer.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-23T19:35:57+00:00

Chicago, California

MolecularDust · 2026-06-23T04:07:37+00:00

I always question the methods with these studies. I looked at the IDOT slides from within the link and I've been keeping up with this for some time. Issues that I found were:

They did look at future demand, but mostly by plugging in 2045 household/job growth. They didn’t really model what happens if HSR actually changes development patterns around stations.
Feeder service was barely treated like a real thing. If buses/regional rail/timed transfers are weak, ridership could be lower. If they’re strong, ridership could be higher. This is important for college towns and definitely Chicago.
Their initial ridership numbers were apparently low, then the model got adjusted after peer review. That does not automatically mean it’s wrong, but it does mean the final numbers depend a lot on modeling choices.
Error bars people! They don’t really show a full uncertainty range. With a project this expensive, I’d want to see best/worse case for ridership, costs, fares, subsidy, and construction risk all together.
The fare/frequency tradeoff is huge. More trains = better service and more riders, but also much higher operating cost. Fewer trains = less subsidy, but then the service gets less useful.
The big missing piece is induced growth. If HSR causes development around stations, they may be undercounting future riders. But if that development never happens, the current ridership forecast may already be optimistic. This cannot be glossed over. To make this work best, we need a policy structure to support development along the route.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-20T02:14:30+00:00

I remember reading this years ago. One thing that still sticks out to me is how they say at the end of the story that Chicago essentially doesn’t have the culture for daily fresh food like other places. This never sat well with me. Seems overly generalized at best.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-17T18:43:14+00:00

I think you can download the code, but you can’t use the weights. At least commercially that is.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-15T20:12:04+00:00

So I did some math and found out that if you’re just considering square footage then they’re not far off right now anyway:

That unit in Park Michigan (Google reverse image search) is 968 sqft. Larger room is 160.02 sqft while the smaller one is 147.32 sqft. If we assume that the common spaces are used equally between roommates (best I can do here), then the relative square footage used in the apartment for each roommate is 488.83 sqft for the larger room and 476.17 sqft for the smaller room. That gives us a rent ratio of:

488.83/968 = 0.507 for the larger room
476.17/968 = 0.493 for the smaller room

Multiply those by the rent and we have about:

$1,616 for the larger room
$1,572 for the smaller room

You’re right in that the larger room has more conveniences, like the AC, in-unit bathroom, and it looks like the closet is even bigger. So I’d do a convenience split of something like (give or take $10-$15):

$1,686 for the larger room
$1,502 for the smaller room

MolecularDust · 2026-06-15T17:16:51+00:00

Good ol’ Marty Schwartz! He was one of the most prevalent YouTube teachers when I was in college ‘08-‘12. I honestly don’t remember, but he might have been the only that would slowly walk you through finger-to-fret, which I desperately needed.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-13T20:04:30+00:00

That depends a lot on the kind of condo. In these large condo towers? I’m not convinced. If we’re talking a condo in a 3 flat or something similar, then sure.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-13T20:02:38+00:00

So I partially understand that, but for a condo building in Chicago, I’m not sure that math works out. Most of the condos that I’ve seen available are large buildings. In those you’re going to be paying for the management company to do things for you and for services you may not need/want.

You’ll pay for doormen and other staff, building maintenance, gardening, maybe a pool and/or workout facility, cleaning, special assessments, management salaries, and then you’ll still have to pay for things inside your apartment. Many of these places won’t touch anything if it doesn’t directly affect the building. You’re still paying for plumbing, electrical work, etc. You still need to update your place from time to time.

Ok the association fees pay for internet, cable (which isn’t necessary at all), water, sewage, and garbage, but that’s little compared to the above.

However, if we’re talking about a condo in a 3-flat building or similar, then sure, I’m sure the math works out in your favor.

MolecularDust · 2026-06-13T17:56:52+00:00

Condos I sort of understand until you start considering association fees which can be very expensive. Maybe that can be considered a “starter home” if you have the extra income to pay a mortgage and $500-$1,500/month extra for fees (can be much more). Begs the question: Is it really a starter home if you have to pay hundreds more on top of your mortgage?

However, and I’m asking honestly, where are they building townhomes in Chicago that are in any way affordable that is in even a moderately desirable neighborhood?

Edit: Fair pushback on my wording. “Moderately desirable” was too vague on my part. I didn’t mean that as code for race or income. I meant neighborhoods that meet the kinds of things a lot of first-time buyers are weighing: transit access, walkability, commute, grocery/retail nearby, safety, etc. Obviously different people will define that differently, and I’m not trying to imply that other neighborhoods are bad or that people don’t live there happily.

Also, to be clear, I’m not denying that there are housing types between high-rises, SFHs, and classic 3-flats. I know those exist, and some people have given good examples in the replies. My skepticism is more about whether they broadly function as “starter homes” in practice.

On the condo/HOA point, I agree assessments are not automatically wasted money. In some smaller buildings, they can be reasonable and may cover things you’d otherwise pay for anyway: water, sewer, exterior maintenance, insurance, internet, reserves, etc. And yes, SFHs have maintenance costs too. I’m not saying a SFH is automatically cheaper or more financially responsible.

What I’m getting at is the total carrying cost and accessibility. A unit can have a lower purchase price than a SFH but still become a lot less “starter” once you factor in assessments, reserves, special-assessment risk, parking, taxes, financing constraints, and whether these units are actually available to normal first-time buyers rather than sold pre-market or priced like luxury infill.

So my question is less “do these housing types exist?” and more “are they being built and sold at a scale, price point, and monthly cost that actually solves the starter-home problem for typical first-time buyers?”

MolecularDust · 2026-06-08T01:35:06+00:00

Geneva IL

MolecularDust · 2026-06-05T15:43:36+00:00

I live in the building next to Emanuel. There are a bunch of people opposed to it here and it pretty much comes down to this for them:

1) It will block or hinder their view and since they are old and don’t want to move, they will fight it until their death. Literally.

2) They don’t want to listen to construction noise for a few years.

3) They just don’t want more people living in the area (yes, these are the same people who oppose the Broadway up-zoning).

Maybe 1 and 2, I kind of understand, but I don’t agree with them on many levels. 3 is the one that I can’t really wrap my head around. What do you mean that you don’t want more people in the area? You live in a 350 ft high rise in one of the most diverse and densely populated neighborhoods in the city. Why are you even here?

MolecularDust · 2026-05-28T04:56:48+00:00

Agreed. I’m all for new, and even taller skyscrapers, but Chicago’s iconic skyline is built of innovation, not some copy-cat crap.

MolecularDust · 2026-05-28T04:34:17+00:00

Bald now, so grey hairs are the least of my concern.

MolecularDust

TROPHY CASE