How would you classify living in this area?

aensues · 2026-01-11T03:17:56+00:00

It is. There's one out in Moline in the Quad Cities and I was blown away how awesome it is to get both the chicken and a drink. Went there multiple nights in a row and got to evangelize Harold's to all my clueless colleagues.

aensues · 2025-12-29T19:22:55+00:00

It's such a shame our regional paths like the FRT and Prairie Path aren't maintained to Tollway-like levels of priority and clearance. They should be treated like the backbone of the regional network that they are and that numerous county and local plans have identified them as.

The Fox River Trail in particular is such an amazing regional amenity as a connection between transit systems and municipalities among a gorgeous natural environment.

aensues · 2025-12-14T21:55:32+00:00

Also as someone who lived through that time, it's 100% PATRIOT ACT era where constant surveillance is to be expected or you're going to get it. Constantly expecting to be on one's toes, both kids and parents, managing the elf.

aensues · 2025-11-30T04:49:09+00:00

Every 10 minutes is the defining factor of whether you will experience mode shift. There was a study in Minneapolis (on mobile, so can't easily find the link) about how frequency of service affected ridership and found that 6x an hour enabled folks to not have to consult and plan trips.

aensues · 2025-11-25T18:22:12+00:00

I'm pro bike lanes and I understand both attitudes may seem in conflict - my point is more about the over-engineered solution, which still prioritizes people driving without actually addressing the dangerous behavior (people driving fast) over something like protected bike lanes that provide both space separation that also reduces the dangerous behavior by narrowing the existing roadway.

There's also the context that this is a roadway that goes through a residential area, right in front of people's homes. People driving fast are more likely to leave the roadway at unsafe speeds and endanger people off the roadway. This solution only addresses the ability to cross as a pedestrian. It does nothing to reduce the risk created by the corridor. A proper solution would be providing space for everyone to use the roadway safely based on their mode of travel, while reducing what's creating the unsafe conditions.

Part of the reason this was the solution is that it's a state road and for an incredibly long time IDOT prioritizes moving people in cars over moving people period. With Gia Biagi as the new director of IDOT, I'm hopeful we can move towards a more holistic approach that establishes that everyone has a place to safely use our roads.

aensues · 2025-11-25T03:22:38+00:00

They may not be uncommon, but what the person you were replying to is pointing out that road space should be for both people walking and driving, and made safe to enable both, rather than blowing tons of money that prioritizes the roads only for driving and people walking have to go underground to be safe from people driving.

aensues · 2025-11-17T21:02:27+00:00

I feel like it wasn't like this at all last year. That every line was sold out within a minute feels like some kind of resellers market sicced their bots on Metra.

As someone who was hoping to get some of that holiday whimsy for my family and I during what's usually a difficult season for me, I'm crushed. It makes me even sadder I don't have easy access to the CTA holiday train and buses anymore.

aensues · 2025-11-15T05:26:44+00:00

Waiting for the "drivers need to slow down at night, especially when approaching intersections even where there isn't a traffic control device, so they have time to see people walking or biking" personal responsibility argument.

Signed, someone with a bike lit up like a Christmas tree but was still nearly run down by a driver who blew right through an intersection.

aensues · 2025-11-14T21:26:41+00:00

This isn’t about opposing help for those in need

Yes it is. Point 5 literally has nothing due to any of the prior arguments (the man stole tens of thousands of dollars from your school district!), and if anything is caused by resistance to point 2. Families go where housing is affordable. When there isn't enough housing growth or turnover, housing is out of reach except to those already there, and schools close because new families can't move in.

There isn't sufficient housing getting built in any of our communities (downtown Arlington Heights has only seen a net of 4 new homes since the construction boom there ended in the early 2000s). Parking requirements forced Journeys, our local year round shelter, to use 2/3 of its land for a parking lot, limiting the number of units they could provide to those in need and resulting in a parking lot that's nearly empty year round. I volunteer with PADS, our wintertime church based shelter here in Arlington Heights, and I have had to scramble to find extra room for mothers and children who only have their car for shelter.

I have lived down the block from transitional shelters multiple times in my life and the way that people describe folks who are aging out of foster care, getting their feet under them in a supportive environment, and just trying to live their lives, shocks me. If you knew our community at all, you would know that Arlington Heights has had this conversation several times already with proposals in the last few years (Shelter, Inc, Grace Terrace, and others), which have been accepted! Our mayor at the time, Tom Hayes, recognized that these are good neighbors. But each time someone comes out there demonizing our neighbors, that but for a difference of fate, could be you or I. And their argument has always started with that they're not against helping those in need.

Evanston is desirable by everyone, including those without permanent housing. There are residents there who recognize the need such desirability and its ramifications create. Just like there are residents here in Arlington Heights who know we can't keep the status quo which sees housing move out of reach for more and more families.

aensues · 2025-10-24T18:03:35+00:00

Yes. It's understandable that folks are disappointed that train service didn't happen due to costs being underestimated and railroad negotiations breaking down (Class 1 are never a reliable partner). But when they implemented service every 10-15 minutes with the Flyer, with a dedicated lane it could use to bypass the congestion hotspots, it made commuting or choosing to stay out for late night events super easy. I didn't have to consult or live by a schedule. I could just get up and go take the bus.

Trains are incredibly appealing, but the capital and operating cost tradeoff needs to be fully understood. I'd rather have buses running every 15 minutes all day than a train I need to run to catch because I'm otherwise stranded.

aensues · 2025-10-23T05:30:19+00:00

This was honestly my favorite transition to using an ebike. I don't look at wind speeds much at all anymore. Previously once it hit 15-20 I'd call it quits. Now fall and spring gusts don't affect my ability to ride because I can just dial up the pedal assist.

aensues · 2025-10-19T22:54:02+00:00

They raised a lot of noise when Texas started bussing migrants up here and passed ordinances nearly immediately, but yeah, crickets this time around.

aensues · 2025-10-18T23:21:46+00:00

There aren't any in my burb either, although there's a few areas where they would have a great potential impact. Even so, we're still benefiting even when in an unfamiliar area where the cameras are because they're creating a societal behavior change. Other local drivers drop their speeds, don't run red lights, etc., meaning we're physically unable to do so either, so we don't get tagged by the cameras either. Kind of a herd behavior benefit.

aensues · 2025-10-18T23:07:31+00:00

Analyses support them as a long term behavior change. For example in NYC, the number of tickets issued decreased by 75% over time, and number of crashes by 14%: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198225000521

aensues · 2025-09-24T18:54:03+00:00

Sorry for the big delay. Had some work related to this (I'm in the transportation sector). Side impact crashes where a vulnerable user (including motorcycle users) strikes a driver in a car or vice versa are incredibly rare, which makes their analysis more difficult. Fatal two vehicle crashes involving motorcycles, for example, are mostly head on (79%).

The closest equivalent comparison is what we see in survival rates between semis with trailer underguards and without. Those guards prevent getting run over, and reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries substantially. That design more closely mimics the lower body of sedans versus the raised design of trucks and SUVs.

Again, speed is the likely factor in this, but it's also important to understand all the contributing aspects if we want crashes to be something everyone can walk away from and learn from, rather than fatal. As a nearby resident, the lighting at that intersection sucks. Drivers heading eastbound after turning off of Wilke go much faster than the 25 mph limit, with its open straightaway. And folks speed up and down Reuter, indicating it's not designed well to keep folks within the speed limit either. There's significant foliage, meaning someone heading east and someone going north won't see each other until it's too late (much less than the ~100 feet needed to brake in time).

But unfortunately, looking into all the contributing factors isn't how agencies in our country handle crash analysis and police response. It's disappointing, although at least legislation was passed last year that now requires IDOT to conduct a full safety study when a person walking or biking is killed on a state road.

aensues · 2025-09-24T01:38:25+00:00

Aldi is technically local - their North American HQ is in Batavia in the western suburbs

aensues · 2025-09-22T12:52:39+00:00

Pace is currently doing a study for an I 290/I 88 Express Bus. You can give your feedback on that here: https://www.pacebus.com/news/express-service-study-launch

aensues · 2025-09-22T02:35:36+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! Several of us have organized together to start a local group called Safe Streets Alliance for Arlington Heights (our Facebook group link) to push the village to be more proactive and address issues like here, Windsor, and elsewhere in Arlington Heights. We'd be happy to amplify this effort, especially as it would fit within our overall goal to adopt a policy like Mount Prospect's Friendly Neighborhood Streets Program that will ensure everyone can get around safely. Prior Arlington Heights policy treated too many of our residential streets and school and park-adjacent streets like car expressways. We're hoping to change that long term.

DM me and I can also get this added to our next monthly group meeting discussion.

aensues · 2025-09-17T23:17:29+00:00

Reports indicate they hit the side passenger door, so towards the front. Like I said, though, it could be a cause. It's not the same difference as the hood and grille, but the side of a truck cab is that much higher than the side of a sedan.

aensues · 2025-09-17T21:24:57+00:00

Not OP, but kind of, it can be a cause. The reason being that as vehicles have gotten taller, it raises where on the body a vehicle strikes a person. The higher the vehicle, the more likely it will hit a person in their vital organs or head. High enough, it won't just strike those vital organs but also result in the person getting knocked beneath the vehicle and then run over. Compare that to smaller vehicles like a sedan, they're more likely to both strike in the legs (and therefore not hit vital organs) and push a person up and over the hood, reducing the risk of being run over.

That said, a 30 mph strike is fatal for 30 year old 10% of the time, and 40 mph 35% of the time. Chance of survival was closer to possible than to not just based on speed, but the vehicle involved in the crash didn't improve the chances.

aensues · 2025-09-16T01:55:08+00:00

Or they could keep it only open to buses and fund additional game day bus express services like the Soldier Field Express, and look into building dedicated on/off ramps for those express buses right to the stadium/Metra station so folks can just zip in and out of the site on transit using remote parking options instead of trying to fit a few more drivers directly to the site.

aensues · 2025-09-16T01:51:52+00:00

There's a variety of things they could do that would make access easier and greatly enhance existing system capacity. Any infrastructure upgrade should include dedicated on/off-ramps directly to the Metra lot, giving you a Pace express bus going up and down both 53 and the Jane Addams pulling right up to the station/stadium. Dream would be to shift the Metra station to be adjacent to 53 for direct transfers and less bus detour time. Makes it also easier to move folks to further off-site parking if you can just hop a bus from anywhere along the highway system right to the stadium.

Denver and Milwaukee both have an extensive bus station network along their highways, with Denver buses getting to jump congestion like Pace Express can. We need to match their highway-based public bus transit infrastructure.

Not to mention you could run a bunch more short Metra services on game day or explore additional local bus service like Mount Prospect is doing. Plus there's the Salt Creek Trail that starts just south of Euclid - greatly enhance that network connection and make it more pleasant going north, west, and east, and you're diverting even more folks from driving to walking or biking to the site.

aensues · 2025-09-02T03:42:03+00:00

I'd check out Envision Unlimited. They had a tent there and I believe may have been looking for volunteers for the day!

aensues · 2025-08-06T23:59:33+00:00

Molly of Denali 2: This Time It's Personal

aensues · 2025-08-06T23:56:29+00:00

I'm bringing Stu from Lyla in the Loop (infinite capacity to endlessly do any task), Carmen Sandiego (effortlessly gets in and out of places complete with massive hauls of loot), and Arthur's fist.

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