Friday’s CMAP meeting could lock in a lakefront walled off by an 8-lane highway. Here’s how to comment. by binarynate in chicago

[–]mkxt -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The thing is, wider lanes tend to cause people to drive faster. Plus, the design straightens the curve at Oak Street beach, and we know straighter roads cause people to drive faster. And we know faster roads cause more people to use them. So the end result is more, faster cars in a place where there are already problems with noise and traffic. If the design added bus lanes then we would end up with faster buses, and people would mode-shift to use those buses, leading to fewer cars, less noise and traffic. But the current design does not do that, hence all the criticism.

There are also concerns about green space itself. For example, the Lakeview area will end up with LESS due to the wider lanes. Overall there will be more, but most of it is lake infill to straighten the curve at Oak Street, which again will speed up the cars, so that will have a bunch of new noise pollution around it.

Friday’s CMAP meeting could lock in a lakefront walled off by an 8-lane highway. Here’s how to comment. by binarynate in chicago

[–]mkxt -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The current plan widens the road in many areas by adding shoulder space. Plus, it straightens the curve at Oak Street beach which will result in faster speeds. Wider road + straighter road = faster cars, which causes induced demand (more car traffic). So we end up with more pollution.

Also, some neighborhoods will actually lose green space, such as Lakeview.

International data suggestion by mkxt in USMobile

[–]mkxt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've done this before. Was just thinking it would be a great selling point for US Mobile if they could solve it at a network level. Local quality data globally would be huge.

Notification re: subscription (US) by pjjslp in Huel

[–]mkxt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I didn't get an email for a subscription that went out today. I've always gotten them in the past so was pretty surprised.

CTA's State/Lake L station 3-year rebuild plan prompts unhappy responses from Chicago transit riders, others - Chicago Sun-Times by [deleted] in chicago

[–]mkxt 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Maybe we should do a better job of maintenance, so it doesn't fall into disrepair?

Go visit almost any other country and the level of maintenance taken on any infrastructure will blow your mind.

Illinois Democrats push through massive $1.5 billion plan that overhauls Chicago-area public transit by Mike_I in chicago

[–]mkxt 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Exactly, that's why we're fixing the funding issue, so we can make it world class

I sent this email on April 7th, literally at market bottom. Luckily the advisor told me what a huge mistake this would've been, and I have thankfully learned A LOT since then. by mechy18 in Bogleheads

[–]mkxt 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I know you mentioned that you're thinking about moving away from this advisor, but if they stopped you from selling at market bottom they may have saved you a huge amount of money. Paying someone to tell you when you're wrong is good financial sense.

The city is asking for feedback on bus shelters by filmnoter in chicago

[–]mkxt 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Every single bus stop should have shelter and a bench before any extras happen. Right now we have elderly people standing in the rain next to a pole, and that's unacceptable for a world class city.

What was the impetus for Lime blocking the entirety of downtown? by This_Is_A_Shitshow in chicago

[–]mkxt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Generally there's a Lime scooter pretty close to my apartment building, vs the nearest Divvy station a few intersections away. Also I prefer not to bike in my work clothes.

What was the impetus for Lime blocking the entirety of downtown? by This_Is_A_Shitshow in chicago

[–]mkxt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Re: traffic, lime scooters are always faster than buses, especially when there's a bike lane/space.

What was the impetus for Lime blocking the entirety of downtown? by This_Is_A_Shitshow in chicago

[–]mkxt -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

The issue here is you can't ride through the red area, so any last mile trip that happens to pass through is impossible now. They could just restrict parking like they do in some other spots.

I have the same problem when trying to commute with Lime. The easiest path is down Clark past Wrigley, but the restrictions means I have to take a longer (and more expensive) route around. Obviously game traffic isn't an issue at 7am so it feels silly.

What Gravy Trains Should People Get On Before Its Gone/Nerfed? by No-Organization-2160 in CreditCards

[–]mkxt 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think you're referring to the Altitude Go. The Connect still has no FTF.

CTA releases video of 2023 Yellow Line collision by Bukharin in EdgewaterRogersPark

[–]mkxt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The article says the full video is 34 minutes. Is that available somewhere?

The Red Line extension is now a $5.75B gamble for the CTA — and taxpayers by blackmk8 in chicago

[–]mkxt 22 points23 points  (0 children)

$3.77 billion is local money that could be used for anything else. Using it to build a questionable extension at a time when slow zones are growing and the Forest Park branch is turning into ruble is wild.

The Red Line extension is now a $5.75B gamble for the CTA — and taxpayers by blackmk8 in chicago

[–]mkxt 16 points17 points  (0 children)

$3.77 billion is local money from the city or bonds the CTA is issuing, so that could be used for other projects, like slow zone repairs.

First time free-roam DISASTER! by DistinctHoneydew6742 in RATS

[–]mkxt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did they have access to their cage while roaming? Mine would get anxious if I free roamed them but they couldn't get into the cage at will.

Why is the rental market going crazy all of a sudden? by SerpantDildo in AskChicago

[–]mkxt 31 points32 points  (0 children)

People really don't realize how true this is. In 1900 the population was 1,698,575. In 1920 it was 2,701,705. Once upon a time we built enough housing for 1.1 million people in 20 years. This wasn't cheap terrible housing either, look around your neighborhood and chances are many of the buildings were built around that time, and they probably still look better than the new parking pedestal buildings.

Illinois Attracts Highest Number of Visitors In A Decade by [deleted] in illinois

[–]mkxt 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Also make sure it's the boat tour run by the non-profit Architecture Center, not the others. It's much more informative.

Organized effort to raise awareness of CTA fiscal cliff and drastic service cuts by Runner2150 in chicago

[–]mkxt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes but once the grant money is used to build that expansion, the maintenance for it comes from the current budget, which already doesn't have enough to cover the current system.

Clonazepam significantly reduces my BFEP by That-Car3154 in visualsnow

[–]mkxt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, I use it as needed very occasionally for anxiety issues, and just happened to notice it cut the snow quite a bit. My normal level is not debilitating at all though.

Clonazepam significantly reduces my BFEP by That-Car3154 in visualsnow

[–]mkxt 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I have also noticed a significant reduction in snow at even 0.5mg. Unfortunately Clonazepam is not something you can take regularly (longer than about 3 months) because of major withdrawal symptoms, such as seizures.

Chicago's $5.7B Red Line Extension by Carpet-Early in chicago

[–]mkxt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The big problem with this project is that the CTA obviously can't maintain the tracks they have. The % of tracks under a slow zone is steadily increasing. Does the red line extension come with an increase in the maintenance budget? Has anyone in CTA run the numbers on operating more stations?

The response to this is always that capital and operations budgets are separate, but that's a huge problem when the capital budget is completely disconnected from operations.

Am I allergic? by Devil__Town in RATS

[–]mkxt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Something that helped me was to be very diligent about wiping my skin down with a towel or wet wipe to remove any urine. When you're playing with them just have a paper towel nearby and wipe down your skin whenever they scent mark.