Joseph Miscimarra 🇺🇸

Incredible scenery happening in Chicago today

"In many cities, allowing more homes in built-up neighborhoods is the single most impactful emissions strategy that’s fully under local control, and new research shows liberalizing in-town homebuilding can bring climate benefits quickly." usa.streetsblog.org/2026/10/22/o...

Two reasons why you should go to the Great Lakes in autumn: 1. the color orange 2. the color blue

I don’t think you can experience more beautiful orange and blue hues than the Great Lakes region in autumn

The best place to see Chicago’s fall colors: your train window

Oak Park neighbors: Shape Oak Park goes to the Plan Commission this Thursday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m. at OPRF High School. It would allow 2- to 4-flats in house-scale buildings in every neighborhood. Come say you support it. 30 seconds is enough. engageoakpark.com/Shape

Here we see really gorgeous multi-colored aurora happening in Alkeevsky, Tatarstan, Russia. The geomagnetic latitude-equivalent of this in North America is around New York City, Boise or Chicago.

There is “a powerful revenue option completely in City Council’s control: changing land use rules to grow the tax base - particularly by upzoning residential neighborhoods.”

good thread alert

SRO’s are a really important lower rung of housing. we need to make them easier to build, or more people will end up on the streets. see the OG thread for actions you can take at city council, and spread the word!

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The only practical way to fix this is state level reform. Alders will almost certainly never give up this discretionary power for their entire ward.

This is ridiculous. And it happens all over Chicago. 3 things need to change: -upzone, or make zoning refer to minimum # of units, not just max -stop weaponizing “community input” to justify aversion to change -get rid of aldermanic prerogative

Democracy is when you structure the vote to depress turnout, still lose the vote, and then simply dismiss the result of the vote anyway

Why can't LA build more affordable housing? Well, you see, because a building located in an R5(CW) zone shall not cast a shadow on a lot located in the R4 or R5 zone for more than two hours each day between the hours of 9AM and 3PM on the Winter Solstice and 9AM and 5PM on the Summer Solstice.

I biked on Bryn Mawr Ave for the first time a few weeks ago. The new bike lanes were nice, but unusable. Cars were parked in the bike lanes on every block. Every single parked car in this picture is parked illegally

In the same meeting, revealed how the association has successfully downscaled mixed-use development in the area to fit the 'character' Leopard, meet face. Lets build any and all types of housing.

The biggest victory here isnt even the bus lane itself. Its a victory over The Process: - make a committee - meet with The Groups - make a report - start a non-binding referendum - make a pilot - make a report - make a plan - deploy a few years later People are SICK of this.

My neighborhood association president wanted to downsize, so he sold his house & applied to 3 apartments. All 3 turned into a bidding war. He lost each time and had to move out of the neighborhood. Our neighborhood assoc. president was priced out of our neighborhood. Think about that.

People are sick of this process 1. Make a committee with all relevant interest groups 2. Committee produces report 3. Report recommends pilot program 4. Pilot program needs appropriations 5. Multi year pilot produces report 6. Full rollout Just do the thing you were elected to do!

I’ve never thought about residential energy transparency programs before. It seems like a good idea to provide renters w/ transparency about expected energy use/utility bills, but not if it raises costs or is poorly managed. Thoughts? (Webinar on subject tomo) www.mwalliance.org/events/bring...

Chicago is the moonrise capital of the world

I didn’t attend climate week but: 1—US is falling way behind on electrification 2—even if US electrified, electricity generation isn’t decarbonizing fast enough 3—public incentives & land use policy are still vastly weighted toward inefficient cars & trucks 4—transit ridership remains in crisis

Right before the White Sox rain delay was supposed to end yesterday, I went to find the Pope Leo seat. No joke—right as I touched it, the stadium announced $5 hot dogs for fans waiting out in the rain. I’m not a superstitious guy…but the White Sox magic is something else

Chicago River appreciation post