non sequitur Friday

where would you like to see bike lanes?

Would you like an opportunity to get in your $0.02 worth about where you'd like bike lanes?  Take the Active Transportation Alliance survey (available in English and Spanish).  Share the link with your friends (www.activetrans.org/bikesurvey).

free trees for area residents

The University of Illinois Extension, 10244 S. Vincennes, is giving away free tree saplings from Com Ed. The species available are Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, Red Buckeye and American Hornbeam. Saplings may be picked between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Call ahead 773-233-2900 x11 to confirm availability.

All are small to medium sized species without significant disease or insect vulnerability.

non sequitur Friday

bike to work ride on 6/19

In honor of Bike to Work week, you are invited to join in a bike commute ride to the rally at Daley Plaza.

We will LEAVE from Hardboiled Coffee (9135 S Western) promptly at 6:45 a.m.  Because we're going to work (distance approx. 14 mi to Daley Plaza) and want to have enough time to socialize a bit and enjoy the festivities at the rally, the riding pace will average approx. 15 mph. 

Friends of the Major Taylor Trail meeting on Wed. 6/17

Friends of the Major Taylor Trail will meet on Wed. 6/17) at Ridge Park fieldhouse (1817 W 96th St.), 6:30 to 8:00 pm.

pet microchipping event on Thurs. 6/18

Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) encourages pet owners to have their dogs and cats microchipped Thurs. 6/18,  1 to 3 p.m. at Original Rainbow Cone, 9233 S. Western Ave., to launch the campaign  The first 100 pets who arrive will receive microchips, and their owners will receive 50% off a Chicago chip ice cream cone. Information: www.tinyurl/chicagochip.

non sequitur Friday

Come back next week for some very different work by the same extraordinary musician.

lack of transparency on 95th Street

I was concerned and disturbed to learn about the nature of a proposed zoning change and redevelopment proposal for the parcel immediately west of 95th St. Metra station. Another 19th ward resident wrote an insightful piece about why such a proposal makes no sense for a transit-adjacent parcel, where we should be prioritizing pedestrian-oriented usage.

1800 W 95th St.

The lack of public notice for this proposal is equally disturbing. Sticking a sign in a window at a location that few people walk past is NOT sufficient public notice. There's nothing at that location now to give people a reason to walk there and see that notice.

This is a significant change for a location that has the potential to attract a good volume of business from Metra riders - if it's the right business. A well-publicized venue for public input should be mandatory for such a major change. Why haven't the ward office and community organizations publicized this so that 19th ward residents and Metra passengers could have a voice in the decision? Hiding this until it's only one approval short of having a green light smells worse than last week's garbage.

95th St. is already choked with traffic for much of an average day. There are many existing auto parts stores within a few miles of this proposed location, including Auto Zone stores at 89th andAshland and 95th and Richmond and O'Reilly at Western and 92nd Place (less than 1 mile away). As much as I want to see more businesses on 95th St., this one is NOT a winner for the community as a whole.

Comments on this topic on EveryBlock have certainly been relevant:

* Yes, let's tear down a beautiful old building and put up an ugly box that will sit there empty after the store goes out of business like the auto parts store at 115th and Pulaski. How about using our brains and encourage a business that would cater to train "traffic". Put the box in the huge parking lot at the former location of Borders. Or do what some communities do...require that the new business conform to the architecture of the existing building and find businesses to create a boutique mall in the borders building. Jeez, is it that hard?

* When is the public hearing for this zoning change? There wasn't any proper meeting for those of us who will be affected.

* I just called the zoning department - looks like they approved this zone change already. I hope there will be some sort of opportunity for the community to review the design and voice opinions. Does anyone know what the next step for this proposal will be? Have they already purchased the existing building?

* Because of their design, most Borders are being repurposed into medical practices. Not in Beverly. The old library was supposed to become a Wishbone restaurant, more pizza place opened but not Wishbone? Now an Autozone to compete with O'reilly a few blocks away. We seem to have great people in place for urban planning and development! What about all the money spent in updating 95th street? Was it just to give contracts to some friends or was it actually to improve the business area? If so, Autozone doesn't need beautiful landscaping, never mind the traffic issues. somebody is not thinking very far here, while using our tax money. How about the mechanic shop down the street on 95th, are they trying to put them out of business? People walk to go to Metra, how about shops that cater to these people? When I get off the train, I'm not usually trying to bring home a couple of new tires and a new battery for my car in my purse. I love small squares and park, Beverly has those, in places that nobody wants to go to, and nothing around it. Anyone fancy reading a good book by busy 95th street, on the other side of the library parking lot? While I applaud green spaces, we can do better than that. More tax payer money spent in vain. How about the pedestrian crossing by 99th street Metra? On the wrong side of the street?!!!

Excuse my ranting, but I could go on as well as many of you. The problem is that you can't leave urban development to developers, they are just going to build stuff, make a buck and move on. ... If there is a petition going around against Autozone, count me in, I'll sign it.

* All good points. Why is everything decided in stealth mode? We need to remind our representatives that the represent us. They do not rule us.

Now we have a detailed EveryBlock post with research. Click here. And this is what it takes to appeal a zoning change.

Why didn't Alderman O'Shea give a reasonable opportunity for public input? Will there be curb cuts added to make 95th St. an even worse place for pedestrians? We don't want Beverly to look or feel like Evergreen Park. This kind of inappropriate change gives us a hard shove in that direction and makes Beverly less attractive as a place to live.

Slow Roll comes to Beverly on 6/10

Slow Roll Chicago & Chicago Park District presents...

2015 Public Art and Architecture 
Neighborhood Bicycle Tours 
& Bicycle Photography Competition

This week's ride starts at Ridge Park, 1817 W 96th St.

This 2015 Slow Roll Chicago ride series consists of 12 community bicycle rides touring neighborhood art and architecture in Chicago. Before each ride, a Basics of Bicycle Photography Workshop will take place. Throughout the series, all participants are invited to participate in a bicycle photography competition. A number of winning photos will be selected for public exhibition at the final ride on August 26. 

Every Slow Roll Chicago community bike ride is about 8 miles and takes about 2 hours. 

Photo Competition Theme: 
Beautiful Bike Chicago

Photo Submission:
Email up to 3 photos per ride to photos@slowrollchicago.org

Schedule:
5-6 pm Photography Workshop
6-6:30pm Meet & Greet
6:30-8:30pm Ride