Joseph Miscimarra 🇺🇸

once again posting The Chart

Screenshot of section about transit supportive development

Screenshot about people over parking

Yep! People Over Parking and transit-supportive development authority are included in the bill that passed

ilga.gov/Legislation/...

(HAM3+4, house amendments 3 and 4)

Transit reform/funding bill approved in the Senate. This is final passage

Good morning!

Last night, Illinois’ legislature passed a law, SB2111, which will fund a major expansion of service for the Chicago region’s transit systems, thanks to new revenue sources.

The law also takes a major step forward in coordination between agencies.

Good luck! Hang in there!

ORD has overtaken DEN in YTD passenger traffic and might overtake DFW next year!

All numbers are august passenger counts YTD and % is YoY change.

1. ATL - (Unknown)
2. DFW - 57,391,916 (-2.1%)
3. ORD - 56,423,184 (+6.13%)
4. DEN - 54,985,053 (-0.4%)
5. LAX - 49,642,157 (-3.4%)

Tribune newspaper on train Headline with ICE story: “not how any of us want to live” Headline: “house democrats weigh funding plan, eye billionaire and streaming taxes” under photo of people wearing cardboard train saying “fund transit now!”

Powerful front page of the Tribune today.

A water tower common to suburbs that has the text “Save Transit” on it

It's the last week of veto session at the Illinois Legislature, and they haven't passed a transit reform & funding bill yet.

Call your reps TODAY and let them know you want them to get the job done NOW! It takes takes 5 minutes to make 2 calls at savetransit.org

Happy birthday!

Quite a world when a federal judge has to call in a federal official to specifically tell him he can't use tear gas on children in Halloween costumes

Townhomes of brick under autumn leaves

How to win my vote: make it easier to build townhomes like these in every neighborhood

Editorial: Apartment rents in Chicago are rising faster than you think Chicago’s average rent has climbed to about $2,213, up roughly $126 from a year ago and up more than $740 a decade ago.

From the Editorial Board:

Chicago long has dangled the big-city experience without the New York or San Francisco price tag. That advantage is slipping away.

Tribune opinion How to stay informed without being consumed By Kellie Walenciak My father had a simple ritual. At 6 a.m., he would read the New York Post and Daily News cover to cover. At 6 p.m., he tuned into the evening news - - an hour of straightforward reporting, not commen-tary. He formed his own opinions, and then he moved on. The news didn't dominate company picnics or poker nights with the neighbors. A staunch Republi-can, he didn't shun his Democratic relatives in Scranton. He stayed informed without being consumed. That balance feels almost quaint today. Instead of a daily digest, Americans now live inside a 24/7 outrage machine. We spend an average of two hours and 24 minutes on social media every day. check our phones 159 times a day and will collectively log 4 trillion hours online this year. Nearly half of us say we now watch more user-generated content than TV or streaming. Information is available and, quite frankly, unavoidable. The results are corrosive. Ever story is framed as existential, and every disagreement is a loyalty test. Unlike my father's poker table, where the stakes were bragging rights and a few bucks, today's debates play out before an invisible audience of strangers in all caps and fury. In the 70s and 80s, dad didn’t have to choose between competing realities. Everyone argued from the same facts. Today, news is no longer a resource but a marketplace of outrage. 24-hour cable channels fighting for loyalty and algorithms on Facebook, and TikTok feeding us headlines designed to reinforce what we already believe. it feels like information, but it's really afin mation. And the more affirmation we consume, the less empathy we extend. That distortion has real-world costs Utah Gov. Spencer Cox urged Americans to log off, turn off, touch grass. Huga Comily member. He said it after conserya tive activist Charlie Kirk was assassina and the US, recorded its 45th school shooting of the year. (RAN OUT OF SPACE FOR ALT TEXT)

READ THIS.

Interrupt your scrolling, take a deep breath, and give some thought to our toxic information environment. Social media is an outrage machine.

Reminds me of the Quincy L station!

Federal agents tear gassing the Lake View neighborhood.

Free bathrooms are good, but what Chicago really needs are more paid bathrooms.

On Thursday, October 9th, we reached our highest ridership day since the pandemic with 1.168 MILLION rides! 🙌

Collar county households spend $21 billion *a year* on driving.

Let's give your car a break with better suburban transit options. Your state representatives can deliver that next week with #RevenuesAndReform to give Chicagoland modern transit governance.

citythatworks.substack.com/p/the-suburb...

Looking out green train window, you can see Chicago’s skyline and big railroad machinery

There’s no inspiration like the morning commute into Union Station on the BNSF line.

Gaze upon the manmade mountains of Chicago’s skyline. Bear witness to the railroad hubs that keep our nationwide logistics machine humming. Be part of America’s past, present, and future.

Milwaukee Gets Its Wish, City Can Tow All Reckless Drivers Loopholes made prior policies "somewhat useless."

In Milwaukee, police will now be able to impound any vehicle driven recklessly.

City Alderman: “It’s a two-ton weapon. We should look at this the same way we look at firearms. Let’s get as many of them off the street as possible.”

ADU Alder Opt-In Volunteer Training Learn how you can help your ward opt-in to Chicago’s new ADU ordinance.

On Tuesday, October 21, join Abundant Housing Illinois and Strong Towns Chicago to learn how you can help your alderperson opt-in their ward to Chicago’s new ADU ordinance! 🏘️

www.eventbrite.com/e/adu-alder-...

An astonishingly large crowd!
Chicago

So many people going to No Kings protest, open house Chicago, etc today via CTA. Standing room only

Brown line trains to the loop are packed like rush hour right now

40 new apartments have been permitted, thanks to the organizing efforts of Joe

@lakeviewurbanists.bsky.social

chicago.urbanize.city/post/city-co...

When Chicago refuses to allow more housing, we’re making it harder for vulnerable populations to move here. That’s why we need to upzone!

Shoutout to Alison for taking time out of her day to share her story and support more housing in Edgewater.

Image from @OsseChi in response to Elise Stafnik tweet about crime on NY subways “Elise, why are you friends with nazis?” Image of Elise with text of her endorsing Peter Giunta overlayed on her body, and text of Peter Giunta saying “Great. I love Hitler” overlayed on his body

This is a great format and every Dem needs to add it to their playbook.

Hold people accountable and show the public who they support.

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.

Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

You love to see it. Now do it everywhere

*regional day pass, but my point still stands!

I am guessing that fewer than 1000 regional day passes have been purchased since they launched