As some of you may or may not know, I was busy being a tourist in Chicago until this past weekend (hence the lack of posts over the past couple weeks).
I, of course, took a picture or 2. There’s been a bit of back and forth in my head about how to display them, especially since most of the shots fall more into my fine-art style rather than commercial.
But enough of the speculation. Let’s break down the trip a bit. You may say to yourself “Self, why won’t he just skip to the goods?” Well, to that I say: shock and awe. No, not the tactical military scenario, but my reaction to a handful of things in Chicago that you, who may travel there, should certainly know about.
If you are avid travelers or simply have been to Chicago recently (I don’t get west very much) you probably already know. Back in 2008 or 9 or something, The city of Chicago sold rights to all the parking in the city to Standard Parking (effectively creating a monopoly). While the city got a little over a billion smackers out of the deal, they now have to deal with astronomically high parking rates – to the tune of $20 or more for even 15 minutes of parking. Oh, and did I mention that the contract is valid for 75 years?
Of course, as it happens, now that I’m back in Michigan, I came across a news article from yesterday, mentioning that the city will be auditing Standard parking to ensure responsible use of city funds. In the meantime, there are a few little tricks to get around this catastrophe. A number of people have suggested parking outside the city and taking in the bus. I like this idea, but if you are on a schedule and have to park downtown, I happened upon 2 options that seemed reasonable:
1. Parking in Chinatown is a decent way to go. The main lot is less than half the cost of parking downtown and it sits immediately under the “L.”
2. The Adler Planetarium is nestled in the museum campus right on the edge of the city and the road to the front door is lined with parking meters that cost a quarter of the price of parking in any structure. The downside is that there is a VERY limited number of spaces.
I’ve still got a whole ton of other neat tips and tricks for you (Next post: the best hotel to stay at if you’re a visual artist).
For now, enjoy a selection of city shots from Cloud Gate to Chinatown and plenty in-between.
– Jon
JonKPhoto 
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