Why I Oughta...

If you get a chance, take a walk by the Elmhurst Police Station on First Street and get a view of a newly installed/created 'demonstration rain garden' that they've recently built out front.  As of the past few days, the construction fence was still up around the project, but it appears that all of the work is complete and now they're just wrapping up the project.  The City of Elmhurst is - kind of - putting their money where their mouth is on this.  I say 'kind of' because they, ummm, didn't use their own money I don't think; they got a grant.  Details on the garden can be found here on the Elmhurst Storm Water Plan site  where they describe the project: The Project Involves the construction and maintenance of a rain garden, sized between 800 and 1,200 square feet, to include an engineered soil mix to promote infiltration, as well as a variety of native shrubs, grasses, and forbs, immediately south of the Police Station. The goal is to reduce...

After a bunch of nagging, i t seems that the City of Elmhurst and the City Centre are going to sack up and decorate the downtown business district with more Christmas lights . I have to say...the one tree that they *did* light up by the train tracks looks awesome.  Here's a shot in the very early morning hours on my walk to the train late last week.

Last week, I wrote about how there's a new rendering of a new construction building on the old Plass Appliance store in the Elmhurst City Centre that portends a new four-story terraced structure with retail and street-level and condos on the upper floors. But that isn't the only thing that has been plastered on the windows of the old Plass store.  This new "Picture Yourself In Elmhurst" three-panel photo went up and is pretty cute.  It is a bunch of laborers who are installing street lights for the first time in town.  It evokes the same feeling of the lunch on top of skyscraper iconic photo for me. Here's a closer look at the white box on the right side that shows the reason for the billboard: Some of the #hashtags are interesting at the bottom.  #walkable #downtown #citycentre. Based on the email addresses, it plainly looks like the city's Economic Development group had the idea, but if look closely, it appears to be a nice little bit of inter...

While we were wandering around town on Sunday, we came across the 'Explore Elmhurst Express' Trolley down on South York Street.  It is a nice addition that has run all summer.  It is winding down and will run it's last route on September 13th with stops around the City Centre and down near Spring/Vallette. I'm thinking that they're likely tracking usage so they can optimize the run times/routes if they decide to extend the service to the fall or next summer. From the City of Elmhurst's site : The City of Elmhurst is pleased to announce the Explore Elmhurst Express, a free trolley service connecting Elmhurst City Centre with the Spring Road and York and Vallette business districts. Take a stroll or hop on your bike and head for one of the nearest trolley stops. Convenient parking is also located near each stop.   It's a great way to shop and dine locally and enjoy the City's numerous cultural opportunities, while saving some gas and bringing sa...

If you drive down York Road towards the City Centre these days you can't help but spot the big demolition job taking place on the west side just south of the CVS/Panera. Coming down are Pauli's gas station and a few other random buildings.  And in their place?  Something called the Elmhurst 255 built by Morningside USA .   From the listing on their site: 192 luxury rental units in downtown Elmhurst, two blocks from the Metra station 12,000 sf of new retail space available Spring 2016, with 150 public parking spaces and outdoor cafe seating. Divisible 1,400-6,000 sf. Click for more information . Public event plaza with bandshell A public bandshell?  That's pretty cool.  The City Center lacks one important feature that all downtowns *should* have:  a gathering place.  Think place to light the town Christmas tree (I know, I know...we do one down by the police station, but...that's not quite right.), have free concerts, show movies, etc. ...

( If you're reading this in your email, the election is actually *today*! )  I was walking by City Hall over the weekend and was surprised by the volume of campaign signs that were posted in the parkway.  There has been early voting at City Hall and my assumption is that these campaigns wanted to make sure they had a presence in front of those early voters. But, it makes me wonder:  do these signs actually work?  Is there a voter out there who is engaged enough in the electoral process that wants to actually early vote who doesn't know who they're going to vote for?  And glancing at one of these yard signs is going to sway them? I suppose, there is some notion of 'confirmation' that can be achieved with these signs.  And...it really doesn't cost anything to put one up.  That minimal cost/effort is likely the reason why these things are even here.  When you're running a local campaign, the margins are often so small that you want to make sur...