Chitownproperty

Are you tired of the snow yet? Yeah, so are we. But just for old time’s sake, check out these 10 great videos from the Great Chicago Blizzard of 2011, compiled by Curbed.

The Chicago Tribune’s architecture critic, Blair Kamin, reviewed the new park on Adams and Sangamon in the West Loop. With its geometric pattern, misting archways, hills, and state of the art playground, it’s one of the most exciting new parks in the city.

Normally we wouldn’t be happy with a listing that sat on the market for years, but in this case we might make an exception. Check out these pictures of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s home in the Gold Coast. He hasn’t lived there since 2004, and originally put it on the market for $13.5 million. Current price tag: a bargain at $9.5 million.

If you’re in the West Loop this weekend, you may be wondering about all the commotion and the kids in the skinny jeans. It’s the Pitchfork Music Festival, the lesser-known of Chicago’s two major summer concerts (after Lollapalooza) at Union Park on Lake and Ashland. Between that and filming for Transformers 3 downtown this weekend, CTA trains and buses may be a mess. Plan accordingly, and stay out of the heat!

Tired of paying utility bills? You could build a net zero house–one that generates as much energy as it consumes–like this Ravenswood home. Designed by renowned green architects Farr Associates, it features solar panels, a gray water system for recycling waste water, a geothermal heating system, and carefully placed windows, nooks, and crannies that keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Not satisfied with slapping an ugly array of solar panels on the roof, the architects designed it to incorporate all these features seamlessly in a beautiful modern design.

Of course, these green features added 10 to 15 percent to the upfront cost of building the home. The final price tag was $1.6 million for the 2,675-square foot home, putting it out of reach for most buyers. However, its design, and skillful use of green features and materials, give a glimpse of what’s to come in green living.

Coldwell Banker has a new channel on YouTube featuring videos with real estate advice, market news, and community profiles like the one above about Pilsen.

CNNMoney has just published their Best Places to Live list for 2006. Chicago doesn’t come anywhere close to the top 10, outranked by suburbs Orland Park, Aurora, and Naperville, which comes in at #2 on the overall list. You can check out how Chicago stacks up against the rest of the country, including cost of living calculators, stats on safety, wealth, and other demographcis, but fear not, at least we ranked #7 on the list of cities with the most six-figure income jobs.

While one should always be skeptical of the veracity of Wikipedia articles, it’s hard to find fault with this guide to the Neighborhoods of Chicago. It features maps and brief descriptions of 76 different neighborhoods in the city. It may not be a definitive guide, but the next time someone tells you they’re from Portage Park or Beverly, you can get a rough idea of where exactly that is.

Big box retailers, discount warehouses, and grocery chains are scrambling to build downtown as more and more people decide to live in the city. Home Depot is planning a new store at Roosevelt and Jefferson, Costco wants a 135,000 square-foot site in the South Loop, and grocery stores like Dominick’s, Jewel, and Whole Foods continue to expand in the city.

We found a slew of useful Chicago maps this weekend:

Chicago Census 2000 maps from the University of Chicago, local maps of data generated by the last census, including housing age, income levels, demographic makeup, population changes, and transit use.

CTA Google Maps overlaid with all the CTA stops let you pinpoint exact locations and transfer points with all the useful features of Google Maps.

HousingMaps, another Google Map hack that overlays craigslist housing rental, sublet, and for sale data. Lets you search by price point.

A zip code map from The Chicago Reader.

Chicagocrime.org, a database that lets you search for criminal activity by street address, zip code, ward, landmarks, and travel routes.

Chicago Menu Pages is more than just maps of restaurants, it’s a complete search engine for food in the city. You can search by a particular type of cuisine, even down to a particular dish, by neighborhood, and even by which spots are open late night. Searches turn up full menus of the restaurants, and if they don’t have your favorite, just tell them and they’ll add it to their database.

Search for the lowest gas prices at ChicagoGasPrices.com

Mayor Daley’s plan for a riverwalk along Wacker Drive–envisioned as a $40-50 million dollar project featuring over 35,000 square feet of restaurants, retail, and dock space–is progressing a little more slowly. The city hasn’t been able to secure all that funding, nor has it found a single developer to do the job as it had hoped. Instead, the riverwalk project will proceed in small steps, starting first with a market on the lower level near the new Vietnam War Memorial, and continued sprucing up of the area’s lighting, fencing, and stairs.