• The City Hall hearing about the Lincoln Yards mega-development [11-29-18, 12-2-18, 12-28-18].
    • Beach Boys playing on the chamber speakers before the hearing began.
    • The young Lincoln Yards supporter wearing Doc Martens.
    • The persistent feeling that supporters of the developer (most of whom are clean-cut, businessy) think that we Chicago Independent Venue League people are naive, that we don’t understand job growth or capital (because we’re wearing Doc Martens?).
      • Fantasizing about wearing a suit to the next hearing to somehow prove a point, but recognizing that it would really be a pathetic, self-undermining acquiescence.
    • Getting a little taste of miscommunication and misunderstanding in politics: the hearing was about the proposed $900 million tax package for the developer, but citizens’ testimonies focused on the merits of the development (or on job creation and the march of civilization) itself, taking it for granted that the development could not happen without the tax package. It seems so important in these circumstances to have people who can contextualize all of our reasoning and our feelings, to show how they connect and what they’re predicated on.
    • On top of everything, feeling mind-boggled that the city would pay interest to Sterling Bay for their upfront infrastructure investments.
    • Appreciating the alderpeople who make eye contact with testifying citizens.
  • Walking around Bucktown with dilated eyeballs from my optometrist appointment.