r/chicago • • 22h ago

CHI Talks Weekly Casual Conversation & Questions Thread

2 Upvotes

Welcome to r/Chicago's Weekly Casual Conversation & Questions Thread.

This is the place for casual discussions that may not warrant their own post, or questions/topics not allowed as their own posts under our content policy. Please be mindful of rules 2 & 3 which still apply in this thread, as well as the Reddit Content Policy when posting.

Also, check out the r/Chicago wiki for other Chicago-related subreddits, where to eat/drink, how to get around/navigate the CTA, where to visit, what neighborhoods to move to or hotel in, tips on living here, and more. And be sure to use the search feature to find responses to other users asking similar questions.

This thread is sorted by "new" so that the most recent comments appear first. The new weekly thread is posted every Monday morning at 12:00 AM.


r/chicago • • 23d ago

CHI Talks r/Chicago's 2026 General Election Megathread

52 Upvotes

The 2026 Illinois General Election (AKA the midterm election) will be held on Tuesday, November 3. On the ballot will be races for various local and federal offices such as Governor, Senate, House, and County Judges, among others.*

This thread is the place to post any election-related content such as voting resources and discussion. We will update this page with more resources as they become available.

This thread is sorted by New so that the most recent comments appear first.


Election Resources


Voting Guides - General Ballot


Voting Guides - Judicial Ballot


  • Note: The Chicago mayoral election will be held on Tuesday, February 23, 2027, and will not be on the ballot in November.

r/chicago • • 8h ago

Picture A picture out of my window today. Our city looks like a literal painting sometimes.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/chicago • • 13h ago

Picture Sunday's sunrise at Promontory Point was unreal [OC]

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1.5k Upvotes

r/chicago • • 6h ago

Video Aaron Del Mar, Illinois GOP Lt. Governor candidate, claims he can come up with a housing plan on the spot

227 Upvotes

This was filmed back in the summer, and his official site still doesn't have a housing plan. Be careful who you vote for this midterm election!


r/chicago • • 7h ago

Article Debate Over Human Waste In Public Spaces Triggers Call For Public Restrooms In Rogers Park, Uptown

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244 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 2h ago

News Chicago mayoral candidates file nominating petition signatures

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45 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 9h ago

Article Proposal to close the homeless encampment at Ronan Park defeated

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140 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 11h ago

Article Drivers Have Blocked A Bike Lane By The Main Post Office For Years — Despite Free Parking Nearby

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186 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 3h ago

Picture a beautiful building captured on 35mm film

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40 Upvotes

took this on my first visit to Chicago last summer.


r/chicago • • 4h ago

News Reminder: Great Time To Place Your Thanksgiving Pie / Food Orders

47 Upvotes

Friendly Reminder!

You can place orders for Thanksgiving pick-up right now and it looks like spots are already starting to sell-out for some popular ones like Hoosier Mama!


r/chicago • • 12h ago

CHI Talks PSA for anybody voting by mail for the midterms:

179 Upvotes

If you have received an email notification from the Board of Elections saying that your ballot is “pending intake,” this means it is scanned and they have it but the vote won’t be counted until Election Day. I just confirmed it with them on the phone!


r/chicago • • 8h ago

Article Feds Finally Agree To Environmental Review Of Proposed Amtrak Facility In Bridgeport

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47 Upvotes

Progress isn’t stopped and the community’s concerns will be addressed. Win-win for the city.


r/chicago • • 14h ago

News NITA has unprecedented power to develop land near transit. How could this change your neighborhood?

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133 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 12h ago

Ask CHI Patient Admin Fee - Chicagoland Doctors

81 Upvotes

Wife got an email from our PCP that they’re going to start charging an annual admin fee. Fee is applicable for all patients, even first time patients. The message says other Chicago-area independent practices are introducing similar fees.

Has anyone else heard of this? I’m livid about it, as that’s an extra $500/year for us. Even if we go a year without seeing the doctor. Maybe I’ve been under a rock, but I don’t recall experiencing this with other medical practices. Has anyone else heard of this?


r/chicago • • 1d ago

Article ‘Off-putting’ or ‘a fine tool’? AI slop on restaurant signage is becoming rampant and repugnant.

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451 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 13h ago

Picture Alonzo Smith sold his two-story home at 1816 W. Madison next to the Chicago Stadium for $27,500 in 1987. Had he held out until today’s $7 billion 1901 Project, his estate could have earned between $3-5 million.

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60 Upvotes

Photo Credit: Ron Gordon, 1983


r/chicago • • 1d ago

Picture Fall foliage 10.25

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1.0k Upvotes

From the 606


r/chicago • • 15h ago

Article Pace Has a ReVision, and Suburban Transit Is Finally Thinking Bigger

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51 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 8h ago

Article In Mayor Brandon Johnson’s fourth budget fight, is it ‘class war’ or reelection war? (Paywall-free gift link)

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14 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 11h ago

Article Green and Pink Line disruptions extended … CDOT replacing portion of Lake St Bridge, interrupting Green Line between Clinton and Clark/Lake, Pink Line between Polk and downtown

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18 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 1d ago

Ask CHI Are anyone else's mail-in ballots stuck in "Waiting to be processed by USPS" for several weeks?

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307 Upvotes

Who else hasn't received their mail-in ballot because USPS has been sitting on it? Mail-in Ballot mailed 9/29, still "Waiting to be processed by USPS" on 10/25. I'd love for this to be a "me" problem, but I'm too pessimistic for that.

Reminder: you can still vote, even if it never shows up. Just go to any polling station, today onwards, let them know you requested a mail-in ballot, it hasn't arrived, and request a "provisional ballot." That's a neutered ballot, which only has candidates in the federal election.

Better than nothing, but I'm sure GOP is counting on people not knowing that, or else avoiding the "hassle" they've created.

This is voter disenfranchisement at scale. "Unlike anything that's ever been seen", as Cheeto McTweeto likes to say.

VOTE. F**KING VOTE.


r/chicago • • 10h ago

Article So you want to open a restaurant in Chicago...perspective from the owner of North Pond

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11 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 21h ago

Article In case you're struggling with the long list of judicial retention decisions. Here's a guide that summarizes anything notable about each judge.

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75 Upvotes

r/chicago • • 1d ago

CHI Talks Why do so many Music Box patrons treat every showing like an interactive experience?

622 Upvotes

Look, I love the Music Box. I’m a member, I’ve got the merch, I go to special events there, the works. I think it’s a phenomenal, beautiful place and I’m grateful that we have it.

That said—I have felt over the last few years that the audience culture there has become increasingly unhinged and the theater is either ignoring the problem or, worse, leaning into it. Audience members heckle, hoot, and holler through any given movie.

I’ve seen behavior there that ranges from shouting at actors through the screen (at Eyes Wide Shut last year someone shouted “Peewee!” when Alan Cumming appeared on screen which… bewildered me) to laughing hysterically at the most inappropriate times (anyone else see Blue Velvet last year and experience this?), to just blatantly chatting out loud and giving commentary on the films playing.

I will be honest: I have almost entirely stopped attending the Music Box in the last year because of this. The crowds are consistently rowdy (or perhaps I’m just really unlucky and keep ending up at the rowdy showings) and it makes it very difficult to enjoy films there anymore. I love that they do the sing-a-long showings and the midnight screenings and the more interactive events (and I don’t mind this kind of thing at those showings) but I feel like the culture and expectations attached to those has bled over into the regular movie showings there.

Has anyone else experienced this? Am I crazy?