@johngreenfield.bsky.social - John Greenfield

15 Sep 2026 15:31 +0000

@chicritmass.bsky.social's 29th anniversary is F 9/25. A few of my friends met their spouses through CCM, and now their kids are in high school and college. Last weekend I was at a garden party where one of the teens did an excellent 90's Mazzy Star cover, which reminded me of this Onion headline. https://theonion.com/cool-dad-raising-daughter-on-media-that-will-put-her-en-1819572981/

15 Sep 2026 15:10 +0000

A NIMBY strategy: Say things about proposed zoning changes that are nonsense. A "fear-mongering" video implies that if Oak Park's zoning change proposal passes, Frank Lloyd Wright houses will be demolished to make room for affordable housing. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/real-estate/residential/ccb-frank-lloyd-wright-oak-park-20260914/ @stevevance.net

10 Sep 2026 23:08 +0000

I can't help but point out that the communications director for the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, NITA, is named TINA. #AnagramsRuleEverythingAroundMe @nitachicago.bsky.social

04 Sep 2026 22:17 +0000

Concrete Beach enthusiast @stevevance.net will appreciate this Creach-oriented @leinenkugels.bsky.social marketing.

04 Sep 2026 18:40 +0000

A friend got some cheap tickets to hear John Fogerty from Creedence Clearwater Revival and his sons play at the Tinley Park amphitheater last night. Here's a rough approximation of our train + bike route. Fogerty was terrific – at 81, his singing and guitar playing still sound great.

01 Sep 2026 21:29 +0000

Seriously, I haven't figured this out yet, so Internet hive mind, please tell me: The font for the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority is reminiscent of the logo of which '90s Britpop band? @nitachicago.bsky.social @stevevance.net @ellensteinke.bsky.social @latrace.bsky.social

28 Aug 2026 18:44 +0000

The O'Hare Flyer proposal got a warm reception from rail experts like Chaddick Institute and High Speed Rail Alliance. OTOH it does raise equity questions, so maybe we'll see some discussion of this in @blockclubchi.bsky.social and/or @chicagoreader.com. https://chi.streetsblog.org/2026/08/25/depauls-schwieterman-and-high-speed-rail-alliances-harnish-hope-the-ohare-flyer-will-succeed-where-elon-musk-failed

19 Aug 2026 13:17 +0000

A new @chicagotribune.com editorial essentially advocates for more driving, i.e. more crashes, pollution, wear-and-tear, and traffic jams, on local highways: "Free Illinois tollways? Show us the math, Darren Bailey. But keep the conversation going." https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/19/editorial-free-illinois-tollways-show-us-the-math-darren-bailey-but-keep-the-conversation-going/

10 Aug 2026 20:32 +0000

Thanks to Green Machine Cycles owner Ezra Hozinsky for all the positive impact he's had on the Chicago bike scene in the past 13 years. @blockclubchi.bsky.social @kadeheather.bsky.social @chicritmass.bsky.social @westtownbikes.bsky.social @activetransportation.org @rideillinois.bsky.social https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/08/10/green-machine-cycles-closing-after-13-years-in-ravenswood-amid-lease-dispute/

03 Aug 2026 14:33 +0000

On the homepage of @blockclubchi.bsky.social Chicago right now, there's a story about Greek-American Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announcing his mayoral candidacy *and* an article extolling Greek frozen yogurt as "Chicago's Hottest Sweet Treat." Coincidence? 🇬🇷 🇺🇸 🍦 🤔 (I'm kidding here.)

31 Jul 2026 19:00 +0000

Lollapalooza is on Chicago's lakefront today. Is anyone interested in doing some LSD... activism? [contains quote post or other embedded content]

31 Jul 2026 15:42 +0000

H/T to my 90-year-old dad (who only retired from cycling a couple months ago) for sending me the @wsj.com article immediately after it was published yesterday, since I don't have a subscription. "Death may have no master, but the bicycle is, most emphatically, not its servant." James E. Starrs [contains quote post or other embedded content]

29 Jul 2026 18:00 +0000

Indiana resident John Kass on his latest podcast: "There was a little rat at the @chicagoreader.com. His name was Jon Greenfeld, and he was doing columns about the bikes, the little bike people." https://chicagoreader.com/columns-opinion/mission-accomplished-john-kass-has-been-deplatformed/

29 Jul 2026 16:28 +0000

"Domo origato" to Chicago's Loop North News for a hilarious anti-bike rant from columnist Don DeBat, not to be confused with Chicago-born singer Dennis "Mr. Roboto" DeYoung, formerly of Styx. https://chi.streetsblog.org/2026/07/28/sprocket-man-degreasing

27 Jul 2026 17:22 +0000

Bummed by the current Chicago thunderstorm? Here's fun car-free Wisconsin supper club journey a buddy and I did this weekend using Metra to get to Harvard, IL, and the Van Galder bus to get home from Madison. It's part of a series of supper club rides I've done. https://chi.streetsblog.org/2025/05/27/we-completed-a-metra-bike-trip-to-a-wisconsin-style-supper-club-with-relish-trays-part-2-crossing-the-cheddar-curtain-to-the-hobnob

22 Jul 2026 17:10 +0000

Steal this idea: A Chicagoan should launch a @chicagocta.bsky.social-set response to the @mta.info-set Internet talk show "SubwayTakes" and call it "'L' Takes." @chiwho.bike, feel like switching from bike interviews to train interviews? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubwayTakes

07 Jul 2026 20:35 +0000

After I biked in rain all weekend, at Montrose Beach last night, my u-lock froze up. So I grabbed an e-Divvy, rode home, grabbed lube, rode back, got the lock unstuck. 3 mile roundtrip, 18 minutes, < cost of a bus RT. 13+ years ago, this would have been a big hassle. Thanks @divvybikes.bsky.social!

26 Jun 2026 14:07 +0000

New article in @chicagoreader.com: "Inside the Chicago Courier Classic, bike messenger culture refuses to die" by Andrew Stojkovich. And here's my first-ever Reader article about Chicago's Cyclists Annual Messenger Picnic (CAMP) from [checks notes] 27 years ago! https://chicagoreader.com/news/wheel-power/ https://chicagoreader.com/city-life/chicago-courier-classic-bike-messenger-culture/

20 Jun 2026 18:17 +0000

Well said! [contains quote post or other embedded content]

20 Jun 2026 17:41 +0000

Social media was not the right place for me to respond to Chicago, Bike Grid Now! organizer / SBC contributing writer Nik Hunder's post stating my article on CBGN's 6/15 protest had "a factual error." I apologize for doing that, and I've deleted my side of that exchange. 1/X https://bsky.app/profile/nikhunder.bsky.social/post/3moj53zu4mc2c [contains quote post or other embedded content]

10 Jun 2026 16:11 +0000

Several Edgewater clergy members wrote a letter to Inside Publications. It's in response to Bob Zuley's op-ed that compared Emanuel Congregation, which has proposed a transit-friendly synagogue/housing redevelopment, to "money changers in the temple." The article is also attached here.

10 Jun 2026 01:26 +0000

Last night I was riding the Red Line home from Bridgeport, and someone was playing "No Ordinary Love" at full volume. "The CTA is really out of control nowadays," I said loudly. "Someone is blasting Sade on the 'L'. Is there no decency anymore?" People around me chuckled. @chicagocta.bsky.social https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WcWHZc8s2I

08 Jun 2026 14:53 +0000

Hoosier new Chicago Bears city? @neilsteinberg.bsky.social discusses the pros and cons of the Bears moving to Hammond, IN. The first thing you need to know about that place is that the eponymous organ used for jazz trios was *not* invented there. https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/06/07/hammond-chicago-bears-indiana-illinois-nfl-stadium

08 Jun 2026 14:45 +0000

I shared this evergreen Streetsblog USA piece with a colleague who used the word "accident" to describe the killing of CDOT Planner Riley O'Neil, biking in a non-protected bike lane, by a driver w/ a suspended license who illegally opened his door w/o checking for traffic. @schmangee.bsky.social https://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/12/11/its-time-for-the-ap-to-nix-the-term-accident-to-describe-car-collisions

03 Jun 2026 17:29 +0000

Here's a new (dog-whistle-free) article in Inside Publications about the Edgewater synagogue redevelopment near Thorndale Station. Opponents are using the NIMBY strategy of proposing something unrealistic (expanding the beach) to block something you don't want (more housing.)

02 Jun 2026 19:05 +0000

A decade has passed since I wrote this. LA now has a new museum, and Chicago still has a big parking lot on our lakefront. [contains quote post or other embedded content]

01 Jun 2026 17:02 +0000

I got rid of some extra bike and camping gear, and doughnuts, at Saturday's yard sale in the Sunnyside Pedestrian Mall, attended by Uptown luminaries luminaries like Black Ensemble Theater CEO Jackie Taylor, and former alder and current Zoning Board Chair Hellen Shiller. 🚲⛺️ 🍩 @stevevance.net

29 May 2026 18:37 +0000

Interesting route proposal for tonight's @chicritmass.bsky.social, ending with a bonfire at 31st St. Beach. 🚲🏖️🔥 https://footpathapp.com/routes/101A0096-DBA3-4D0D-A249-00848D0B4A8C

28 May 2026 15:19 +0000

Wow, it's almost as if it's possible to respect religions, but also understand that the First Amendment enshrines the concept (not the exact same wording) of "separation of church and state." @ctulocal1.bsky.social