July 2026 Birding Report - House finches (about two dozen) precious red little birds - House Sparrows - House Sparrows (countless) - Robins (dozens, I see young robins now) - Hairy Woodpecker, one female - Mourning doves, a pair

Today after the storm, my neighbor let me know he picked up the branches from my tree and tossed them into the street. He started talking to my mom for like twenty minutes, then the neighbor to his right. I think they talk a bit, but I've never spoken to her. Little interactions like this made me think about how easy or natural it is to be neighborly. After a storm, it felt right to just put all of the branches on the street -- even if you don't have any trees. On the other hand, my other neighbor doesn't talk to me too much either, and hates that our tree drops tree-things onto their yard. I helped out and tried to clean up the leaves on their side with the air blower, but saw they were watching and didn't want them to think I was blowing leaves onto their lawn. They already think I do that. How easy is it to be neighborly? What if your neighbors just really suck? It's ok to be an annoyingly friendly neighbor if your neighbors really suck, by the way.

Moving Archer Forward is a plan to strengthen and invest into the Archer Avenue corridor from Halsted to Cicero. It is a controversial plan because it aims to bring revitalization to disinvested areas, infill lots with affordable housing, improve transit options and stations, increase green space, and -- quite possibly the most controversial -- integrate bike-related infrastructure into the street network. The City of Chicago commissioned a study into the corridor several years ago and this was their proposal. The study was done because the Southwest Side, in comparison to other developing areas of the city, lacks: - Business Investment - Community Investment - Affordable housing - Equitable transit oriented development - Transit infrastructure - Cohesive transportation network Each of these bullet points deserves its own story on how disinvestment has been a tool of the Chicago Political Machine. Each bullet point is also weaponized by conservatives in neighborhoods who hate seeing construction and new people in their neighborhood.

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Bird Report: - House Finches (15-20) - beautiful red little birds - House Sparrows (countless) - Dark eyed Juncos, about 6 - Robins (dozens) - A raven, sometimes - Hairy Woodpecker, one or 2, usually female - Mourning doves, a pair - European Starlings, maybe a dozen - Red breasted grosbeak, one time