7 ms·

The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

91 points by kgwgk 6y ago

viklove 6y ago
With the bar on the top and the uncloseable bar on the bottom, this site was too claustrophobic for me to commit to reading the whole article.
- tyingq 6y ago
  They named the div at the bottom nicely, such that $('.paywall').remove() in the js console removes it.
- dang 6y ago
  "Please don't complain about website formatting, back-button breakage, and similar annoyances. They're too common to be interesting. Exception: when the author is present. Then friendly feedback might be helpful." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
perardi 6y ago
I suppose this is the last men’s hotel, as in, literally for men-only, in Chicago. But there are still single-room occupancy buildings, or SROs, around. They are largely clustered in Uptown. I would link to them, but, perhaps unsurprisingly: not much of a web presence. And let me tell you, as one of those gentrifying tech folks living in the new or refurbished developments in Uptown and Edgewater: there are some nice folks there. One of them gave me a clicker randomly to help me train my dog. Walk by these buildings every day, they always compliment my dog.
- perardi 6y ago
  And this is an excuse to link to this really thorough documentation of the architecture and history of Uptown, which has had a wild history. https://chicagoflaneur.com/2020/04/24/portrait-of-chicago-uptown/ https://chicagoflaneur.com/2020/04/24/portrait-of-chicago-up...
- throwaway894345 6y ago
  Where are some of these SROs at? Are they along Sheridan north of Montrose? That seems to be where things are the most dodgy (which isn't to say they aren't nice people, only that you notice the stark contrast when you cross Montrose on Sheridan or Hazel).
hellbannedguy 6y ago
I would like to see America build more of these. Even lightening building codes, and zoning requirements (allow for very small rooms). If the Infrasctructure bill promised more of this type of housing I would be thrilled. I'd be happy with a few public restrooms strategically placed around cities, but I guess I'm the only one that needs easy access to a bathroom! 1. It's obvious homlessness is just getting worse. I just heard the head of the Federal Reserve comment on the increasing size of the homeless encampment mext to his office. 2. We need building codes that encourage small simple housing units. 3. I like the hotel doesn't have a list of rules. I feel giving people some control over their lives is very important. I like there are no mandatory religious meetings, or curfews. Treat a man like a thinking adult, and you might be suprised with the result? 4. Yes--I understand this place is in disrepair, but why couldn't we built simple housing? I sometimes think authorities make projects more complicated because they secretly don't want anything built, especially for the poor. 5. Oh yea, America needs more people like thus guy: "Wesley Duran, a porter at the hotel. “I try to give everyone respect, treat people fairly here. There’s too much hatred in the world for me to go that way. We’ve gotta be nicer to one another.”
- perardi 6y ago
  Ugh, I hate to pull this out, by: NIMBY-ism. To a first approximation nobody wants an SRO on their back yard. Me? I am just fine with it, I have lived near SROs for years. But…oh whatever, I’ll be blunt: Karen doesn’t want a giant building full of itinerant men on her block, and she is going to fight tooth and nail to prevent such a thing.
  - bombcar 6y ago
    So let's be realistic and admit these buildings do NOT have to be built in residential areas with Karens abounding. The perfect is the enemy of the good here; let them be wedged into industrial areas or other "not as desirable" parts of town. Trying to pretend that the "bad part of town" can be removed if we just figure out the magic steps is part of the problem.
    - 6y ago
OldHand2018 6y ago
This block of Chicago is really interesting. It’s like going back in time to when American cities were far seedier places than they are now. It survives in part because the neighbor across the street is the Metropolitan Correctional Center [1] (an architectural masterpiece that was ruined by painting it about 10 years ago). The other reason it survives is that many buildings are owned in full by people that just aren’t interested in huge piles of money. When they pass away, their children will surely cash out and another skyscraper will rise. There are quite a few hole-in-the-wall lunch places along this block. My favorite was a fried chicken place with some homemade (?) hot sauce. Around the corner is a fantastic old-school pizza place and I think the guy who runs it owns most of the buildings. [1] https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/ccc/index.jsp https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/ccc/index.jsp
- pkkim 6y ago
  Also the site of Chicago's first Chinatown. https://chicagodetours.com/forgotten-chinatown-chicago/ https://chicagodetours.com/forgotten-chinatown-chicago/
- chitowneats 6y ago
  I worked at this intersection for half a decade. Your analysis is spot on. As for the chicken, you must be referring to Chicken Planet: http://www.chickenplanetchicago.com/ http://www.chickenplanetchicago.com/
  - OldHand2018 6y ago
    I had to look it up because I knew it by location and not name. It was Mickey’s, not Chicken Planet. The pizza place is Boni Vino and the lunch crowd is floor traders and guys with thick Chicago accents. Full bar at lunch.
  - kevinmchugh 6y ago
    Chicken Planet is great but it's not fried, and the hot sauce is wanting
- kgwgk 6y ago
throwaway894345 6y ago
Wow, I used to walk by this all the time (I lived in the South Loop and worked in the Loop). I never realized it was the last one. It's the one noticeably dodgier block in the area.
- snypher 6y ago
  For what reasons would you say it was dodgier?
  - cozzyd 6y ago
    Not OP, but I wouldn't say it's dodgier, but rather that it feels like a time capsule from the past: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8760356,-87.630659,3a,75y,340.08h,101.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s52WeEmAdIWCG2wk0HQsfxg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8760356,-87.630659,3a,75y,34... It doesn't help that it's across the street from a prison (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Correctional_Center,_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Correctional_Cent...) . (edit, looks like OldHand2018 said basically the same thing I did!).
  - throwaway894345 6y ago
    I would get harassed on that block far more often despite it being considerably less dense than just a bit farther north (business) or south (residential). Maybe "dodgy" isn't the right word. You can also have a look around for yourself--the buildings on either side of this block are quite a bit nicer (although that on it's own isn't a good proxy for dodginess): https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8761663,-87.630677,3a,75y,311.17h,102.99t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWfyMQzBwjgWyYUw58fQODg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DWfyMQzBwjgWyYUw58fQODg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D342.38004%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8761663,-87.630677,3a,75y,31...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
bsanr2 6y ago
"Like his friend and like his son, Mike strongly believes in caring for what and who are already here. In every one of the many conversations we have from May 2020 to February 2021, he shares with me, in his quiet, passionate voice, his vision: shuttered schools across the south and west sides remodeled, their doors opening like petals for women and children fleeing violent homes or for other Chicagoans in need of shelter while they wait for housing vouchers to come through, classrooms converted to dormitories, cafeterias serving whoever needs to eat." It should be noted that this is unlikely to happen, unfortunately. https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/school-closures-and-gentrification-black-metropolis https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/school-closures-and-gentri... https://prospect.org/education/gentrification-school-closings-displacement-chicago/ https://prospect.org/education/gentrification-school-closing... Like Campus 805 in Huntsville, Alabama, they're much more likely to be torn down or redeveloped into a play-space for new transplants. Any sort of public service runs directly counter to the purpose of shutting down those schools in the first place.
throwawayboise 6y ago
Without disputing the need for cheap, low barrier shelter, this place looks like a tinderbox. It seems like it's one carelessly dropped cigarette away from a couple of hundred dead men.

91 points by kgwgk 6y ago

With the bar on the top and the uncloseable bar on the bottom, this site was too claustrophobic for me to commit to reading the whole article.

tyingq 6y ago
They named the div at the bottom nicely, such that $('.paywall').remove() in the js console removes it.
dang 6y ago
"Please don't complain about website formatting, back-button breakage, and similar annoyances. They're too common to be interesting. Exception: when the author is present. Then friendly feedback might be helpful." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

perardi 6y ago

I suppose this is the last men’s hotel, as in, literally for men-only, in Chicago. But there are still single-room occupancy buildings, or SROs, around. They are largely clustered in Uptown. I would link to them, but, perhaps unsurprisingly: not much of a web presence. And let me tell you, as one of those gentrifying tech folks living in the new or refurbished developments in Uptown and Edgewater: there are some nice folks there. One of them gave me a clicker randomly to help me train my dog. Walk by these buildings every day, they always compliment my dog.

perardi 6y ago
And this is an excuse to link to this really thorough documentation of the architecture and history of Uptown, which has had a wild history. https://chicagoflaneur.com/2020/04/24/portrait-of-chicago-uptown/ https://chicagoflaneur.com/2020/04/24/portrait-of-chicago-up...
throwaway894345 6y ago
Where are some of these SROs at? Are they along Sheridan north of Montrose? That seems to be where things are the most dodgy (which isn't to say they aren't nice people, only that you notice the stark contrast when you cross Montrose on Sheridan or Hazel).

hellbannedguy 6y ago

I would like to see America build more of these. Even lightening building codes, and zoning requirements (allow for very small rooms). If the Infrasctructure bill promised more of this type of housing I would be thrilled. I'd be happy with a few public restrooms strategically placed around cities, but I guess I'm the only one that needs easy access to a bathroom! 1. It's obvious homlessness is just getting worse. I just heard the head of the Federal Reserve comment on the increasing size of the homeless encampment mext to his office. 2. We need building codes that encourage small simple housing units. 3. I like the hotel doesn't have a list of rules. I feel giving people some control over their lives is very important. I like there are no mandatory religious meetings, or curfews. Treat a man like a thinking adult, and you might be suprised with the result? 4. Yes--I understand this place is in disrepair, but why couldn't we built simple housing? I sometimes think authorities make projects more complicated because they secretly don't want anything built, especially for the poor. 5. Oh yea, America needs more people like thus guy: "Wesley Duran, a porter at the hotel. “I try to give everyone respect, treat people fairly here. There’s too much hatred in the world for me to go that way. We’ve gotta be nicer to one another.”

perardi 6y ago
Ugh, I hate to pull this out, by: NIMBY-ism. To a first approximation nobody wants an SRO on their back yard. Me? I am just fine with it, I have lived near SROs for years. But…oh whatever, I’ll be blunt: Karen doesn’t want a giant building full of itinerant men on her block, and she is going to fight tooth and nail to prevent such a thing.
- bombcar 6y ago
  So let's be realistic and admit these buildings do NOT have to be built in residential areas with Karens abounding. The perfect is the enemy of the good here; let them be wedged into industrial areas or other "not as desirable" parts of town. Trying to pretend that the "bad part of town" can be removed if we just figure out the magic steps is part of the problem.
  - 6y ago

OldHand2018 6y ago

This block of Chicago is really interesting. It’s like going back in time to when American cities were far seedier places than they are now. It survives in part because the neighbor across the street is the Metropolitan Correctional Center [1] (an architectural masterpiece that was ruined by painting it about 10 years ago). The other reason it survives is that many buildings are owned in full by people that just aren’t interested in huge piles of money. When they pass away, their children will surely cash out and another skyscraper will rise. There are quite a few hole-in-the-wall lunch places along this block. My favorite was a fried chicken place with some homemade (?) hot sauce. Around the corner is a fantastic old-school pizza place and I think the guy who runs it owns most of the buildings. [1] https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/ccc/index.jsp https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/ccc/index.jsp

pkkim 6y ago
Also the site of Chicago's first Chinatown. https://chicagodetours.com/forgotten-chinatown-chicago/ https://chicagodetours.com/forgotten-chinatown-chicago/
chitowneats 6y ago
I worked at this intersection for half a decade. Your analysis is spot on. As for the chicken, you must be referring to Chicken Planet: http://www.chickenplanetchicago.com/ http://www.chickenplanetchicago.com/
- OldHand2018 6y ago
  I had to look it up because I knew it by location and not name. It was Mickey’s, not Chicken Planet. The pizza place is Boni Vino and the lunch crowd is floor traders and guys with thick Chicago accents. Full bar at lunch.
- kevinmchugh 6y ago
  Chicken Planet is great but it's not fried, and the hot sauce is wanting
kgwgk 6y ago

throwaway894345 6y ago

Wow, I used to walk by this all the time (I lived in the South Loop and worked in the Loop). I never realized it was the last one. It's the one noticeably dodgier block in the area.

snypher 6y ago
For what reasons would you say it was dodgier?
- cozzyd 6y ago
  Not OP, but I wouldn't say it's dodgier, but rather that it feels like a time capsule from the past: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8760356,-87.630659,3a,75y,340.08h,101.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s52WeEmAdIWCG2wk0HQsfxg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8760356,-87.630659,3a,75y,34... It doesn't help that it's across the street from a prison (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Correctional_Center,_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Correctional_Cent...) . (edit, looks like OldHand2018 said basically the same thing I did!).
- throwaway894345 6y ago
  I would get harassed on that block far more often despite it being considerably less dense than just a bit farther north (business) or south (residential). Maybe "dodgy" isn't the right word. You can also have a look around for yourself--the buildings on either side of this block are quite a bit nicer (although that on it's own isn't a good proxy for dodginess): https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8761663,-87.630677,3a,75y,311.17h,102.99t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWfyMQzBwjgWyYUw58fQODg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DWfyMQzBwjgWyYUw58fQODg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D342.38004%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8761663,-87.630677,3a,75y,31...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

bsanr2 6y ago

"Like his friend and like his son, Mike strongly believes in caring for what and who are already here. In every one of the many conversations we have from May 2020 to February 2021, he shares with me, in his quiet, passionate voice, his vision: shuttered schools across the south and west sides remodeled, their doors opening like petals for women and children fleeing violent homes or for other Chicagoans in need of shelter while they wait for housing vouchers to come through, classrooms converted to dormitories, cafeterias serving whoever needs to eat." It should be noted that this is unlikely to happen, unfortunately. https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/school-closures-and-gentrification-black-metropolis https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/school-closures-and-gentri... https://prospect.org/education/gentrification-school-closings-displacement-chicago/ https://prospect.org/education/gentrification-school-closing... Like Campus 805 in Huntsville, Alabama, they're much more likely to be torn down or redeveloped into a play-space for new transplants. Any sort of public service runs directly counter to the purpose of shutting down those schools in the first place.

throwawayboise 6y ago

Without disputing the need for cheap, low barrier shelter, this place looks like a tinderbox. It seems like it's one carelessly dropped cigarette away from a couple of hundred dead men.