The Home Front

Victorian home in Old Town (above) By Don DeBat The 2025 holidays may be only weeks away, but dark clouds still hang over Chicago’s North Side resale-home market, leaving gold-seeking prospective buyers wondering if they will find a lump of coal in their Christmas stockings. Through the third quarter the North Side residential market continued to struggle with the same year-long hangover headaches—limited listing inventory and strong buyer demand, which keeps pushing home pri

1985 JETS- BOTTOM ROW: (kneeling L-R):  Dale Hopkins, Bradely Trychta, Bobby Glover, Clarence "Boots" Cass, Pat Carroll and Keith Dickens. TOP ROW: (standing L-R):  Ricky Lewis, Chris D'Agostino, Robert Placek, Kenny Dower, John Zullo, John Clausen, Joey Alvinito and Gene O'Keefe. By Don DeBat The Chicago 16-Inch Softball Hall of Fame will recognize the Class of 2025 Inductees and Honorees at its 29 th  annual dinner on October 25 th . The HOF includes more than 700 of the be

Chicago Joe's exterior (above) By Don DeBat Classic 16-inch Chicago-style softball teams are holding a memory-vigil and experiencing a mourning-moment this month for the future of a now-vacant site on the northeast corner of Oakley Ave. and Irving Park Rd. in the North Center neighborhood. A building permit has been issued by the City of Chicago allowing Landrosh Development to erect a 38-unit masonry apartment building at 4009 N. Oakley at a projected cost of $7.7 million. T

(Above) A coach house (left in photo) in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood. Click on image to view larger version. ADU photos by Don DeBat. A new Chicago ordinance now allows Additional Dwelling Units, or ‘Granny Flats,’ to be built citywide, signaling a significant step toward addressing Chicago’s affordable housing shortage. By Don DeBat “Granny Flats” finally are rising out of their rocking chairs in Chicago, a world-class city that is desperate for construction of new affor

Mayor Johnson’s multi-million-dollar bike lane plan is creating a rift in Chicago, as motorists struggle with increased traffic and lost...

Economists predict that a recent quarter-point interest rate reduction by the Federal Reserve could lead to mortgage rates as low as 5.75...