Why We Don't Go to Chicago Much Anymore

I will be writing about a Chicago Tribune article involving a sightseeing trip on Chicago's Michigan Avenue next.  But, I thought I needed to explain why we rarely go to the city anymore.

Without a doubt, there are a lot of things to see and do in Chicago and I used to take full advantage of them back in the day before the city decided to overcharge me at every turn, worst of which being the the parking prices, especially with the coming of restricted on-street parking in any neighborhood with popularity.

Now, you have to have a parking sticker showing you're a neighborhood resident.  Park without one and you're very likely to get a close-up and personal meeting with Steve Goodman's Lincoln Park Pirates, in other words, a towing company and their unbelievably exorbitant prices who are very dedicated to making money and are constantly on the prowl looking for victims.

We used to go to Wrigley Field or Comiskey Park a lot and always, after looking for awhile, could find a parking place on the street somewhere within walking distance.  Can't do that anymore.  And, you'll never guess what the regular parking lots did when that happened?  Why, they raised the rates quite a bit.

And then there was the past Mayor Daley's selling the parking meters to a private company who then immediately raised parking rates and now are approaching $5 an hour for on-street parking (and probably higher (like I said, we don't go there much anymore).  That was an ongoing source of income that no longer comes into the cash-strapped city.

Well, That's a Big Reason Why We Don't Visit Chicago Anymore.  There Are Others.  --RoadDog