Summer festivals are one of the best parts of living in Chicago. Each year, various organizations and neighborhood communities across Chicago come together to put on outdoor street fairs to show off art, food, music, and other local culture.

Time Out Chicago's online edition has a great reference for all the Chicago summer festivals which will give you all the details on dates, times, and descriptions of the festivals.

Everyone has their favorite festivals of the summer, here is a list of favorites from the agents at Real Living Helios Realty -

1) Taste of Randolph
2) Old Town Art Fair
3) Bucktown Art Festival
4) Summer Dance
5) Taste of Lincoln Ave
6) Blues Festival
7) Sheffield Garden Walk
8) Old Town School Of Folk Music Festival
9) Old St. Pat’s World’s Largest Block Party
10) Retro on Roscoe

JM

www.mlssearchchicago.com - to search the MLS to find homes
www.neighborhooddirectorychicago.com - to learn about chicago neighborhoods

A few years ago, I attended an urban planning meeting in the Cabrini-Green community center where people from all walks of life had come together to discuss to potential demolition and rebuilding plans for the struggling neighborhood of Cabrini-Green. Local community leaders were very wary of the promises they were being given about the re-development; many questions were asked as to whether this area would truly be re-built to benefit those who would be displaced.

Time has passed, and the city seems to be keeping its promises… and then some.

An article posted in Green Source by David Sokol goes into great detail about how this development not only provides a great place for the poor to get their lives back together, but also a development that takes advantage of green technologies to cut down on expenses. Through the clever use of new technologies, the city of Chicago has found a way to get mother nature to chip in to pay the electric and water bill for the tenants.

Sokol’s article boasts that the innovative horizontal wind turbine system that currently meets 8 percent of the building’s electricity demand.

The graywater system is another innovation that makes the building eco friendly. Water drained from the showers and sinks are collected, filtered and treated to be re-purposed for use in the toilet system. It is estimated that this process will save 45,000 gallons of water from being pumped from Lake Michigan every year.

Interested in creating more than just a place to live, there is an in-house counseling system which helps those looking to better themselves stay on the right path. All and all, this is great news for Chicago, green developments and the past, present and future residents of the once-failed development Cabrini-Green.

John Marlow
Real Living Helios Realty
http://www.chicagoagentblog.com/
773/314-3020
jmar@reallivinghelios.com

Environmental friendly homes have been championed since the 80's but they are slowly coming into the mainstream.  Rising energy costs and improved energy saving technologies/building methods have created a situation where homebuyers are taking a serious look at "going green".

It has gotten to the point where by looking at the money saved over a 5 year period, homeowners can save enough money to justify the construction cost to install energy saving aspect to their home.

If it's worth it to upgrade an old home, certainly it must be worth it for developers to do the same to new construction... but that is only if there is a large enough market for it.  Have we progressed to the point where our buyers are savvy enough to see the value in green?

In a survey released by Green Media and Imre Communications 51% of builders said that buyers are willing to pay between 11 to 25% more for a green home.  Average age of green homebuyer is between 35-50, college educated and have done their research on green technologies.

As we look to stay competitive in the future we need to look for the best new ways to appeal to our buyers and help our developers add value where it counts.  Unlike the "upgrade" trends we have seen in the past to help maximize profit(the transition for white appliances, to black, to stainless...) we are now given an opportunity to promote an upgrade that will save money and the environment.  A pretty exciting position to be in.

This is a topic I am interested in learning more information on.  If you have any knowledge about this new trend please let me know!

John Marlow
jmar@reallivinghelios.com
http://www.chicagoagentblog.com/
312/224-9104