I recognize that people would like to be able to work, have conversations and take in all of the sights of of Chicago. I do think it is worth pointing out that this is however a city, not a suburb. A city is made up of a massive group of people who all brings their different lives and personalities. Street performers are a characteristic of a city, especially one such as Chicago.
In another context, street performers are characteristic of the variety of Chicago's population. They are are a diverse mixture of different cultural backgrounds and musical styles.
I can certainly see Alderman Reilly's point about bringing down the noise level in his district, which consists of the Loop and the Near North side. I just find it disturbing that the people who live in Chicago who choose to work and play in a busy area of the city would actually be bothered by the noise of a certain group of people. Some of these individuals who take issue with street performers should really be taking more issue with the annoying habit of people carrying on stupid conversations on their cell phones in public, and loudly.
If you are bothered by noise, a city isn't for you. Let people, short of beating you over the head and harming you, live how they wanna live.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
I agree. If you're going to live in a place like Chicago (or New York or San Francisco) you've got to expect this kind of thing. If you want pastoral pleasures, it's best to be in Hoffman Estates (or upstate New York or Napa Valley). City noise is half the charm of the city.
2 - Downtowner
With all due respect, this ordinance is not intended to push street performers out of the City of Chicago - it is intended to ensure that all street performances comply with the Environmental Noise Ordinance that regulates allowable decibel levels.
Under Reilly's proposal, any street performer - whether you're a bucket beater, a saxophone player or mime - continues to enjoy the right to perform on the public way - so long as they are carrying a valid performer's license and so long as they do not violate lawful decibel limits.
If the bucket beaters or other drummers need to shove pillows into their buckets or drums to modulate the noise, so be it. Turning down the volume, ever so slightly, on these otherwise incredibly loud instruments allows these performers to display their "talents" while also respecting the need for downtown employees to be able to focus and concentrate while at work.
Downtown workers understand that Chicago is a major metropolitan area and with that comes substantial ambient noise. That's not the issue here.
In this case, certain performers (including the bucket boys) are playing at volumes that reach double, sometimes triple the legally mandated decibel limits (intended to combat noise pollution).
Try to imagine 4 or 5 hours of non-stop drumming at incredible decibel levels - so loud that it sounds as though the drummers are playing in the middle of your office. That is the real problem this alderman is seeking to cure.
Alderman Reilly knows his ward is a noisy one - this is not about trying to bring a slice of the suburbs to downtown Chicago via "peace and quiet" - the Alderman is simply trying to establish reasonable limits
3 - lindsey
I would like to know what unamplified buckets could ever be heard in the middle of an office. Seems ridiculous. People playing music should be embraced rather than ridiculed. There are time and noise restrictions on music, but no one seems to turn down the microphone when a politician steps up to the podium.