🚲 Pete's just trying to drive home when a guy on a ten-speed leans into the truck window and unloads — Elon, Trump, the tariffs, the war, inflation. Pete rolls down the window figuring he must've cut the guy off. Nope. Just another Tuesday on McKinley. Rick Lesser pulls up a few minutes later, and that run-in becomes the thread running through the whole show. What happened to civility? Why does nobody say "on your left" anymore? Are e-bikes really e-bikes — or are they motorcycles? And when did consequences quietly disappear? Then the conversation moves from bike paths to something bigger: whether the rules apply equally to everyone. The same meeting packet that re-adopts the rule limiting how much you can build also approves a variance for a lakefront estate to build beyond those limits — with a private tram to the beach. So are there limits? Or are there limits... unless you've got the right address? From there it's everywhere: Ragdale and Howard Van Doren Shaw, the Lake Forest zoo that somehow wound up in Tennessee, why two of downtown's biggest storefronts have sat empty for years, and why Lake Bluff keeps eating Lake Forest's lunch on sales tax. Retailer problem? Landlord problem? Or a Lake Forest problem? We document. You decide. 🎙 Pete Jansons — with Rick Lesser IN THIS EPISODE0:00 "You must be from Lake Bluff": the roadside run-in2:58 "Civility's been outlawed" — and the no-honk code3:40 "Those aren't e-bikes. Those are motorcycles."4:12 The Market Square squad car8:44 The 1912 mansion that wants a tram to its beach12:08 Same packet: the limits, the variance, "the right address"13:31 Ragdale, the artist colony, and the Prevailing Wage Act20:04 Lake Forest had a zoo — then it moved to Tennessee26:04 Two big downtown storefronts, empty for years34:00 Restaurant math, The Bear, and the Libertyville consultant43:01 Lake Bluff eats our lunch: sales tax vs. property tax46:11 "On Your Left" (album track)51:30 "The Right Address" (album closer) 🎵 Companion album: "Ten Speeds and Sailboats" — eight original songs inspired by today's conversation. 📝 We fix our record: Ragdale was designed and built (1896–97) by Howard Van Doren Shaw — who also designed Market Square — not the name guessed on air. The City of Lake Forest owns it; the Ragdale Foundation runs it. Support the show: patreon.com/lakeforestpodcastNewsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/jmul1Df/lakeforestpodcastsignupSubstack (Rawthentic): https://petejansons.substack.comTips / press: pete@lakeforestpodcast.comLake Forest, IL (60045)