Solving the Wind Issue in the City of Chicago

It is very obvious why Chicago is nicknamed the 'Windy City".  It is clearly because of all of the wind tunnels that the wind likes to blow thru.  These winds pick up to various speeds which can be very inconvenient and annoying to Chicagoans.  According to www.currentresults.com, the average wind speed in Chicago is 10.3 miles per hours!! That's faster than I can run!  But there is no question to why we all see it as the windy city.  I'm just joking; Chicago is nicknamed the "Windy City" because of how much the politicians in the city sway on certain topics.  But honestly, many people think it is nicknamed that because of the wind gusts inside the city and I don't blame them.  On some days the wind speed picks up so much that it actually pushes people around.  It is a funny sight to see as long as it's not you being carried by the wind!  This ongoing issue of huge wind speeds has been around since Chicago was built.  

The reason why the wind is so bad at the base of these huge skyscrapers is because of the downdraught effect.  This is when the wind hits the center of a building and either has to pursue the path up to the sky or down to the ground.  That is why it is extremely gusty in the city because all of the wind hitting off of the buildings has nowhere to go!  This problem is essentially unavoidable when tall buildings are created. There truly is no way around it completely, but I have a few ideas on how to minimize the effects of the wind while in Chicago.  You may not consider these solutions, but rather temporary problem solvers.  Let's be honest, no one can stop Mother Nature and her course, we can only try to adapt to her plans and wild weather!

Build Circular Skyscrapers

The only reason why the wind is so terrible in major cities such as Chicago is because of the design of the buildings.  Since the design of most skyscrapers and building is rectangular, the wind has no free path to travel.  This is because the wind is forced to switch directions once it hits the buildings.  The only problem is that the two directions the wind can go are either up or down.  With circular buildings, the wind can get a proper path around the building not forcing it down the side and into the ground.  This would result in the wind having enough time to redirect its gust so it doesn’t affect the people walking on the sidewalk.  It would be a long process to end the wind problem since the majority of buildings are curricular.  But when it’s said and done, there is potential to renovate every building over a long period of time to change their architectural structure.

Change the Design of an Existing Building

Another way to solve the wind problem is to renovate existing buildings.  It has been proven that wind can travel safely through different types of materials.  My idea is to cut out small portions of a building and replace it with a mesh type substance.  Creating a small path within the building will give the wind an opportunity to get sucked through the building rather than getting drawn down to the sidewalk.  Of course you would have to section off the mesh area so the wind doesn’t get inside the building, but overall this solution could be very effective on at least trimming down the overall wind speed.  This is just one of those temporary solutions that could resolve the situation and make walking in the city a lot more enjoyable.

Re-Direct the Wind

Re-directing the wind could be the best solution possible.  If there was a way to re-direct the wind on a mass scale, it would have been done already.  The reason why this hasn’t been done is because no one wants to acquire the expensive costs that would result of building this process.  If you re-direct the wind into specific locations, it could actually be very beneficial.  It would be very beneficial because you could actually store the wind and create energy.  The amount of energy that could be sustained from wind gusts in cities is unimaginable.  Harvesting this energy could actually help out the world.  Energy created from the wind is incredibly useful because you can use it to do things such as recharging car batteries.  The best method to store energy from wind is using a wind turbine.  Since the population and area is so dense around cities, there really is no room for wind turbines.  However, there may be a way to develop a wind turbine that would fit right into a city.  I don’t know what the design would look like or how it would work, but I know with enough funding for research, it is definitely possible to do.  Again, no one wants to spend that much money because wind is not looked at as a primary danger to society.

Even though the solutions I gave are just temporary fixes, there still is a ton of potential to solve this wind crisis.  Hopefully in the near future, there are government officials that would be willing to create a budget in order to have enough money to fund this specific research.  Since the wind is essentially unavoidable, there are methods to somewhat dodge it.  For example, the city of Chicago offers many underground walk ways and subways.  Taking the subway would allow you to miss the wind completely since you are underground.  Or you could just try to avoid walking too far in the city.   There are an abundance amount of parking lots and garages to park in if that solution fits you.  However, keep in mind that these parking garages are considerably expensive.  It all comes down to whatever floats your boat because I can guarantee you that the wind will be a problem for a very long time. 

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