These are fantastic!

So other than shifting a bit blue and dark, is there anything else the Holga lens is giving you here?

It does give a slightly off-centric selective-focus effect which you won't find in a quality lens. It's maybe most noticeable on the image where the John Hancock is in the lower right corner of the photo (this one is one of two that are cropped -- it originally is a horizontal variation of the shot with the trash can). The cropping makes it dramatic here, but even on an unaltered image the focus is not quite where/how it's expected to be. There can also be strange color casts depending on the particulars of the lighting.

The lo-fi look can create a warm, fuzzy feeling to an image that also because of the technical failings of the lens seems artificial. I dunno if that's the appeal but it sounds good enough.

me3dia, you could probably approach this effect with a lensbaby.

I love these! Esp. this one.

Those are great! They make me want to break out my Holga...

If you don't need the car in Chi-town, can you still pretty readily take the train down?

The MegaBus has been a pretty solid option going back and forth between the Midwest cities.