In Chicago, like in many cities, local food production comes in many forms, from small backyard crops to community gardens. Researchers are now using Google Earth to paint a more accurate picture of food production at different scales.
Jan 13, 2013 NPR
Social scientists have a theory that a neighborhood's character shapes its economic future more than income levels and foreclosure rates. A tragedy to the community of Chatham on Chicago's South Side has tested this "neighborhood effect."
Jan 12, 2013 The New York Times
After 5 decades of abandonment, and recent inspiration from the much-lauded High Line, a rusty railway stretching three-and-a-half miles through central Queens may become NYC’s next elevated greenway.
Jan 10, 2013 New York Times
Whet Moser looks at the revival of the intercity bus industry, despite its past inadequacies and stigmas. He discusses a new report that details the elements contributing to today's bus boom.
Jan 10, 2013 Chicago Magazine
Adapting to extreme weather events resulting from climate change has largely taken the form of infrastructure engineering, e.g building flood doors for subways or reinforcing sand dunes, but what of 'social adaptation' for residents themselves?
Jan 5, 2013 The New Yorker
The difficulties food truck operators have encountered in trying to set up shop in Chicago provides a parable for how well meaning, but slow moving and cumbersome, public agencies can get in the way of their city's best interests.
Jan 5, 2013 Chicago Tribune
Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood has seen a dramatic rise in incomes and property values over the past decade. Emily Badger examines the historically black neighborhood's non-white gentrification, and how it's viewed differently than other areas.
Jan 3, 2013 By Jonathan Nettler
While Washington bickers over partisan issues, mayors in the rest of the country are showing strong leadership and innovation. Newsweek has compiled a list of the top cities pushing education reform, public safety, quality of life, and job creation.
Jan 1, 2013 The Daily Beast
Researchers at the University of Chicago are tackling a problem that is confronting the globe's biggest cities: how to turn the reams of data being collected and opened to the public and turn it into actionable information for decision-makers.
Dec 27, 2012 DNAinfo.com Chicago
In this holiday essay, spelunker John Watts delivers an everyman’s take on Chesterton’s oft-noted adage: Places don’t become loved because they are great; they become great because they are loved. Does your town invite “word-of-mouth walking?”
Dec 23, 2012 PlaceShakers
