Illinois

Chicago's 100-year anniversary of the Daniel Burnham city plan offers an opportunity to rethink how the city works and how it should look for the next 100, according to this piece from Blair Kamin.

The city of Chicago has missed a deadline to approve a pending parking fee ordinance that would have helped the city qualify for $153 million in federal grant money.

A new agreement has been made that would divert more freight train traffic through Chicago area suburbs. Local communities upset about the increased traffic are expected to challenge the decision.

In a continuing investigation, the Chicago Tribune reports on the bribes and corruption that have resulted from the Chicago policy of allowing local aldermen final say -- over local zoning and planning -- on what gets built.

The high costs of preservation and the current economic downturn have pushed the Chicago archdiocese to request a demolition permit for a historic church. But preservationists are pushing back.

Surprising many, IL Congressman Ray LaHood, a Republican, was selected to fill the transportation position in Obama's administration, presumably to show a bi-partisan approach. Transportation reauthorization and the stimulus package await LaHood.

As part of its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, the city of Chicago has proposed a slight change to the layout of its Olympic stadia. The only problem is that the newly proposed site for the aquatics center is listed on the National Register.

The Chicago Transit Authority is cracking down on 'continuous riders', people who sleep or hang out in the subway through the winter nights to keep warm. Advocates worry the crackdown will hurt the homeless.

For $1.16 billion, Chicago Parking Meters LLC, has won the rights to manage Chicago's parking meters. This is one step the city has taken to ease budget shortfalls.

FEMA has redone official maps of flood-prone areas across the country, designating some as flood zones for the first time.

Reporter Robert Campbell says that the new Springfield Courthouse designed by architect Moshe Safdie is 'one of the most inviting public buildings I've ever seen.'

What do you get when you designate a carpool lane on a toll road for hybrids and carpoolers? A 'green' lane, say Illinois planners. However, they still pay the toll. Now add a "HOT lane overlay" to it - solo drivers can use it for a 'premium'.

Paradoxically, Chicago's roads are more gridlocked than ever despite fewer trips by car overall due to gas prices.

Yorktown was a booming exurb of Chicago, until the mortgage crisis put the kibosh on a number of developments in progress. Residents of these 'ghost towns' find themselves stuck with properties they can't sell.

Chicago preservationists are urging owners of the last of the city's neon signs to keep them intact.

The architecture studio that won The History Channel's City of the Future competition last year has gotten some help making its ideas possible.

Midway Airport may become the first U.S. airport to be privatized if the 99-year lease for $2.52 billion is approved by the City Council and F.A.A., following in the footsteps of privatizing the Chicago Skyway toll road in 2005.

As the 100-year anniversary of the writing of the Burnham Plan for Chicago approaches, the city and its suburbs are thinking big about how to improve the city.

The Chicago Housing Authority is considering tearing down a 300-unit public housing project, with a vote expected Tuesday. Residents are understandably unhappy, and advocates say the demand for affordable housing is already greater than supply.