Chicago

Chicago

Tax Increment Financing District Proposed for Chicago's Big Flyover Transit Project

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is looking for ways to raise local funds to help secure the federal funds necessary for the CTA's Red-Purple Bypass Project.

August 12, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

McDonald's

Big, Corporate 'Back to the City' Movement Continues

In the latest news, chemical company Chemours will remain in downtown Wilmington, Delaware's largest city. In June, McDonald's decamped from Chicago's suburbs for downtown. This latest corporate trend is the topic of a New York Times article.

August 3, 2016 - The New York Times

Crime Watch

Research Finds Strong Links Between Urban Characteristics and Local Drug Trade

New research has found a link between drug dealing and certain urban environments, which researchers believe can lead to better policing strategies.

August 2, 2016 - London School of Economics and Political Science American Politics and Policy Blog

Jefferson Park Chicago

South Side Location Selected for the Obama Library

The eagerly anticipated selection of the future site of the Obama Presidential Library has leaked to the press. A formal announcement is expected soon.

July 28, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

$760 Million in Transportation Grants Coming Soon; South Side Chicago Projects Not Included

Illinois, Cook County, and city of Chicago officials were disappointed in their first effort to attract FASTLANE funding authorized by the U.S Department Transportation

July 27, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Lightning Strike Partially Collapses Blue Line Platform in Chicago

Anyone in Chicago or with their eyes on social media this weekend couldn't have avoided the scary sights produced by an afternoon storm.

July 25, 2016 - DNAinfo Chicago

Railroad Crossing

Faster Chicago to St. Louis Trains Likely to Increase Car Traffic

Next year, trains traveling at up to 110 mph will speed through grade crossings faster than the current trains traveling at up to 79 m.p.h, and motorists need to prepare for crossing gates that will stay down up to three times longer.

July 19, 2016 - The State Journal-Register

The Sharing Economy Comes to Urban Public Schools

How one firm is integrating sharing economy principles to bolster Chicago's public schools.

July 14, 2016 - Doggerel

Design Team Selected for the Obama Presidential Library in Chicago

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners (TWBTA) will design the Obama Presidential Center—selected from a group of seven finalists.

June 30, 2016 - Obama Foundation

Lucas Museum Will Have to Find a City Far, Far Away From Chicago

The controversy over whether to located the Lucas Museum Site at a lakefront property in Chicago is no longer ongoing.

June 24, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Chicago Beach

Summer Is Here—and So Are 'Smart Beaches'

A group of "citizen data scientists" produced a predictive analytic model that offers citizens better information about water quality on beaches along Lake Michigan in Chicago.

June 21, 2016 - Data-Smart City Solutions

Gensler Spire Concept

A 2,000-Foot Skyscraper Imagined for the Site of Chicago's Infamous Spire

Global architecture firm Gensler is doing its job to get the ball rolling on the dormant former site of the Spire project designed by Santiago Calatrava.

June 9, 2016 - Curbed Chicago

Demolition

Tear It Down and They Will Come?

There's a rationale for the demolition of vacant properties in cities like Chicago, but does that mean the city should be celebrating these programs? The planning of shrinking cities, it turns out, is still very much a work in progress.

June 2, 2016 - WBEZ

Uhaul Trucks

Op-Ed: More Domestic Migration Needed in the United States

An op-ed in the New York Times makes a cogent case for increasing movement between states for self-betterment, specifically from high unemployment states to states like New Hampshire and North Dakota, and what policy changes would encourage it.

June 1, 2016 - The New York Times

Bike Path

A Chicago Bike Path Goes Underused

While a federally-funded network of bike paths is in the works elsewhere in the city, the Major Taylor Trail gets little use from Chicago residents. The main problems are a lack of awareness and the South Side's fearsome reputation.

May 31, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Uber Protest

Uber and Lyft Could Be Ready to Exit Chicago, Too

After leaving Austin on the losing side of a regulatory battle, a licensing ordinance might push Uber and Lyft to end operations in Chicago.

May 27, 2016 - Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Blight

Black Flight From Gun Violence: Chicago's Loss Is Suburbia's Gain

Middle class African-Americans are fleeing Chicago due to crime, not due to being priced out, as is common elsewhere. "On average more than 10,000 African-Americans leave the city every," reports Brandis Friedman of WTTW for the PBS NewsHour.

May 23, 2016 - PBS NewsHour

Why Chicago Park Advocates Want to Preserve a Parking Lot

A Chicago nonprofit drew criticism for opposing the planned Lucas Museum in favor of a large parking lot. But the organization says it fits into their mission of promoting open space.

May 23, 2016 - Chi.Streetsblog

CTA Buses

A Long-Awaited Bus Line Falls Short of Expectations in Chicago

The Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport provides a case study of the collision between neighborhood advocacy, politics, and transit planning.

May 18, 2016 - DNAinfo Chicago

Millennium Park Chicago

Will Chicago Be the Next to Jump on the Sky Gondola?

Chicago's looking for a new tourist attraction, and the sky gondola has made the short list. Private investors have proposed to construct a sky gondola as a tourist attraction crossing over the Chicago River, but will the plan fly?

May 16, 2016 - CityLab

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.