the Loop

Chicago Blue Line

Chicago's New Train to O'Hare Won't Be a Train—It's Elon Musk's 'Loop'

Loop, as in a derivation of Hyperloop, conceived by Elon Musk and to be built by his newest venture, The Boring Company, is the technology of choice for high-speed transit to O'Hare Airport.

June 16, 2018 - Chicago Tribune

Can Chicago's Tech Boom Benefit the South Side?

With tech businesses setting up shop in Chicago's Loop, what it will take to attract companies out to neighborhoods like Garfield Park and Englewood?

August 18, 2014 - Crain's Chicago Business

Chicago, IL

Downtown Chicago: America's Hottest Urban Center

With its surging job and population growth, and high retail sales, downtown Chicago is outperforming the suburbs for the first time in decades. Perhaps more than any other city in the country, it reflects the inversion of the post-war paradigm.

March 4, 2013 - Crain's Chicago Business

How Chicago Hides a Skyscraper Jail in Plain Sight

A federal jail, The Metropolitan Correctional Center, is snuggled right into Chicago's Loop. Reporter Roman Mars looks at how the architecture manages to help the building disappear.

May 20, 2011 - 99% Invisible

Mayor Daley, a Retrospective

Mayor Daley's successes in downtown Chicago have attracted attention worldwide, but what about the rest of the city? Greg Hinz and Steven R. Strahler say Daley has fixed downtown but not the city's neighborhoods.

June 14, 2010 - Chicago Business

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.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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.