Illinois

A nonprofit has converted a former Chicago city bus into a mobile grocery store to bring fresh food to the city's underserved neighborhoods. After stopping operations in August, the service will return with a sustainable business plan this month.

November 18, 2013 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Chicago is America's undisputed leader in using tax increment financing (TIF) to spur economic development. But what is the city getting in exchange for its efforts to fight blight? A new paper says: Not much.

November 15, 2013 - Chicago Magazine

Five years after Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood pioneered participatory budgeting in the United States, the bottom-up budgeting practice is gaining adherents across the country. Can Rogers Park's experiment find success citywide?

November 12, 2013 - Next City

Spire or antenna; what sits atop One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan? The answer isn't just semantics, it will determine if the building is indeed taller than Chicago's Willis Tower. A decision by the official arbiter could come next week.

November 9, 2013 - NPR

Late last week, Chicago Department of Transportation head Gabe Klein announced that he would be resigning to return to the private sector. During his two and a half years on the job, the city made impressive gains in sustainable transportation.

November 7, 2013 - Chi.Streetsblog

With urban populations growing, an interesting phenomenon is spreading in cities across the U.S. - the rise of the (often congested) reverse commute. It brings with it new challenges, like how to provide transit riders with last mile connections.

October 30, 2013 - NPR

In desirable cities across America, home prices are well on their way back to pre-bust levels. But in areas like Chicago's southern suburbs, prices are down more than 40 percent from recent highs, and approaching were they were twenty years ago.

October 29, 2013 - Crain's Chicago Business

The opening of a "striking" new boathouse designed by noted architect Jeanne Gang along the Chicago River is a major milestone in the transformation of the city's "Ol’ Pisspot” into a public amenity.

October 23, 2013 - Grist

The approval of the Illiana Expressway by the CMAP Policy Committee rejects the recommendation of the organization's own planners and years of regional cooperation. Yonah Freemark says the decision will have an effect on regional planning nationwide.

October 19, 2013 - the transport politic

Aaron Renn asserts that Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel's misuse of tax-increment financing dollars is hurting the city's poor.

October 18, 2013 - City Journal

Over the first 40 days they've been in operation, Chicago's nine new speed enforcement cameras have issued warnings to 200,000 drivers. Politicians and reporters are skeptical about the city's motivation for installing the cameras.

October 17, 2013 - Chi.Streetsblog

Last week, the long saga over the preservation of Bertrand Goldberg's Prentice Hospital entered its nadir with the start of demolition. But could the intensity of the building's defense lead to a reinvigoration of preservation around Modernism?

October 16, 2013 - Next City

Amid heavy political pressure, a plan to build a new expressway between Chicago's suburbs and Indiana backed by Gov. Pat Quinn and the Illinois Department of Transportation was dealt a significant defeat by Chicago's regional MPO this week.

October 9, 2013 - Daily Herald

Unless these states come to an agreement with Amtrak by Oct. 16 to help subsidize regional rail service, required by the Passenger Rail Investment & Improvement Act of 2008, Amtrak will cease operating them. Agreements were reached with 16 states.

October 8, 2013 - Governing

Calling Chicago a "city on the brink", the editors of the Chicago Tribune issue an "RFP" for residents and civic groups to put forth a vision for Chicago that can address its chronic woes, ensure its survival, and inspire people to action.

October 8, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

Based on lessons from recent disasters in Chicago and New York, where lively urban spaces helped communities to survive and recover, Michael Kimmelman suggests that neighborhood libraries could be designed with such a purpose in mind.

October 6, 2013 - The New York Times

Every weekend, Chicago area public spaces are overrun with charity races, walks, and bike rides. For the charities, and city coffers, the events are largely a boon. But with such events increasing nationwide, is there a risk of 5K overload?

September 30, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

Communities are complex. And the truth is, CDCs are in key positions to bring all the moving parts together, so they must work comprehensively. All the elements of a good neighborhood—schools, retail, housing, jobs, food—are strategic to each other.

September 26, 2013 - Shelterforce

Chicago's position as a central hub for manufacturing and shipping helped establish the city as the economic powerhouse of the Midwest. A new report recommends the city update that infrastructure to grow the region's economy.

September 25, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper

Earth Policy Institute's bike share charts allow readers to compare bike share programs in the U.S., now numbering 34 with 18,000 bikes. As impressive as it is, a comparison with bike share programs abroad put the numbers in perspective.

September 4, 2013 - Earth Policy Institute