Illinois

Last year, Chicago experienced a surge in gun violence that drew national attention. So far this year, shootings and crime are down significantly thanks to a mix of tactics employed by city leaders. Is the drop in crime sustainable?

June 11, 2013 - The New York Times

Ben Austen traces how foreclosures, crime, and depopulation have decimated areas in the South and West Sides of Chicago, and the 'do-it-yourself empowerment zones' that are trying to make use of vacant properties and turn around these neighborhoods.

June 2, 2013 - The New York Times

Not to be outdone by its big (and small) city brethren, the nation's third largest city is launching its long-awaited, and relatively secretive, bike-sharing program next month. And according to Paul Merrion, they're starting with a bang.

May 29, 2013 - Crain's Chicago Business

The value of a single life lost or destroyed by gun violence is incalculable. But the cumulative impact of such savagery has consequences for a city's economy in the form of 'shuttered businesses, lost wages, disability checks and depopulation.'

May 28, 2013 - Bloomberg

The $176 million Phase I design concept for Navy Pier unveiled last week promises a "parklike" feel along the banks of Lake Michigan.

May 24, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

Seeking to trim budgets and 'distribute scarce resources more efficiently,' Mayor Rahm Emanuel's controversial plan to shrink Chicago's school system moved ahead yesterday with the Board of Ed's vote to shut 49 of the city's elementary schools.

May 23, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

A new study by the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) compares that city's flood insurance claims with its floodplains, and finds a 'completely counter-intuitive' relationship between the two.

May 16, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

House Republicans object to further funding of the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program - largely due to California's expectation to receive $42 billion in federal funding - yet less ambitious projects have shown much promise.

May 8, 2013 - Governing Magazine

In order to more efficiently carry out its long-range comprehensive plan, Kane County, Illinois has created the Kane County Planning Cooperative as the central implementing body to work with various stakeholders.

May 5, 2013 - Global Site Plans - The Grid

Architect Mark Sofield explores the essential meaning of craft in architecture, which he says lies in the nature of the connections a building or space creates.

April 30, 2013 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built + Natural Environments

Jon Hilkevitch details the roll-out of the Second City's first bike-share system. The handsome three-speed bikes painted in "Chicago blue" will start appearing on city streets in June.

April 26, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

On Chicago's South Side, Jackson Park once inspired million of visitors to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, including a young Frank Lloyd Wright. After years of neglect, Robert Karr Jr. wants to revitalize the park along a Japanese theme.

April 25, 2013 - Crain's Chicago Business

A speculative master plan for Chicago's West Loop would add a new layer to downtown's complex multi-level weaving of street strata and infrastructure with a highway cap park.

April 24, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper

Jared Green looks at some of the innovative projects recognized by Chicago's Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) for their ability to creatively transform blighted lots into community assets.

April 19, 2013 - ASLA The Dirt

After five rough years, architecture billings are on a sustained upswing. In Chicago, where the number of employed architects dropped 33 percent between 2008-2011, this means firms are staffing up to meet a growing number of commissions.

April 17, 2013 - Crain's Chicago Business

Tim Logan dives deep on Mayor Rahm Emanuel's bold plan to help fund Chicago's infrastructure improvements with private capital. American cities need new ways to pay for projects, but can a city with a history of making bad deals provide the road map?

April 14, 2013 - Next City

With the coming release of Chicago's new Complete Streets Design Guidelines, the city is undertaking a "seismic policy shift" in how it evaluates all transportation projects: by making pedestrians the primary mode for consideration.

April 12, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

After decades of decline, Chicago is reveling in its resurgence as America’s hottest urban center and a “port of the global age.” However, these successes conceal a city struggling with increasing inequality and a planning culture “in retreat.”

April 10, 2013 - Jonathan Nettler

An ambitious vision for transforming a six-block segment of the Chicago River into six themed recreation areas looks almost certain to become a reality now that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has promised the project a $100 million federal loan.

April 2, 2013 - Chi.Streetsblog

Chicagoans sure take their urban agriculture seriously. While the city focuses on converting vacant land to farms in some of the city's struggling neighborhoods, entrepreneurs are doing the same indoors.

March 24, 2013 - Huff Post: Chicago Impact