The 312
 

December 2012

Chicago: A Relatively Safe City to Drive In, With a DUI Problem

01/04/13

Chicago: A Relatively Safe City to Drive In, With a DUI Problem

Chicago did pretty well in a ranking of cities and fatal crashes over the past decade, coming in 20th out of the 25 largest per thousand people. But a high percentage of those involved intoxication: third worst among America's biggest cities.

Posted at 2:48 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (2)
The Economics of Gay Marriage: Preventing Iowa From Taking Our Hard-Earned Same-Sex Tax Revenues

01/04/13

The Economics of Gay Marriage: Preventing Iowa From Taking Our Hard-Earned Same-Sex Tax Revenues

The Williams Institute took a look at the economic benefits of Iowa's decision to legalize gay marriage, which attracted some couples who presumably would have gotten married here in Illinois. They estimate a modest drain on our coffers, but it added up for our neighbors.

Posted at 12:57 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
Gay Marriage: Or, How Not to Make a Slippery Slope Argument

01/04/13

Gay Marriage: Or, How Not to Make a Slippery Slope Argument

Opponents of gay marriage often resort to slippery-slope hypotheticals along the lines of: "but what about polygamy?" It's not out of context, but it is pretty much the opposite. Anyone actually worried about gay marriage leading to polygamy shouldn't be.

Posted at 12:15 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)
Global Warming and Drought in the Midwest: Expect More of the Same?

01/03/13

Global Warming and Drought in the Midwest: Expect More of the Same?

What does climate science tell us about the possibility of future droughts in the Midwest? Year to year it will remain unpredictable, but we should be concerned about our luck, and the odds of drought, getting worse.

Posted at 4:32 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)
The First Ever 'Weblog' Post Was About Chicago Gangs, 15 Years Ago Today

12/17/12

The First Ever 'Weblog' Post Was About Chicago Gangs, 15 Years Ago Today

Robot Wisdom, the pioneering site of Chicago polymath Jorn Barger, published its first post 15 years ago today, and the subject is all too familiar.

Posted at 4:54 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
Where Did Gun Control Go?

12/17/12

Where Did Gun Control Go?

Since 2000, the Democratic Party has essentially dropped gun control as an issue, at least on the national level, in fear of the NRA. But are they actually afraid of the NRA, or just their own misinterpretation of the data and the politics?

Posted at 3:11 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
Chicago: City of Sin and Working Men

12/07/12

Chicago: City of Sin and Working Men

Maps of casinos, bars, and brothels in the old Levee and Cheyenne Districts show just how dense the sin was in turn-of-the-century-Chicago. And where there's sin, there's good government in its path, trying to nudge the urban hellmouth on the road to righteousness.

Posted at 6:12 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
Chicagoland Sees Modest Growth, Thanks to Babies and Immigrants

12/07/12

Chicagoland Sees Modest Growth, Thanks to Babies and Immigrants

The Chicago area saw substantial domestic out-migration during the past decade—as did all but one major metro that's not in the South, Southwest, or West. The sole exception? Minneapolis.

Posted at 4:33 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
Arrests, Juvenile Detention, and High School Dropouts in Chicago

12/07/12

Arrests, Juvenile Detention, and High School Dropouts in Chicago

A new study by two former U. of C. sociologists attempts to find out how much a juvenile arrest affects the chances that a teen in Chicago will graduate from high school. Among comparable peers, a kid who gets arrested is less than half as likely to graduate.

Posted at 12:14 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
A Brief, Expensive History of City Hall: History Never Changes, But Inflation Does

12/07/12

A Brief, Expensive History of City Hall: History Never Changes, But Inflation Does

No, the renovation of City Hall will not cost more than twice what the building originally cost. The current one was expensive enough that the state had to raise its debt limit—in order to replace a terrible building that cost just as much and lasted less than 30 years until it blew up.

Posted at 10:23 AM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
Watch the Entire CTA Over 24 Hours

12/06/12

Watch the Entire CTA Over 24 Hours

A software company used data feeds from public-transit systems around the world to create visualizations of their systems—and all their routes—over a 24 hour period. Chicago, the great grid city, is a lot more comprehensible than its peers.

Posted at 5:28 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
A Visual History of Chicago Public Transportation: Chicago's First Bus, Its Early Green Technology, Funeral Cars, and More

12/06/12

A Visual History of Chicago Public Transportation: Chicago's First Bus, Its Early Green Technology, Funeral Cars, and More

From horse-drawn cars to compressed-air motors to battery powered streetcars to propane buses: what public transportation in Chicago looked like and how it got around, from 1857-1970.

Posted at 4:32 PM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Cost of Phone Calls In Cook County Jail To Drop

12/04/12

The Cost of Phone Calls In Cook County Jail To Drop

Thanks to reporting by Rob Wildeboer, the county is set to reduce the high fees jail inmates are charged to make phone calls. It sounds very Chicago, but we're hardly alone: the FCC might tackle the cost of prison phone calls in coming months.

Posted at 11:16 AM in The 312 News & Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)