Deep Pocket Town
Through a foundation he launched in 1998, Gary Comer, the late founder of Lands’ End, has given away some $86 million to help revive his childhood neighborhood on the Far South Side, known as Pocket Town.
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Rahm Emanuel Talks Comprehensive, National Gun Control… or 'Criminal Access'
While he’s pushing gun control at the local level, the mayor is encouraging Congress to pass legislation, a couple days before the President is expected to announce a plan… and Emanuel’s strategy looks a lot like the one he engineered in 1994.
Can $86 Million Save a Neighborhood?
Fifteen years ago, Lands’ End founder Gary Comer embarked on a wildly ambitious project to improve the struggling South Side neighborhood where he grew up. Lessons from Pocket Town.
Come Clean, Chicago: We Hate Winter
It’s our annual February fib—that we love the brutal winters here. Time to stop living a lie.
Robin Kelly, Running for Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Seat, Has Some Good Connections—and Good Luck
Between her fundraising prowess and her connections to power via Toni Preckwinkle and her friend-of-the-Obamas campaign manager, Matteson’s Robin Kelly—most recently Preckwinkle’s chief administrative officer—has the inside track in the 2nd District. Being on top of the ballot won’t hurt in the packed race.
City to Add Another $33 Million to Its Police-Settlement Bill
It’s a massive amount of money compared to other cities, but sadly typical when it comes to Chicago’s recent history of legal settlements, which are far out of proportion to major American cities. And it’s not just the CPD.
Does Segregation Make a City More Vulnerable to Crime?
A model of crime contagion suggests that heavy segregation by income—and segregating the rich from the poor with a middle-class buffer—is worse for city crime levels than a mix of neighborhoods.
Could Rahm Emanuel's Push For Gun Control Work? Perhaps at the Margins
Despite the city and state’s court defeats over gun control, the mayor is making an explicit push to tighten the city’s laws, and is likely to target assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
National Climate Assessment Predicts Less Frost, More Hot Days and Heat Waves for Future Chicago
A new report from the United States Global Change research program looks at the U.S. and climate change over the rest of the century, projecting hotter hot days, wetter winters, more 100-degree days, and deadly heat waves along the lines of 1995.
The Alternate-Universe Chicago In Which Our Craziest Unbuilt Buildings Exist
Some of Chicago’s great unbuilt buildings are as remarkable as the ones that make up its skyline. What would happen if Harry Weese’s Lake Michigan Islands, the Sears Tower on its side, and a Tribune Tower in the shape of a giant classical column shared downtown?