Ad Categories: City Life

James F. Short, Jr., one of the many sociologists in the University of Chicago’s tradition of gang research, did the first major work of his career as the Black P Stones and Vice Lords were born.

A short but detailed look at trauma care during Chicago’s violent summer, where the number of patients has risen and the difference between a shooting and a homicide can be a matter of time and luck.

In 1907, Chicago’s meatpacking industry was infamous after Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterpiece. And the panoramic photographers of Geo. Lawrence and Co. were there to capture the process.

A study of gang violence in Los Angeles finds a fascinating if obvious pattern: gang territory mirrors species territory in competing for resources, and violence is most common along the boundaries. Last night’s shootings—six incidents, 19 victims—appear to follow that pattern.

The significance of a liberal-arts education, the distinction between pleasure and happiness, and other things that confuse the practitioners of the dismal science.

In the 1960s, bicycle commuters were considered to be weird freaks; by 1970, the city had a vibrant bike movement, even before OPEC blew gas prices up. What happened over those short years might explain a lot why some writers get so angry about the idea of bicycle infrastructure.

A new study of Chicagoans finds substantial racial disparities in sleep quality and sleep patterns… which researchers suggest could be tied to the city’s intense segregation.

Measuring the toll of homicide not just in numbers, but in years of life lost in some of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods; George Romney’s history of desegregation; and more

Should cyclists pay for bike lanes and other infrastructure through stickers and licenses, like drivers do? It’s been tried, and it doesn’t work very well—but there are intriguing alternatives that could generate modest revenue and give them important, if symbolic, skin in the game.