Murder Capital of America?
Progress in decreasing homicides is difficult to sustain
Ad Categories: City Life
How Not to Report On Your Own Comfort On the Hottest Day Ever
About 78 years ago, Chicago went through not just the Depression, but the hottest day ever recorded in the city. On one stagnant day, the city baked… but the Tribune Tower was pleasantly refreshing.
The Early History of Segregation in Chicago
Between the 1919 race riot and the end of the Great Migration, segregation went from specter of racial strife to legal doctrine, aided by the law and economic writings of Progressive reformers Richard T. Ely and Nathan William MacChesney.
Upgraded Camping at Kinnikinnick Farm in Caledonia
POWER DOWN: This summer, book a stay on this northwest Illinois farm and let living off the land help you press pause
The Rosenwald Apartments: A Bronzeville Legacy in Limbo
The 420-some unit complex, built by Julius Rosenwald as affordable housing for middle-class blacks in a segregated city, was once managed by Quincy Jones’s mother and provided elegant apartments at reasonable rates. After years of neglect and then abandonment, it’s now an expensive problem.
Pastor Corey Brooks Walks America For a Community Center
GOD IS HIS CO-PILOT: The leader of Woodlawn’s New Beginnings Church is hoofing it across America in a bold antiviolence crusade
Chicago's Lathrop Homes: A Reverse Potemkin Village on the River
The prewar Lathrop Homes at Damen and Diversey have long been one of the better public-housing developments in the city, and even in a deteriorated state are a good foundation for public or mixed-income housing. Yet despite their well-maintained landscaping, they’re almost completely vacant—among many other CHA units in housing limbo.
The Chicago Education Crisis of the 1950s: Too Much Gosh-Darn Fun
America sweating its spoiled, stupid youth has a long, rich history in journalism and higher education—none richer than in the postwar years, when our nitwit teens were going to get us all nuked to kingdom come.
The Chicago Pride Parade, 35 Years Ago
It took a long time for the Chicago Pride Parade to draw over 800,000 people—before it really took off in the 1980s, the early years of the parade were a modest affair, except for the floats.
The Definitive Rahm Dead Fish Tale, 'Barry Obama,' and More
Chris Sautter, who describes himself as Obama’s “first media consultant,” was in town this week. Our meeting came after Sautter’s name recently surfaced in one of the juicier parts of a new book I wrote about earlier this month…