Ad Categories: City Life

The Chicago suburbs have grown considerably more diverse over the past couple decades, as maps of census tracts dramatically show. The city proper, however, continues to evolve much more slowly.

Retiring teachers puts a lot of pressure on Chicago’s biggest retirement fund, which has declined from 100-percent funded at the beginning of last decade to the end. And there are a lot more teachers planning to retire soon.

The marijuana-decriminalization ordinance has some people worried (and some pleased) that it’s a slippery slope to legalization. Don’t wait up.

New York City has had no success in decreasing illegal-drug use over the past couple decades, but violence associated with drugs has dropped dramatically. A Berkeley (and ex-U. of C.) law prof talks about the implications.

How Chicago went from a general tolerance of drug use as a “private concern,” to the proto-Hamsterdam of the Levee District, to the open-air south- and west-side drug markets we see today.

The ordinance has the support of a majority of aldermen, and heads to committee this week before going to the full Council next week. The mayor, money, and changing times should be enough to push it through.