The mayor rolls out a comprehensive, $7-billion infrastructure scheme, elements of which you'll recognize. Meanwhile, federal transportation funding of all kinds nearly came to a halt this week, as the political reckoning got pushed back a mere 90 days. Washington's ideological divide is putting immense pressure on cities and states to deal with overdue infrastructure issues. Read more
In vitro fertilization has never stirred the same controversy as abortion or embryonic stem-cell research, in part because evangelical Christians have a wide (and fine-grained) diversity of views on the procedure. But there are rumblings of a consensus, including a row in Naperville over a proposed clinic. Read more
Demand for parking in new Chicago apartment building drops, and the drop all comes from renters, not buyers. Millennials just aren't buying cars, so expect the trend to continue... and, hopefully, make architecture better. Read more
Journalists hate what's become of most comment sections, something that was supposed to be a great hope of the social web, because they run counter to the philosophy of reasoned discourse. But there's a great deal of gold to be mined from that pit (even if news organizations shouldn't be hosting it themselves). Read more
Tiny houses have a cult following on the Internet, but they're hard to find in big cities. Fortunately, there's one in Chicago—though it's way, way out there in Dunning. Read more