Too risky to run

There is immense political pressure on the "electeds" to help keep fellow incumbents in office

11/11/2009

Political jockeying begins each campaign season long before most people know who is running. Petitions are floated for a variety of offices. Many of us sign, indicating that we believe said person should have access to the ballot. It’s all quite democratic. But behind closed doors, deals are being made about who will really run.
Read more...

The lore of Library Tower's park

In the end, there are a number of winners. And the only thing lost was a little parking.

10/28/2009

A lot of people might be wondering why the residents of Library Tower are giving up that convenient guest parking lot they had at State and Harrison in favor of yet - yawn - another one of those under-used landscaped parks with paving bricks and shrubs that seem to be springing up across the South Loop. Read More...

The TIF tell

The 2nd Ward budget offers a glimpse into a series of projects the city expects to undertake

10/28/2009

In poker, a tell occurs when a player tips his hand, and competitors around the table know whether to, as the saying goes, hold 'em or fold 'em. A big tell came last week for residents of the Near South and Near West sides courtesy of Chicago Reader investigative reporters Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky.
Read more...

Time to think small

Chicago should forego the temptation to work on an Olympian scale

10/21/2009

Since the Second City limped in fourth in the Olympic race, pundits have called for Chicago to dedicate itself to another large scale project to replace the catalyzing power of a Games. There has been no shortage of ideas — making Chicago the safest city in America by 2016, reforming the educational system, rebuilding our infrastructure, and even hosting an international cultural festival. Read more...

Saving our students

Your son, your daughter, your neighbor's kid may be one of those on the funding hit list.

10/14/2009

Let me introduce myself. Beginning today, I'll be appearing in this space monthly to comment on politics, from the craziness of Chicago's city council and Cook County government along with what's doing in Springfield. I've written for Chicago Journal in the past, and am glad to be returning to its pages. Read more...

This park's world class

Park No. 542 gives us reasons to smile.

10/08/2009

In 1999, I was living in Lake View, making $15,000 a year managing the Victory Gardens Theater and working part-time at Michael Reese Hospital to pay the bills. It was around that time that the idea of a park in the West Loop formed. Read more...

Remember Leon

One View

09/30/2009

On September 23, nearly 100 people gathered at the Glessner House Museum on South Prairie Avenue for a program called Leon Despres: A Celebration of His Life. Co-sponsored by the Glessner House, Landmarks Illinois and the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the event brought together a distinguished group of panelists who spoke of Despres’ enormous contributions to Chicago during his twenty years as alderman of the 5th Ward. Read more...

Make no small obsession

09/23/2009

OK, I admit it. I am totally obsessed with Daniel Burnham. If you live in Chicago in 2009, how can you not be? The Plan of Chicago’s 100th anniversary has a way of drawing even the most blasé no-interest-in-history-or-city-planning types into the life of the man who made no small plans. Read More...

Two white elephants

09/16/2009

In may be a shock to learn that an important part of the western edge of the Loop is officially considered blighted. That precise definition, however, is the legally required justification for the Canal/Congress Tax Increment District. Read more...

Surrounded by clout

09/09/2009

Clout controversy surrounds me. The University of Illinois, where I work, and Whitney Young Magnet High School, where I serve on the local school council, are both being investigated internally and by federal authorities for the part clout may have played in their admissions practices. It is not my role with either institution to assess admissions procedures, but I do have an opinion.
Read more...