It's a development bonanza on Motor Row! Well, not quite. But things seem to be reaching a tipping point around McCormick Place after a long delay.

He talks about the great principal and the failing principal. And test scores don't come up. No mention of data or technology. Rather, Jean-Claude Brizard, the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, describes walking into two Chicago elementary schools, neither in the affluent neighborhoods of the city, and knowing almost instantly that one principal was a high flyer, the other rudderless.

Last Friday, Chicago Public Schools had a high and a low point. When they announced around noon that they had cut a deal with the Chicago Teachers Union ending their months-long battle over a longer school day, it was a triumph. Finally, the two organizations put aside their bickering to begin working for the city’s children.

There are lots of great things about living close to the Loop. You're just a few minutes from some of the best things Chicago has to offer, from the Museum Campus and Soldier Field to skyscrapers and amazing dining.

Daley Bicentennial Plaza is a dinosaur. Let's face it. When Millennium Park was built, it was essentially a bigger, far better version of the elegant recreational plaza that Daley Bi once was.

It sounds big. It sounds scary. It sounds bad for the community. But we think a foreclosure on One Museum Park West would be great for the South Loop.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy's plan to shutter police stations around the city is making a lot of people angry. Folks in this town are attached to their cops. They see them as a direct factor in their personal safety.

The new Mariano's grocery store slated for 16th and Clark streets is a good thing. While the South Loop has a wealth of grocery stores along Roosevelt, including the brand-new Trader Joe's, adding another one to the neighborhood still can't hurt.

It's too bad about the Grant Park farmers market. The idea had a lot of promise and it was a neat location, but in the end, it just couldn't get done this year.