Climate change is making extreme weather events, both hot and cold, more frequent across the Great Lakes region. Weatherizing low-income residents' homes is an important way to prepare.
Chicago’s teachers say they are seeking a better deal for their students too.
AP Photo/Teresa Crawford
Research suggests that kids benefit when there are fewer of them in a classroom. But quickly reducing class size can cause new problems as schools scramble to hire new teachers.
A team photograph of the 1919 Chicago White Sox squad, many of whom would be implicated in throwing that year’s World Series.
Heritage Auctions
Up until the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, gambling and baseball had a marriage of convenience. A century later, gambling is again being seen as a solution to the sport's woes.
Detroit People’s Food Co-op, opening later this year in a food desert, is an example of a community-driven project.
DPFC
Prodded by Michelle Obama and other government leaders, Walmart and other major US retailers vowed to build hundreds of stores in food deserts. What happened?
Contact with nature reduces stress and aggression, one reason scholars say urban green space may reduce violence.
Shutterstock
Some parks reduce violence in the local vicinity. Other parks attract crime. The difference has to do with how these urban green spaces are designed, programmed and managed, experts say.
Airbnb is a growing threat to the major hotel chains.
Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com
The number of Airbnb properties has exploded since its founding in 2008. A hospitality management expert looked at how this has hurt hotels.
Despite being known for high college acceptance rates, Urban Prep Academies recently lost a charter to operate a school on Chicago’s west side.
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
Urban Prep Academy in Chicago made a name by boasting about its 100% college acceptance rates for graduating seniors. A founding teacher at Urban Prep explains why that statistic is misleading.
Public bikes are meant to complement a city’s existing mass transit network, so the location of docking stations is critical.
MusikAnimal/Wikimedia
Under 10 percent of new Citi Bike and Divvy bike docks are sited where residents suggested using interactive online maps, a new study shows. But that doesn't mean city officials weren't listening.
A safety guard watches as parents walk with their children along a safe passage route on the first day of school in Chicago in 2013.
Spencer Green/AP
Following a fatal beating of a student, Chicago started a Safe Passage program in 2009 to ensure students get to and from school safely. Nine years on, how is it working?
Chicago is often invoked in political debates on crime.
Scott Cornell/shutterstock.com
Taking this step may improve the quality of life for vulnerable people and reduce the amount of air conditioning they use, making their neighborhoods less prone to power outages.
Anish Kapoor, Cloud Gate, 2004. Stainless steel, 1,006 x 2,012 x 1,280 cm.
Mike Warot/Flickr
Anish Kapoor made “Cloud Gate”, a giant bean-shaped mirror in Chicago. Visitors play with the light in the city and its surroundings, where our future lays.
We asked five architecture experts to name one building or structure they wish had been preserved, but couldn't resist the tides of decay, development and discrimination.
A pedestrian walks past a Chicago Sun-Times newspaper box.
AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
Giving labor unions a financial stake in a company such as a newspaper can offer unique advantages that could benefit employees, society and the bottom line.
Back in the 1930s, people like this pear peddler in New York City’s Lower East Side often got their news from labor-led media.
AP Photo
Brian Dolber, California State University San Marcos
The newspaper's new owners harken back to a tradition of labor-led media in the early part of the 20th century, which represented a bulwark against corporate power.
When the young Wright moved to Chicago to work for the architect Joseph Silsbee, he was introduced to Japanese prints. It changed his career, and very possibly the course of American architecture.
Capturing the moment for the internet.
astarot/shutterstock.com