Cook County Board Approves Tax Concession for Manufacturing Company
The Cook County Board of Commissioners granted a key property tax concession to a large manufacturing company in Elk Grove Wednesday. The concession was part of an effort to encourage industrial development in areas with high vacancies and abandoned property. PMI Cartoning Inc., which makes machines that packs cartons and cases, will be able to […]
Threatening New Building Requirements Proposed by the State Fire Marshal
Alderman Robert Fioretti is concerned that his 2nd Ward residents will be badly served by new regulations from the Illinois Fire Marshal. If you rent or own property in Chicago, you may want to take action as Fioretti suggests and write to the legislators who are working with this issue now, before they finalize the […]
Behind the Scenes: “Hidden” at Union Station
Union Station is an amazing building. If you haven’t seen the Brian de Palma’s Untouchables, there’s a scene where a baby carriage careens down the stairs that’s shot in Union Station. Yet as rail travel declined across America, the grand stations like Union Station fell into disuse. Public spaces like the Women’s Lounge, were hidden […]
Zoning committee approves Wolf Point complex
A city council committee met last week and voted to approve a three-tower complex at Wolf Point along the Chicago River, taking the project one step closer to becoming a reality. Attorney John J. George representing the owners of Wolf Point LLC, presented the amended development plan for the 42nd ward. The project will add […]
Coal power plants shuttered, ongoing health effects still unclear
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finished air monitoring around the now-closed Fisk and Crawford coal plants on Dec. 7, 2012. Paul Ruesch, the on-scene coordinator for the EPA, said the agency should have the test results by the end of the month showing whether dust is blowing from the sites into the surrounding community, as […]
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning wins recognition
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) will receive the 2013 National Planning Excellence Award for a Planning Agency from the American Planning Association, according to a press release from the organization. Since 2005, CMAP, the regional planning organization for northeastern Illinois counties including Cook County, has been producing the region’s comprehensive development plan. For decades […]
Graffiti removal in Wicker Park tagged in more ways than one
The Wicker Park-Bucktown neighborhood is finding faster ways to alleviate masses of graffiti missed by the city’s new Graffiti Blaster program, which community leaders say is too slow to effectively combat tagging in the area. “Since the city has cut back some of these services, we’ve been looking for other ways, so the graffiti doesn’t get […]
Uptown takes next step in participatory budgeting
In 2007, Maria Hadden’s landlord abandoned the building she lived in in Rogers Park, so just about a month after moving in, Hadden found herself stuck in a distressed condominium building. Somehow, that was the inciting incident that led her to be in the basement of Thorek Hospital, 850 W. Irving Park Road, on […]
Alderman Moves to Make Northwest Side Area ‘Industrial Corridor’
The Chicago Department of Housing and Economic Development (HED) has designated an area of the 38th Ward as an industrial corridor, making zoning restrictions more favorable for the businesses in the section with the hope of drawing more economic activity in. The Wright Business Park Industrial Corridor houses 111 businesses and 672 jobs, jobs Ald. […]
Motor Row versus Record Row: Preserving Chicago’s History
This piece takes a look into the recent news surrounding Motor Row and the struggle to maintain it as a multifaceted landmark.
Pilsen: Neighborhood Home to ‘Greenest Street in America’
The Chicago Department of Transportation unveiled the Cermak/Blue Island Sustainable Streetscape on Oct. 9, 2012, which the city says is now “the greenest street in America.” “It’s the kind of thing we want to scale throughout the city,” said Karen Weigert, the chief sustainability officer of Chicago, citing the project’s attention to detail concerning water […]
Movie Explores Power Of Pixels In The Information Technology Era
CHICAGO PREMIERE of CODE 2600 The Power of the Pixel: Digital Revolution Series Special support provided by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Friday, November 2, 2012 // 7:30 p.m. Hokin Hall at Columbia College Chicago // 623 S. Wabash Ave There is a small admission fee This documentary offers a no-holds-barred look at the […]
Governor Announces Winner of Gigabit Competition on South Side
A D.C.-based technology company will bring high-speed Internet service to Chicago’s underserved communities, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) announced Tuesday at a church in Woodlawn on the city’s South Side. The company, Gigabit Squared, was among the first winners in the Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge. The Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge is a statewide competition working […]
