Tag Archives: Chicago

The number of Chicago residents who might apply to a second guaranteed income trial

Posted on by

The Chicago Housing Authority has a long waiting wait for housing; the first guaranteed housing pilot also had a lot of applicants:

Photo by Anderson Rodrigues on Pexels.com

The YWCA Metropolitan Chicago was the lead contractor for the pilot program, according to the report. In total, there were more than 700 in-person events while the application window was open. About 176,000 people applied for 5,000 slots. Participants were chosen through a lottery system, according to the report.

How many might apply for a second program?

A second city pilot, rebranded as the Chicago Empowerment Fund, is expected to launch sometime in 2025, according to the city’s proposed budget. The program will again serve 5,000 “low-income families and returning Chicago residents,” and provide $500 for 12 months, but more details about the qualifications weren’t available.

I would guess more people will apply than the 176,000 who applied the first time. I am basing this on the presence of the first program and the economic uncertainty many people feel.

If the number applying is indeed higher, the odds of any individual getting into the program decreases. The situation reminds me of the documentary Waiting for Superman which effectively uses video of a lottery for a school – some students benefit, many do not – as a sign that the education system is not working as it should. At what point does Chicago or other organizations go for a larger and longer-lasting guaranteed income program?

The many people still on public housing waiting lists in Chicago

Posted on by

Many Chicagoans are on public housing waiting lists:

Photo by Artyom Kulakov on Pexels.com

There are 164,000 unique applicants across CHA waitlists, a CHA spokesperson said.

Americans on the whole may not like public housing but that does not mean there is not a need for it. Chicago, like many major cities, has long provided some public housing but what was provided did not adequately meet the housing needs (and created other issues). And the CHA waiting lists historically were long and did not open often for people to join.

Who has a plan to reduce the waiting lists and provide housing? Large-scale public housing is probably not in the works, but small-scale projects and scattered-site projects often only make small dents in the waiting lists and the larger need for housing.

Tackling housing at a metropolitan scale would be helpful. If Chicago does not want to or cannot address these housing needs, what other communities can or will? Or what if housing was viewed as an opportunity for the whole region to collectively address a pressing need?

Trying to cut through a street grid on a diagonal to save time and distance

Posted on by

Street grids have benefits, including offering multiple routes should congestion arise at one intersection or certain routes are off-limits. But what if a driver or pedestrian wants to move quickly through the grid at a diagonal?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Different communities may offer options for this. Perhaps there are alleys one can cut through. These back ways offer even more alternatives through the grid if the main streets are congested. Or there might be an occasional diagonal roadway that crosses at an angle to other roads. Depending on the way one is traveling, the diagonal route might be more direct.

Chicago is a good example of having both options in numerous neighborhoods. The flat Midwestern city primarily has a road grid that stretches for miles. East-west and north-south streets can go a long way from one end of the city to the other (and beyond). At the same time, alleys and diagonal streets provide other travel options. The diagonal roadways can create some interesting intersections – these present travelers with different visuals and traffic patterns than they might be used to – but offer more direct routes at an angle to the grid. Numerous alleys take some pressure off the roads for garages, garbage, and other uses.

I imagine other places might offer different options. Any city offer an underground grid at a 45 degree angle to the ground-level grid? Or pedestrian skyways or tunnels that offer paths that cross the grid in different ways?

City residents and suburban residents going back and forth between those places

Posted on by

Hints regarding new driving patterns in metropolitan areas could be found in a Chicago Tribune editorial about downtown traffic during Mexican Independence Day weekend:

Photo by Chait Goli on Pexels.com

And they didn’t help you get from one neighborhood to another or back home from a night out to the suburbs…

Many businesses rely on suburbanites coming downtown for the weekend to eat or watch an artistic offering as the fall season kicks off.

Chicago is a big city so there are plenty of trips taking place solely within the city. Additionally, many big cities and people within are used to the idea that people from the suburbs travel into the city.

But these two short passages highlight a back and forth between both city and suburb. There are some traveling from city to suburbs, perhaps even for a night out (some suburbs are cool?). Others are traveling into the city to take advantage of particular opportunities offered in the city (or for work).

These newer patterns complicate efforts to address traffic. The predictable rush hours into the city in the morning and out of the city in the afternoon and evening have morphed into more traffic headed in all directions at more times. Traffic can be present around the clock, even without special events or celebrations.

Aiming for zero road deaths in Chicago

Posted on by

Bicycle fatalities are down in the last year in Chicago. Could this help lead to zero road deaths in the city?

Photo by Chait Goli on Pexels.com

It was the only bicyclist death so far this year, suggesting what some hope signals the beginning of a decline in such fatalities.

Some even contend the number of all traffic deaths in Chicago — cyclists, motorists and pedestrians — could be reduced to zero with the right improvements.

Others are more guardedly optimistic.

Before that August crash on the West Side, Chicago had gone 10 months without a cycling death. That was the longest such duration dating back to at least the beginning of 2019, the earliest year available from the city’s daily traffic crash data.

“Statistically, this drop appears too large just to be entirely good luck,” said Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation professor at DePaul University. “It’s not likely the fatalities will stay at this level, unfortunately, but this is encouraging.”

The rest of the article talks about methods that could be implemented to make roads in Chicago safer.

As I have read about similar efforts in recent years, reducing traffic deaths seems to go well with multiple other efforts:

  1. More sustainable cities with fewer cars on the road and other viable non-driving transit options.
  2. More inviting and lively streetscapes with less emphasis on motorized vehicles.
  3. Encouraging walking and biking, which are healthier options.

Safety alone may or may not be a compelling reason to change conditions but combine safety with other interests people have and perhaps there will be a steady shift away from only emphasizing driving.

A possible investment return of over 800% on Chicago’s parking meters

Posted on by

One estimate of the profit to be generated through the privatization of Chicago’s parking meters suggests this was a lucrative investment:

Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels.com

In 2008, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, with the approval of poodles on the City Council who failed to do due diligence, agreed to sell a 75-year lease on 36,000 parking meter spots for $1.16 billion to an entity that calls itself Chicago Parking Meters LLC and is made up of various parties including Morgan Stanley-related entities and, indirectly and also among others, the sovereign wealth fund known as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Daley also agreed to a whole series of tightwad rules that handcuffed the city when it came to removing meters for, say, special events such as outdoor dining, changing the hours of paid parking, or making any other changes that might result in less revenue for Chciago Parking Meters. In each and every case, Chicago has had to lay out more cash.

Why did Daley make this colossal error? He wanted to close a budget shortfall and thought that a private company could more easily jack up rates than an elected official likely to anger voters. And he probably believed that $1.16 billion sounded like a whole lot of money.

Wrong. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot once told this board that the decision was one of the worst public policy mistakes in the history of municipal governance and she was absolutely correct. The investors, if that’s the right term, have recouped that amount within the first 10 years of that 75-year lease. They’ve now made hundreds of million dollars in additional profit. By the end of this deal, they are likely to have raked in a total of $9 billion. 

Urban parking can be a lucrative business, whether working with parking meters or having a parking lot or garage that later becomes a huge development project. Thus, imagine the money the city could have generated by treating the parking meters differently.

This reminds me of at least two bigger picture issues. First, infrastructure and public goods require a long-term view. In the short-term, selling the revenues from these meters may have helped close a budget loophole. However, lots of things can change over 75 years. Will the city need or want parking meters at that point? How much driving will there be? Would a shorter deal leave more flexibility?

Second, Chicago has relied on some public-private partnerships for decades to help keep the city moving forward. While this deal might not appear to be a good one for the city, other projects may appear to be good. How many projects have worked out well? Does the participation of the city or the use of the city’s resources make certain things possible?

I am guessing this deal will serve as an example for years to come. Hopefully some lessons are learned that could lead to some good.

Locating the geographic center of Chicago

Posted on by

A sign in the McKinley Park neighborhood supposedly marks the geographic center of Chicago. Just one problem: the center shifted several decades ago:

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

In 1896, a Tribune article placed the city’s midpoint at West 37th and South Carlton. That address doesn’t exist today, but it’s pretty close to where the modern-day sign is. The discovery that the geographic center was essentially a cow pasture shocked the article’s writers…

The spot is no longer home to a pasture, but it’s still in a quiet, residential neighborhood about 5 miles from The Loop. Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) said it’s special the sign is in a working-class neighborhood like McKinley Park…

But more than 20 years before outgoing Mayor Michael Bilandic presided over a 1979 ceremony declaring the intersection as the city’s geographic center, the city’s annexation of land for O’Hare International Airport had shifted the actual midpoint about 1.5 miles northwest. 

Now, the actual center is between Pilsen and McKinley Park: south of 31st and Western and in the water of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, according to WBEZ Chicago. 

Two thoughts in response:

  1. Geographic centers get relatively little love compared to population centers or social influence centers. Where there is more social, economic, and government activity is likely to be seen as more “central” even if it is not geographically central.
  2. This provides a reminder of the dimensions of the city of Chicago. The geographic center is pulled to this location by the city stretching further to the south than the north.

How about a sign at the true geographic center as well as retaining the sign at the acknowledged geographic center? They could coexist and mark the unique boundaries of the city over time. Imagine a walking trail of geographic centers throughout Chicago’s history.

How does a story about a band’s tour bus dumping waste on a tourist boat enter a city’s “pop culture fabric”?

Posted on by

On August 8, 2004, the driver of the tour bus for the Dave Matthews Band emptied the bathroom waste as they crossed over the Chicago River. The waste fell on passengers in a tourist boat passing below.

Photo by Blue Arauz on Pexels.com

Lots of things happen in big cities. Some stories are stranger or more influential than others. But how might one story get commemorated for years? Which cultural narratives last? One non-profit leader described this particular story:

“The incident is woven into the city’s pop culture fabric, and the anniversary seemed like an opportunity to emphasize that the world has to protect our natural resources, but it didn’t work out,” Frisbie said of the effort.

The article on the 20th anniversary provides some hints on how this story caught on and continues to be told. To go beyond a story that the people involved tell over and over, some help is needed:

-Famous people involved. The music group was well-known with multiple #1 platinum albums under their belt. This was not a random tour bus.

-Criminal charges and a court case. This involves different public bodies and can keep a story in the news.

-The media. A strange but true story – bathroom matters! a famous band! charges! – is a good one to get attention. And can we expect stories on the 25th anniversary, the 30th, and so on?

I am sure it would be hard to measure but it would be interesting to look at how this story stacks up against other stories in the city of Chicago. Which ones stand the test of time? Does this one make it into “official” lore (books, museums, memorials, etc.)? What is the half-life of pop culture stories in Chicago?

Commemorating the portage that led to the creation and flourishing of Chicago

Posted on by

I recently visited the Chicago Portage National Historic Site in Lyons, Illinois. Here are some images from the site:

The importance of traveling via water meant that portage sites were important. This site was one of the places where it was easier to move watercraft from the Great Lakes system to the Mississippi River system. It was not the only portage site allowing that connection but it became known and then improved on in the mid-1800s with a canal.

The site now is somewhat obscured off a major local road and close to a major interstate. The area is mostly industrial land with few houses nearby. Chicago is a transportation center but a portage is no longer needed. There are still canal waterways nearby but these have receded in importance to and status in Chicago compared to railroads, highways, and airports. Chicago is still a transportation center but a portage is no longer needed.

The Chicago Portage Wikipedia page has lots of details.

Large wealth disparities in Chicago by race and ethnicity

Posted on by

A new report shows differences in wealth and assets by race and ethnicity in Chicago:

Photo by Airam Dato-on on Pexels.com

Disparities across groups are stark. According to the study, data collected in 2022 showed Chicago’s white families have the highest median net wealth ($210,000), while typical Black families report no wealth ($0). Chicago’s U.S.-born Mexican families have 19% ($40,500) of a typical white family’s wealth, while foreign-born Mexican families have 3% ($6,000) and Puerto Rican families have 11% ($24,000).

As for median asset values, Black families have $20,000, foreign-born Mexican families have $26,000 and white families have $325,500.

The study also found Black families had the lowest estimated rate of home ownership at 34%, while white families had the highest at 72%, reflecting the city’s historic discrimination against people of color through redlining, racial covenants, a lack of checking or savings accounts, and payday lending, where unsecured loans with high interest rates are used as emergency financing that keeps borrowers in a cycle of long-term debt.

The researchers asked people about possible interventions:

“The Color of Wealth in Chicago” study also surveyed people about potential policy proposals for addressing structural economic disparities. Data shows that public support for interventions on local and federal levels would have a meaningful impact on racial wealth inequities. Wealth-building options such as guaranteed income projects, a Medicare for All program, and baby bonds, which are government-issued trust accounts for newborns, garnered support from the bulk of respondents, including families at or above the median net worth.

Wealth matters because it affects all kinds of life chances, including where people live, access to education and medical care, and nearby jobs.

While these figures echo national patterns, Chicago (and the region) also has a particular history that contributed to these gaps. See a recent court settlement intended to help address public housing discrimination or efforts in nearby Evanston to provide reparations for housing or suburban discussions about who affordable housing is intended for. To assume that federal and/or state policies alone will address these disparities misses the potential to develop and harness local collective will and resources. Wasn’t this part of conversations about the legacy of former mayor Rahm Emanuel and whether his policies favored downtown or the whole city? Could the whole region come together to address these concerns (which are not just limited to the city of Chicago)? Wouldn’t addressing these disparities now help lead to a better future for more people?