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The Chicago Reader

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News & Politics, Feature Dec 18, 2018
Mayoral forum recap: all the answers, none of the bullshit

At back-to-back forums last week 11 candidates fielded questions and even provided some answers.
- By Maya Dukmasova
- Tags: Feature, Politics, News, Chicago mayor, mayoral election, Toni Preckwinkle, Ja’mal Green, Lori Lightfoot, Amara Enyia, Garry McCarthy, Dorothy Brown, Paul Vallas, Gery Chico, Susana Mendoza, Willie Wilson, La Shawn Ford, Rahm Emanuel, political debate, candidate forum, elections, Chicago Housing Initiative, CHI, Jefferson Park, UIC Forum, Chicago Teachers Union, Chicago Association of Realtors, Ben Joravsky, Copernicus Center, One North Side, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Donald Trump, President Trump, Mayor Rahm, rent control, affordable housing, lead, People for Community Recovery, Access Living, 38th Ward Democrats, Patti Vasquez, Fraternal Order of Police, Kevin Graham, police accountability, police reform, Laquan McDonald, Chicago Public Schools, CPS, school closures, Affordable Requirements Ordinance, ARO, Altgeld Gardens, environmental justice, environmental racism, Real Estate Transfer Tax, public housing, Chicago Housing Authority, CHA, community benefits agreement, Obama Presidential Center, Obama Library, Barack Obama, President Barack Obama, aldermanic prerogative, pensions, Lincoln Yards, Sterling Bay, TIFs, Tax Increment Financing, development

Blogs, Bleader Oct 31, 2018
Q&A: Cook County Board candidate Abdelnasser Rashid on taxes, surveillance, and campaign finance reform

Vying to flip one of four Republican seats, the 29-year-old would be the first Muslim in the county legislature.
- By Maya Dukmasova
- Tags: News, Politics, Cook County, Abdelnasser Rashid, county board, county commissioner, Cook County Board of Commissioners, Sean Morrison, county budget, county legislature, property taxes, Fritz Kaegi, sexual misconduct, Countering Violent Extremism, CVE, development, property tax cap, property tax freeze, David Orr, Cook County Clerk, Palos Park, Justice, Orland Park, Des Plaines, Cook County 17th district, Jesús "Chuy" García, Bernie Sanders, Bridgeview, Cook County Forest preserve, small-donor financing

Blogs, Bleader Apr 16, 2018
Aldermen's absolute veto power over ward projects gets unlikely court challenge

A challenge to the age-old custom of aldermanic prerogative finds a champion in a luxury developer pushing a building with affordable housing.
- By Maya Dukmasova
- Tags: News, Housing, Anothony Napolitano, aldermanic prerogative, GlenStar, 41st Ward, zoning, affordable housing, Peter Friedman, Chris Vittorio, Jefferson Park, John Arena, 45th Ward, NIMBYism, housing, development, O'Hare, Department of Planning and Development, zoning committee, City Council, Plan Commission, Metropolitan Planning Council, Marisa Novara

Blogs, Bleader Jan 5, 2018
How’s Chicago supposed to desegregate when developments with affordable housing can be blocked by aldermen on a whim?

Yet another planned development with affordable units is killed on the northwest side.
- By Maya Dukmasova
- Tags: News, Segregation, Housing, Anthony Napolitano, 41st Ward, affordable housing, GlenStar, O’Hare, Rand Diamond, Larry Debb, Jack George, Danny Solis, 45th Ward, John Arena, zoning, Jefferson Park, housing, development, gentrification, Neighbors for Affordable Housing, Department of Planning and Development, Kate Walz, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Northwest Side Unite, Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association, Tom Tunney, 44th Ward, segregation, Affordable Requirements Ordinance, Plan Commission, zoning committee, Sara Gronkiewicz-Doran, Chicago Public Schools, Dirksen Elementary

News & Politics, Feature May 10, 2017
Slideshow
Home sweet home for the homeless

For thousands of Chicagoans "living outside," for better or worse, home is still where they make it.
- By Lloyd DeGrane and Kari Lydersen
- Tags: Feature, Homelessness, housing, poverty, Rezkoville, Loop, Lower Wacker Drive, development, gentrification, Slideshow

Columns & Opinion, On Transportation Jan 16, 2017
Former Belmont flyover opponents try to make the best of a bad situation

With plans for the overpass full speed ahead, they plan to push for quality transit-oriented developments and new public space.
- By John Greenfield
- Tags: Transportation, News, Politics, Transportation, Red Line, Purple Line, Red and Purple Modernization Project, Lakeview, Belmont flyover, Belmont bypass, Ellen Hughes, Jeff Tolman, Adam Rosa, development, transit-oriented development, transit, public space

Columns & Opinion, On Culture Oct 24, 2016
The World Series isn’t the only big thing coming to Wrigleyville

New construction around the vintage stadium is large-scale and upscale.
- By Deanna Isaacs
- Tags: On Culture, Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field, Wrigleyville, Lakeview, Tom Ricketts, M&R Development, Hotel Zachary, Wrigley rooftops, Addison & Clark, Maureen Martino, Lakewood East Chamber of Commerce, World Series, baseball, development

News & Politics, Feature Jul 20, 2016
The new Ed Vrdolyak is nothing like the old one

Tenth Ward alderman Sue Sadlowski Garza is cultivating a new kind of progressive power on Chicago’s southeast side.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Feature, News, Politics, Sue Sadlowski Garza, Ed Sadlowski, Rahm Emanuel, Edward Vrdolyak, Fast Eddie Vrdolyak, City Council, Tenth Ward, southeast side, politics, development, U.S. Steel South Works site, Lakeside

News & Politics, Feature Jun 29, 2016
The residents of Rezkoville’s tent city battle the elements—and personal demons

The vacant, 62-acre site in the shadow of downtown Chicago is the closest thing some have to home.
- By Kari Lydersen and Lloyd DeGrane
- Tags: Feature, News, Rezkoville, Tony Rezko, South Loop, development, homelessness, Related Midwest, Nadhmi Auchi, General Mediterranean Holding

Blogs, Bleader Oct 16, 2015
The Baffler returns—temporarily

The magazine's writers and editors lead a discussion of Chicago's future.
- By Aimee Levitt
- Tags: Do This, News, Politics, Baffler, Rick Perlstein, Obama Library, Chris Lehmann, Tom Geoghegan, Lucas Museum, Jitu Brown, Dyett High School, development, Hyde Park, south side, billionaire donors

News & Politics, Feature Jun 12, 2014
The fight to preserve a model public housing project

Lathrop Homes, on the western edge of Lincoln Park, has long been one of the Chicago Housing Authority's most diverse and successful properties. But today it's a shell of its former self.
- By Maya Dukmasova
- Tags: Feature, Julia C. Lathrop Homes, Lathrop Homes, CHA, Chicago Housing Authority, public housing, Bucktown, Roscoe Village, Public Works Administration, New Deal, National Register of Historic Places, Miguel Suarez, development, immigrants, diversity, architecture, Lolita Gonzalez, Richard M. Daley, mixed-income communities, Lathrop Community Partners, redevelopment, LCP, Molly Metzger, Washington University, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, housing choice vouchers, Tiffney George, Near North High School, Cabrini-Green, Section 8 housing, North Lawndale, Boys and Girls Club, Titus Kerby, Lathrop Local Advisory Council, Anna Capps, Marshall Field's, Toni Dixon, Alcott College Prep, preservation, Chicago Housing Initiative, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FOIA, Freedom of Information Act, HUD, Dorothy Gautreaux, Gautreaux case, Altgeld Gardens, Chicago Urban League, West Side Federation, ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, Schiff Hardin & Waite, Alexander Polikoff, discrimination, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, BPI, memoirs, books, neighborhoods, segregation, unemployment, Hal Baron, Len Rubinowitz, Northwestern University, Lawrence Vale, urban planning, urban design, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Mary Pattillo, John McDermott, LSNA, housing, land use, Robert Whitfield, Real Estate Acquisition Program, REAP

Columns & Opinion, On Politics May 13, 2014
Rahm reels toward his reelection bid

A new poll is the latest sign that Mayor Emanuel could be in trouble.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Sun-Times, elections, polls, Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago Teachers Union, CTU, Karen Lewis, City Council, Robert Fioretti, Robert Shaw, Richard M. Daley, parking meters, taxes, infrastructure, potholes, development, black voters, Barack Obama, Miguel del Valle, Gery Chico, south side, west side, mental health clinics, city workers, water bills, school closings, Barack Obama College Prep, Gold Coast, TIFs, tax incremement financing, Leslie Hairston, Roderick Sawyer, Toni Foulkes, Hispanic voters, Jim Oberweis, UNO, United Neighborhood Organization, Luis Gutierrez

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Apr 15, 2014
When Chicago spent its pension money on the mayor's pet projects

A decade ago, city leaders acted like we didn't have a care in the world.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: On Politics, City Council, Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel, history, 2004, pensions, public spending, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago Sun-Times, fund raisers, Wolfgang Puck Catering, real estate bubble, property taxes, taxes, TIFs, tax increment financing, Block 37, Midway Airport, O'Hare Airport, The El, high-speed rail, hotel taxes, motel taxes, Soldier Field, Chicago Bears, Chicago Loop Parking LLC, Chicago Park District, MillerCoors, Grossinger Auto, United Airlines, Central Loop TIF district, Loop, development

News & Politics, Feature Apr 8, 2014
Mayor's friend could profit from hotel built with taxpayers' money

Kenneth Griffin, whose firm invested in Marriott, is a top Emanuel donor.
- By Ben Joravsky and David Sirota
- Tags: Feature, PandoDaily, Kenneth Griffin, Marriott, Rahm Emanuel, DePaul University, South Loop, south side, development, McPier, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, Andrew Mooney, Citadel LLC, Forbes, Mitt Romney, Chris Christie, Richard M. Daley, Rod Blagojevich, campaign contributions, Bruce Rauner, Hyatt, Hilton, Mary Kay Marquisos, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, casinos, Stand for Children, American Crossroads, Karl Rove, superPACs, Koch brothers, Chicago Tribune, TIFs, tax increment financing, property taxes, school closing

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Apr 1, 2014
Aldermen advance Rahm's South Loop plan without analyzing it first

While the plan for independent analysis stalls, the City Council approves spending $55 million on the mayor's hotel and stadium deal.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, City Council, Ameya Pawar, 47th Ward, Rahm Emanuel, South Loop, basketball arenas, DePaul University, Marriott Hotels, development, aldermanic independence, Richard M. Daley, property taxes, real estate, TIFs, tax increment financing, Michelle Harris, Carrie Austin, Ed Burke, City Council rules committee, Office of Financial Analysis Oversight, committees, city offices, McPier, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, intergovernmental agreements, Rick Munoz, 22nd Ward, Scott Waguespack, 32nd Ward, John Arena, 45th Ward, Financial Analysis Oversight Committee

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Feb 11, 2014
In Mayor Emanuel's Chicago, nice aldermen finish last

Rahm's allies keep the South Loop arena and hotel project speeding ahead.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: On Politics, Rahm Emanuel, City Council, Nick Sposato, Pat Dowell, South Loop, 36th Ward, real estate, DePaul University, Marriott Hotels, basketball arenas, hotels, development, south side, McPier, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, James McHugh, lawsuits, tax increment financing, TIFs, Ed Burke, rules committee, public safety committee, committees, Michelle Harris, 3rd Ward

Food & Drink, Restaurant Review Dec 27, 2013
A10, the much-anticipated Hyde Park restaurant, is for now a B minus

Matthias Merges gets an A for effort, though.
- By Mara Shalhoup
- Tags: Restaurant Review, A10, criticism, Chicago Reader, restaurant ratings, grading restaurants, stars, movie reviews, recommendations, Matthias Merges, Charlie Trotter, Yusho, Billy Sunday, Hyde Park, south side, University of Chicago, Harper Court, development, Avondale, neighborhoods, Logan Square, design, decor, bars, cocktails, draft cocktails, simplicity, chicken liver, snails, steak, cauliflower, raisins, boudin noir, blood sausage, squid, salted cod, rapini, pizza, eggplant, burrata, seafood, pasta, sauces, potatoes, service

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Dec 10, 2013
Here's the latest proposal to spend TIF money in an area that doesn't need it

Why does a developer need a $14 million subsidy to build on the north lakefront?
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, 46th Ward, James Cappleman, City Council, Rahm Emanuel, Cuneo Hospital, TIFs, tax increment financing, development, Sedgwick Properties, Uptown, Clarendon Park, JDL, developers, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, property taxes

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Nov 26, 2013
Rahm says the schools are out of money—but not for Lincoln Park

After closings and cuts around the city, the mayor finds $18 million for an affluent neighborhood school.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, 43rd Ward, Michele Smith, City Council, Rahm Emanuel, CPS, Chicago Public Schools, school closings, teachers, Lincoln Elementary School, Lincoln Park, school funding, gifted programs, French programs, Tim Cawley, school utilization, LaSalle Elementary School, Children's Memorial Hospital, development, Dan McCaffery, school expansion, DNAinfo, neighborhood schools, neighborhoods

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Nov 19, 2013
Our aldermen (at least a few of them) finally challenge the mayor on TIFs!

Most of the City Council still wimps out, but it's a start.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, City Council, Rahm Emanuel, TIFs, tax increment financing, property taxes, South Loop, development, basketball arenas, hotels, TIF reform, Robert Fioretti, Scott Waguespack, progressive caucus, schools, Joe Moreno, Pat Dowell, Leslie Hairston, Roderick Sawyer, Toni Foulkes, Rick Munoz, Nicholas Sposato, Michele Smith, John Arena, CPS, Pat O'Connor, John Kerry, Chicago Public School, school funding, Michelle Harris, rule 41, Ameya Pawar, Council Wars

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Oct 15, 2013
The activist-doctor Quentin Young is still in

A new film project tries to capture the life of the physician who takes care of Chicago.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, Quentin Young, activists, doctors, Jesse Jackson, Operation PUSH, Martin Luther King Jr., Rahm Emanuel, Cook County Hospital, integration, Wrigley Field, film, Al Noakowski, documentaries, Hyde Park, Cat Jarboe, Jeff Bivens, south side, Hyde Park High School, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, antiwar movement, single-payer health care, Al Raby, James Bevel, civil rights, civil rights movement, Chicago Board of Health, Richard J. Daley, Marquette Park, Harold Washington, Chicago Cubs, public subsidies, Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, Manny Sanchez, Pat Quinn, City Council, Kickstarter, South Loop, development

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Oct 8, 2013
The developer who's revolting against Rahm

He may not be Saul Alinsky, but at the moment, James McHugh is all we've got.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, Rahm Emanuel, South Loop, James McHugh, hotels, development, sports arenas, contractors, basketball arenas, Saul Alinsky, City Council, property owners, urban renewal, Donald Zordani, Jefferson Park, lawsuits, property taxes, Marriott hotels, DePaul University, Chicago Public Schools, CPS, Walter Payton College Prep, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, McPier, Richard M. Daley, zoning, data storage centers, planning, permits, foundation permits, construction, eminent domain, Langdon Neal

Arts & Culture, Feature Oct 2, 2013
The migration of the hipster

A Chicago history, 1898-present
- By Aimee Levitt
- Tags: Feature, hipsters, Flat Iron Building, Bridgeport, neighborhoods, New York Times, next Seattle, Richard Lloyd, Jeff Huebner, history, Real World, Ed Marszewski, Lumpen Times, Liz Phair, Urge Overkill, Veruca Salt, Smashing Pumpkins, Tom Handley, Joe Judd, Shane Bugbee, Elliot Dicks, gentrification, Clem Jaskot Jr., Phyllis' Musical Inn, bars, Gold Star Bar, Nelson Algren, Wicker Park, HotHouse, Double Door, Pontiac, Subterranean, Flat Iron Building, Myopic Books, Quimby's Bookstore, Autonomous Zone Infoshop, Buys Bee, Earwax Cafe, Urbus Orbis, commercialization, bohemia, brohemia, Sarah Crawford, Fine Arts Building, artists' colonies, coffeehouses, nightclubs, The Little Room, South Loop, artists, tea, Auditorium Hotel, Ralph Clarkson, Henry Blake Fuller, George Ade, Hamlin Garland, Lorado Taft, Jane Addams, Bertha Palmer, Jackson Park, Hyde Park, Midway Studios, Floyd Dell, Evening Post, Evening Post's Friday Literary Review, Paul Durica, Margery Currey, salons, Sherwood Anderson, Edgar Lee Masters, Carl Sandburg, Ben Hecht, Margaret Anderson, The Little Review, Richard Lloyd, Chicago winters, Towertown, Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, River North, Maxwell Bodenheim, them restaurants, Gold Coast House of Correction, Big John's Coal Scuttle, Jake Loeb, Thomas Dyja, Tree Studios, Prohibition, tearooms, Green Mask, Ballyhoo Cafe, drag shows, Dil Pickle Club, Washington Square Park, Newberry Library, Bughouse Square, Jack Jones, Tooker Place, Mae West, Ben Reitman, Chicago Tribune, alcohol, Charles Collins, Mitchell Dawson, Harriet Monroe, Clarence Darrow, Emma Goldman, Theodore Dreiser, Ring Lardner, Edgar Lee Masters, Joseph Weil, Bill Haywood, Jack Johnson, Chicago Literary Times, Michigan Avenue Bridge, douchebags, yuppies, bros, Alfreda Gordon, Chicago Sunday Times, development, beatniks, hippies, New Yorker, Emily Hahn, Slim Brundage, College of Complexes, Piper's Alley, Lincoln Restaurant, Maury's, Cholly Wendorf, Bill Smith, Steve Goodman, John Prine, Bonnie Koloc, Hairy Who, Will Leonard, University of Chicago, Old Town School of Folk Music, Bill Savage, Northwestern University, Frank Ryan, Norman Mailer, Dee Paira, Gavin Morrison, Rainbo Club, Logan Square, Jason Hammel, Logan Beach, Lula Cafe, Amalea Tshilds, Joe Bryl, Longman & Eagle, Reno, Bang Bang Pie, Parsons Chicken & Fish, Cozy Corner, Cole's Bar, Helen's, Two-Way Lounge, Whirlaway Lounge, The Whistler, Scofflaw, Weegee's Lounge, Logan Square Farmers Market, Dill Pickle Co-Op, Cafe Mustache, New Wave Coffee, Abraham Conlon, Adrienne Lo, Matthias Merges, Jared Wentworth, Paul McGee, Maria Jaimes, Fireside Bowl, The Mutiny, John McDermott, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Latinos, buying property, Bridgeport, Pilsen, Jason Vincent, Bruce Finkelman, Thalia Hall, Modern Cooperative, furniture stores, Nightwood, Co-Prosperity Sphere, public transportation, mass transit, Version Fest, Mash-Tun Festival

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Sep 3, 2013
Come to the South Loop and see how Mayor Rahm's wasting your money

Touring the site of a future basketball arena and two hotels that will kill jobs, raise taxes, and make our schools even broker than they already are
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: On Politics, City Council, Rahm Emanuel, DePaul basketball arena project, South Loop, sports arenas, bicycling, Dave Glowacz, recession, real estate, hotels, Windy City Furniture, Michael Cooper, James McHugh, stores, developers, development, eminent domain, data centers, property taxes, Lakeside Bank, Victor Cacciatore Sr., McPier, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, CenterPoint Properties, parking garages, TIFs, tax increment financing, DePaul University, basketball, McCormick Place, jobs, school closings, CPS, Chicago Public Schools, teachers, CalPERS, California Public Employees' Retirement System, pensions, Rees House, Paul Hohmann, city landmarks

Columns & Opinion, On Culture Jul 22, 2013
Next on the hit list: Edo Belli's Cuneo Hospital complex

Two more notable mid-20th-century buildings are threatened with destruction.
- By Deanna Isaacs
- Tags: Deanna Isaacs on Culture, Edo Belli, Chicago Architects Oral History Project, Art Institute of Chicago, Catholic institutes, Clarendon Park, architecture, TIFs, tax increment financing, Cuneo Hospital, development, redevelopment, preservation, Uptown, James Cappelman, JDL Development, Chicago architects, Chicago Park District, parks, Larry Perkins, IIT, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Jim Letchinger, Preservation Chicago, Maryville Academy, Helen Shiller, Armour Institute, Henry K. Holsman, Melanie Eckner, Friends of Cuneo, Bruce Reid, David Baum, Green Exchange, Arthur Hill & Co.

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