City at the Crossroads

The trends shaping Chicago, the decisions we must make — a biweekly series by journalist Ed Zotti.

The goal can’t merely be to improve the lives of people who already live here, important though that is. It must be to attract talented people from elsewhere — Black people in particular — and keep stoking the downtown jobs machine that will draw them.
Unlike previous generations coming to Chicago, this one typically brings middle-class backgrounds, coming to the United States for college.
Among companies already moving us in that direction: mHUB, a product startup incubator, Azul 3D, with leading 3D printers, and Fusion OEM, with robots that operate alongside humans.
The Canadian metropolis has become a major player on the world stage. In rankings of global urban significance, it vies with and sometimes surpasses Chicago.
The pandemic will accelerate adoption of digital medical technology, and contact tracing might be carried along in that tide.
Block-by-block redevelopment is the surest way to bring in people and businesses to strengthen Chicago’s black communities, which COVID-19 has hit especially hard.
If you’re thinking the coronavirus might mean the end of city living as we know it, an hour beside the river will convince you we’ll figure out a way to make this all work.
A team led by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology technologist has developed a free digital contact tracing app. But it needs an assist from government to be most effective, and Illinois should lead the way
The U.S. is not doing enough to harness smartphone apps and other technology to defeat the pandemic.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order ends on Tuesday, April 7, but he’s likely to extend it as the coronavirus outbreak continues. Just how long? Read here.
Revival began long before the announcement the Obama center would go there. But more investment is needed. And class divisions have to be put aside.
The city needs more lively neighborhoods. Restrictive zoning, de-conversion and teardowns mean gentrifying communities outside downtown tend to become less dense.
It can be disruptive. But the problems aren’t severe enough to warrant radical remedies that would end up hurting the people meant to be helped, Ed Zotti writes.
Public elementary schools are increasingly popular with North Side middle-class families, but parents are abandoning neighborhood schools on the West Side and South Side.
The multibillion-dollar development proposed just west of Soldier Field is touted as a bold plan to turn an ugly railyard into a lakefront jewel and boost public transit.
We haven’t produced a comprehensive land-use plan since 1966. Without one, Chicago will not grow, City at the Crossroads columnist Ed Zotti writes.
Reversing black flight is what has to happen for Mayor Lightfoot’s vision to become reality.
Raising taxes while cutting back on what people get for their money is a sure way to get them to bail, City at the Crossroads columnist Ed Zotti writes.
Even if a deal could be reached for an amendment to the state constitution to ease the city’s huge pension burden, the impact would be modest. We’d still owe billions we don’t have.
Party leaders have asked Arroyo to relinquish his post as a Democratic ward committeeman. Instead, the Northwest Democrat is calling a meeting to choose his replacement.
First, cut Metra fares. Then, integrate that agency with the CTA, so riders could use both in a single commute and pay just one full fare.