Let’s grade some NITA picks
Better transit requires better leadership
A City That Works
Policy analysis and ideas on how to make Chicago work better.
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Latest posts
No, we shouldn’t buy the parking meters back
Selling was a mistake. But buying would be, too.
View from the wheel: Why are all the buses stacked together?
An hour in the life of a simple bus route
How to Read a CTA Bus “Run Paddle”
Otherwise titled: the footnotes are getting long so we’re trying something new
In Chicago, only 9% of shootings result in an arrest
In Chicago, only 9% of shootings result in an arrest
How the next mayor should think about our fiscal challenges
Part 2 of our recurring series on big issues in the 2027 mayoral election
A plan to cut construction costs
Four changes to boost construction across Chicago
An agenda for family-friendly housing
In high-income neighborhoods, Chicago rewards studio apartments and mansions
A dangerous budget
Some thoughts on the irresponsibility of CPS’s $150 million in assumed state spending
Expanding on four ideas that could cut Chicago's shootings in half
A guest post from the University of Chicago Crime Lab
Local governments need better feedback loops
It is not in fact enough to know that you have a problem
Introducing our pension dashboard
Our greatest fiscal challenge: now mildly interactive!
A 2026 update on the State of Chicago Pensions
On June 30th, the City of Chicago published its 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. There’s a lot worth unpacking from the full report, but for today’s purposes I’ll focus on our pensions, since the ACFR provides a nice summary we can use (as we did last year
A milestone worth celebrating
Our first posting to policy success