Mayoral hopefuls make their case for Chicago Housing Authority

Candidates for public housing's future

01/12/2011

The Chicago Housing Authority’s ambitious plan to rework public housing is ailing, and all eyes will look to the city’s next mayor for a remedy. Across the city, progress on a number of developments in different stages of the CHA’s Plan for Transformation has hung in limbo since the new construction market plummeted in 2008.
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Sacred tax breaks targeted to cut deficit

The Home Front

01/12/2011

The American dream — that once-lofty goal of homeownership — is taking its lumps these days as the nation’s housing market struggles to right itself from an upside-down position.
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Rolling with Rahm

Heart of the 'hood

01/12/2011

What happened last week in Tucson was horrible, tragic, and senseless, and my heart goes out to all the victims. But it also left me wondering, who would be best equipped to handle a crisis like that in Chicago, once Mayor Daley is gone?
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2010: Our favorite Chicago photos

01/05/2011

Web Extra! Slideshow
See a slideshow of our favorite photos from 2010 taken by our staff photographer, J. Geil.
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Parking meter hikes worry Chicago businesses

Meter rates jump to $3 an hour

01/05/2011

The New Year is off to a pricy start in Chicago as motorists saw sweeping rate increases for on-street parking this week. Daytime rates for metered spaces in the Loop jumped from $4.25 an hour to $5 per hour, while neighborhoods directly outside the Loop saw hourly prices go from $2.50 to $3.
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Burgeoning neighborhood burgers

Creative new pizza, burger joints show evolution by North Avenue

01/05/2011

In 25 years at Levy Restaurants, the world's first haute cuisine baseball stadium vendor, chef John McLean strived to prepare classic American food in an adventurous way. McLean is channeling that passion into two new restaurants of his own, both of which opened in August at the booming intersection of Clybourn and North avenues. Read More...

Should have bought a home in 2010

The Home Front

01/05/2011

When real estate pundits look back on 2010, they likely will say it was one of the best years in decades to buy a home. Bargain prices and record low home-loan interest rates added up to a bonanza for hundreds of first-time home buyers with job stability and good credit, and many found an affordable route to home ownership.
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Donate those extra presents

Heart of the 'hood

01/05/2011

Eight years ago, Jennifer Molski was living in a tiny Gold Coast apartment that was filled with holiday presents she had no use for. So Molski came up with an idea that keeps the generosity of the holiday spirit flowing all year long. She created Leave it for Love, an innovative gift recycling program.
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Artists with disabilities find space to shine at the Chicago Cultural Center

12/29/2010

Web Extra! Slideshow
Project Onward is one of Chicago's unsung shining lights - a beacon for adult artists with mental and/or physical disabilities that provides all manner of support from studio space and supplies to professional mentoring and promotion.
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Chicago doles out millions on lawsuits and costs

Misdeeds by the police make up the majority of suits

12/29/2010

Earlier this fall, Chicago released its 2010 expenditures for verdicts and settlements through the end of September. According to that report, the city has so far this year spent more than $33 million settling lawsuits and paying for other court judgments such as satisfactions and jury verdicts.
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