The White City of the Columbian Exposition left a tremendous legacy in Chicago, from its litany of inventions, to the nation’s own Jack the Ripper, to the White City’s architectural legacy in our…

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Chicago assembled these, Chicago organized them, Chicago presented the narrative of global modernity because it could, because it wished to, and because it was already the center for this global…

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Here’s something that could be of use for small business owners and condo co-ops, with the deep winter coming.

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Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is enthralled by China’s growing high-speed rail system, but China is becoming less enthralled. As reported in the Wall Street Journal: BEIJING–China will begin forcing its growing fleet of high-speed trains to operate at slower…

The Chicago media have been curiously uninterested in an issue hanging like a scimitar over the head of the city’s next mayor. Will or should the next mayor carry on the fight with United and American airlines over the expansion…

Got to hand it to him, for being the first to get out a video of him pushing a car out of the snow. Of course, he’s not the first to do it. Newark Mayor Cory Booker did the…

Alex Clifford receives congratulations from Metra’s board after he is appointed the rail agency’s new executive driector Tuesday. (José M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune / February 1, 2011) >My nomination goes to the new exectuive running Metra, Chicago’s commuter rail system….

Hey, I’m not afraid to self-promote. I was on WBEZ’s 848 this morning (along with the Parking Ticket Geek and a DePaul prof) talking transportation in the context of the mayoral election.
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In a bid to preserve or create much-needed jobs, most of the stimulus spending for infrastructure is pushing short-term fixes, like repaved roads. Such projects have undeniable added value, allowing traffic to flow more smoothly and preventing crater-sized potholes from blowing out tires. Yet the roads will simply have to be repaved a few years down the line. In the long run, whether the stimulus helps bring down unemployment or not, little will have changed.

“Few of the [stimulus] projects are transformative,” said Joseph Schofer, professor of civil and environmental engineering …

Just as polls show that Americans are increasingly worried about government living beyond its means, President Barack Obama goes and announces he’s shoveling out another $8 billion for high-speed rail that is neither high-speed nor smart.

Blood-sucking politicians from Illinois wanted $4.5 billion of that, but had to settle for only $1.23 billion, for a ridiculous plan to shuttle a few hundred passengers each day between Chicago and St. Louis, at only 30 m.p.h. faster than now.
Oh yes, starry-eyed train fans will point out that eventually the trains will reach speeds …