Chicago
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Impacts of Local Ownership of Vacant Land on Crime
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Demographic and economic trends like suburbanization, deindustrialization, white flight, and foreclosures have resulted in an increase in vacant properties in cities like Chicago. High vacancy rates pose many challenges for cities and residents, including decreasing tax revenues and real estate values, while simultaneously increasing costs to the city and, potentially,…
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Keeping Students Safe: Positive Results from Chicago’s Safe Passage Program
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In the effort to reduce violence in Chicago, one important focus area is keeping students safe on their way to school. In 2009, the city launched the Safe Passage program as a novel method of addressing this issue. Safe Passage hires civilian guards and places them around schools during the…
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Chicago Food: More supermarkets do not mean healthy food for all
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Chicago is well known for its food culture, from Harold’s Fried Chicken to deep dish pizza to ‘Chicago-style’ hot dogs. It is difficult to spend time in this Midwestern city without spotting a sausage stand and developing a fondness for the many uniquely Windy City fried delicacies. Yet for many…
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Tech: The Goal, or Just Another Path to Growth?
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In 2012, the average resident of San Francisco supported about $76,000 in gross domestic —about $19,000 more than the average in Chicago. That gap has widened to more than $29,000 today. San Francisco’s economy is growing nearly three times faster on a per capita basis than Chicago’s. Meanwhile, San Jose…
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Bridging social science, policy and community: engaged research
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If you ask a social researcher—psychologist, sociologist, cultural anthropologist—why they chose their profession, you might hear something like, “to help people,” but western social research is sometimes criticized for failing to help those who may need it most: groups on the underside of the power differential. When applied social research…
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The Deteriorating Impact of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program in Chicago
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Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) was launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2002 to reduce gun violence across 94 federal districts. The City of Chicago adopted this program the same year, targeting neighborhoods inflicted with high rates of poverty, unemployment, gang membership, and high school dropouts. Initial evaluations determined…
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More Questions than Answers: A Review of Gun Violence in Chicago
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The University of Chicago Crime Lab released a report in January 2017 that details the sudden spike in gun violence that persisted throughout 2016. The Crime Lab analyzed key data in an attempt to discover what triggered the dramatic increase in gun-related crime. Many of the findings were not surprising: Gun violence…
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Understanding Recidivism Through Child Abuse and Mental Health
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In 2016, Chicago struggled with the highest number of homicides the city has seen in more than a decade. Lawmakers are now scrambling to find solutions to curb the violence plaguing neighborhoods across the city. Recently, Illinois state legislators representing Chicago have suggested increased sentencing for repeat offenders as a…
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Less Qualified and Less Diverse: Race-Neutral Affirmative Action Hurts Chicago’s Exam Schools
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Selective admissions high schools, or exam schools, have long been at the center of education policy debates due to their struggles in balancing fair enrollment and improving diversity. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Parents v. Seattle and Meredith v. Jefferson that using race as an admissions requirement is unconstitutional…
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Demolition, Displacement, and the Effect on Children in Chicago Public Housing
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Housing is the foundation of a family’s life. This basic need determines the surrounding environment, the schools children attend, access to amenities, and even economic opportunities. Due to the essential service that housing provides, the US federal government spends about $50 billion annually on housing assistance for low-income families. However,…
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Breaking the Cycle of Urban Poverty with Deanna Hallagan and LaToya Winters
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In a candid conversation at Marillac House in East Garfield Park, Deanna Hallagan and LaToya Winters advocate for the importance of outliers in breaking the cycle of poverty on Chicago’s West Side.