(WTTW News)

Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara said the initial imposition of the fee in April 2021 had helped slow gentrification-fueled displacement happening along the popular biking and jogging trail and in Pilsen, one of the city’s most in-demand real estate markets.

(Photo by Tuan Nguyen / Unsplash)

Chicago is often described as a city of neighborhoods. Despite that moniker, the city doesn’t recognize or use any neighborhoods for official purposes and uses community areas instead. Here’s what you need to know.

A cyclist wearing a mask rides along the 606 trail in Chicago. (WTTW News)
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When the scooters return to Chicago's streets in the spring, they'll be banned from the Lakefront Trail, the 606 Trail, the Riverwalk and O'Hare Airport, city officials said.

Katie Lauffenburger paints a ceramic home inspired by Chicago architecture. (WTTW News)

Our city’s towering skyline gets all the press, but for the husband-and-wife artist duo behind Wonder City Studio, it’s the vernacular styles that make Chicago a place worth calling home.

A yearlong Better Government Association investigation details the city’s failure to keep promises of jobs and housing for current and former Cabrini-Green residents. (WTTW News)

Cabrini-Green residents were promised jobs and housing after its demolition. A new investigation from the Better Government Association reveals how those promises fell short.

The Read/Write Library is filled with unique publications like creative books, neighborhood newspapers and personal narratives by people who are incarcerated. (WTTW News)

For nearly 16 years, the Read/Write Library has been operating in the community, providing unique publications like creative books, neighborhood newspapers and personal narratives by people who are incarcerated. 

(WTTW News)

“Everyone is always welcome downtown, everyone is welcome to enjoy all our city has to offer,” Police Superintendent David Brown said. “Chicago belongs to all of us, but if you come downtown or anywhere else, you engage in disorderly conduct or other crimes, you will be arrested.”

(WTTW News)

“We envision a city where every resident, no matter age, income, identity, ability, has the opportunities and the resources to lead comfortable lives in the communities they call home,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.

(Patty Wetli / WTTW)

Every year, the start of the snow route ban catches hundreds of drivers unaware, forcing them to travel to the city’s auto pound — and pay at least $235 — to retrieve their cars, officials said.

A proposed Chicago Ward Map from the Chicago City Council's Latino Caucus.

If 41 alderpeople do not agree on a map, the final decision could be made by voters for the first time in 30 years via a referendum.

Tubing on “Thrill Hill” at AMAZE Light Festival. (Credit: Matt Zuro)

Nature walks, art shows and holiday markets – including Christkindlmarket – are returning this year. Here’s your guide to seasonal fun. 

A rendering of the proposed Rush Street Gaming casino at The 78. (City of Chicago)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said getting a casino off the ground in Chicago will “usher in a new and exciting era for our city.” 

A proposed Chicago Ward Map from the Chicago City Council's Latino Caucus.

The leaders of the Chicago City Council’s Black and Latino caucuses sparred Thursday as a compromise over the boundaries of the ward map that will shape Chicago politics for the next decade remained elusive.

A new Chicago ward map will take effect in time for the 2023 municipal elections — assuming it is not blocked by a judge. (WTTW News via Google Maps)

The leaders of the Chicago City Council’s Black and Latino caucuses said Tuesday that they could endorse a new Chicago ward map with 18 wards with a majority of Black voters and 15 wards with a majority of Latino voters.

A new Chicago ward map will take effect in time for the 2023 municipal elections — assuming it is not blocked by a judge. (WTTW News via Google Maps)

The online tool will allow Chicagoans to use map-drawing software similar to the kind that members of the Chicago City Council have been using since the end of July — but Chicagoans have less than three weeks to send in their proposal.

A proposed Chicago Ward Map from the Chicago City Council's Latino Caucus. [Provided]

Members of the Latino and Black Caucuses are still split on how to draw the new city ward map. The Latino Caucus unveiled a map that reduces the number of wards with a majority of Black voters, intended to reflect a growing Latino population in the city.