Articles - Keep Chicagoland Moving

Neighborhoods & Suburbs

North Lawndale, by the Numbers: Four of Five Market Signals Active, One of Them Exactly at Its Bar, and New-Construction Permits Up From 27 to 104

Greystone two-flats along a tree-lined boulevard on a sunny morning

North Lawndale, on Chicago’s West Side, is one of three community areas where four of the five market signals in our analysis are active, and it reached four only on the September reading. Its median house price in 2025, $168,000 on 53 sales, is exactly 1.60 times the 2019 median, which is the bar. New-construction permits went from 27 in 2018–19 to 104 in 2024–25, and companies bought 29.2 percent of the homes sold in 2024 and 2025.

KCM Desk
September 30, 2026

Moving Here

Since 2008, Chicago’s Townships Lost 3,260 Houses and Small Apartment Buildings and the Suburbs Gained 6,351, by the Assessor’s Count

A new house under construction between two older brick homes on a sunny afternoon

The Cook County Assessor’s building file, 2000 to 2025: since 2008 the count of houses and small apartment buildings rose just 3,087, with the suburban townships up 6,351 and Chicago’s down 3,260. Lake township alone lost 3,075; Lemont gained 19.6 percent. All 38 townships, net change by period.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026

City in Motion

Cook County’s Human Rights Commission Has Posted 791 Decisions. 40 Are Labeled Substantial Evidence — and Five of Those Are Dated Since 2019

A sunlit hearing room with a long wooden table, microphones and folders

The Cook County Commission on Human Rights’ posted decisions file: 791 decisions dated 2013 through 2025, 40 labeled Substantial Evidence (19 of them in 2017, five since 2019) and 677 procedural dismissals, led by lack of jurisdiction, settlement and voluntary withdrawal. By kind of complaint and by year; no party named.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026

Moving Here

Cook County’s Condo Count Grew 73 Percent From 1999 to 2010, by the Assessor’s Count — Then Leveled Off: 372,354 Units in 2025, 63 Fewer Than in 2010

A brick courtyard building in front of a 1970s residential high-rise at golden hour

The Cook County Assessor’s condominium file: 372,354 condo units in 2025, 63 fewer than in 2010, after a 73.2 percent rise from 1999. Half the growth sat in buildings built from 1999 on; the other half, by our reading, was older buildings converted. Chicago’s townships more than doubled their count.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026

City in Motion

Cook County’s Shakman-Exempt List Holds 454 Positions Where Political Affiliation May Be Weighed in Hiring — and 111 List No Incumbent

Office workers walking into a stone government building on a bright morning

Cook County’s Shakman-exempt list, positions where by the county’s description political affiliation may be considered in hiring, holds 454 positions; 111 list no incumbent. The Office of the President has 50; Transportation and Highways lists no incumbent for 12 of its 22. Titles and grades counted, no names read.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026

Moving Here

The City of Chicago Holds 16,943 of Cook County’s 93,641 Tax-Exempt Parcels — 819 Fewer Than in 2022, by the Assessor’s Count

A sunny city park with a fieldhouse and a church steeple beyond the trees

The Cook County Assessor’s exempt-parcel list, tax year 2025: the City of Chicago holds 16,943 of 93,641 parcels, 819 fewer than in 2022 and fewer each year. By our reading, nine of the ten largest owners are public bodies; the other is the Catholic Bishop of Chicago, with 2,312. Robbins leads the suburban municipal owners.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026

Moving Here

Half of Cook County’s Houses and Small Apartment Buildings Date From 1954 or Earlier — and 2.2 Percent From 2010 or Later, by the Assessor’s Count

A tree-lined residential street of brick bungalows and a two-flat in late-afternoon light

The Cook County Assessor’s building file, tax year 2025: just over half of the county’s 1.1 million houses and small apartment buildings date from 1954 or earlier, and 2.2 percent from 2010 or later. The middle year is 1925 in Chicago’s townships and 1960 in the suburban ones, and the count has barely grown since 2008.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026

Neighborhoods & Suburbs

Suburban Cook County Recorded 22,092 Births in 2023, 20.7 Percent Fewer Than in 2015 — and Its Fertility Rate Fell in All Four Districts

A colorful suburban playground with a stroller by a bench on a sunny morning

The Cook County Department of Public Health’s birth file, which excludes Chicago: 22,092 births in suburban Cook County in 2023, 20.7 percent fewer than in 2015, and a general fertility rate down from 58.2 to 46.2 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. Every health district fell, the South District most; 104 of 122 suburbs recorded fewer births, including all ten with the most.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026

City in Motion

Three in 10 Solicitations in Cook County’s Public Bid File Drew One Response or None — 385 of 1,284 Since June 2016, Peaking at 44.9 Percent in 2022

A paving machine laying fresh asphalt on a sunny suburban road

Cook County’s public bid-tabulation file, counted solicitation by solicitation: 277 of 1,284 since June 2016 drew exactly one response and 108 drew none - 30.0 percent. The share reached 44.9 percent in 2022 and fell to 28.8 percent in 2025; formal bids above $25,000 drew one response or none 32.7 percent of the time, proposals 11.5 percent. No bid amount or firm name is published.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026

City in Motion

Cook County Wrote $6.18 Billion in Checks to Payees in 2025. One Name, Evolent Health LLC, Received $2.76 Billion — 44.7 Percent

A columned civic building in golden afternoon light with a taxi passing

Cook County’s check register records $6.18 billion paid to suppliers, vendors and other payees in 2025, and one payee name, EVOLENT HEALTH LLC, received $2.76 billion of it - 44.7 percent. A single name has taken more than 41 cents of every register dollar each year since 2018: VALENCE HEALTH through 2022, EVOLENT HEALTH LLC since 2023. The register does not say what the payments bought, and the county’s contracts file has no matching row under either name.

KCM Desk
September 18, 2026