KCM Desk

The KCM Desk is the research and editorial operation behind Keep Chicagoland Moving, a publication of TAK Marketing, LLC. It's a desk, not a person: coverage is produced through intensive Chicago-focused research across public data, agency documents, and local reporting, then reviewed and edited before it publishes. How we work, in detail: keepchicagolandmoving.com/methodology/

Joined: June 2, 2023
Articles: 213

Moving Here

Chicago’s Mural Registry Lists 458 Works — and West Town, Uptown, and the Loop Hold 176 of Them

Colorful abstract mural on a brick wall in afternoon light

Chicago's own Mural Registry lists 458 works, and three community areas - West Town, Uptown, and the Loop - hold 176 of them. Install years run 1971 to 2024 with the busiest years in 2017 and 2019, 55 of 77 areas hold at least one, and the registry's own area column disagrees with its own coordinates on nearly half its rows - so every mural here is placed by its coordinates. The registry as recorded, mapped in full.

KCM Desk
August 15, 2026

Moving Here

Cook County’s Late Tax Bills Have a Due Date Now: October 1, 2026 — 61 Days Past the Statutory August 1

Mailboxes on brick two-flat porches in warm morning light

Cook County's second-installment bills now have a due date: October 1, 2026, per the Treasurer's table - 61 days past the statutory August 1 and the mildest of the four late years in the ledger (151, 122, 136, and now 61 days). Every date the county's own, every source linked.

KCM Desk
August 15, 2026

City in Motion

Police and Fire Hold 16,960 of Chicago’s 31,768 City Positions — More Than Half the Roster

Row of varied city work vehicles in warm morning light

Chicago's own employee file lists 31,768 positions across 39 departments, and more than half sit in just two: police (12,181) and fire (4,779). The most common job title in city government is Police Officer - 24.7 percent of the entire roster. Salaried and hourly are different rosters, part-time barely exists, and one corner of the file is listed at $4.73 an hour. Counted from the roster as published, with no employee named.

KCM Desk
August 14, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago Has Waived Nearly Two-Thirds of Its Calculated Filming-Permit Fees Since 2021 — $5.66 Million of $8.78 Million

Film production trucks and cones along a Chicago street

Chicago publishes every CDOT filming-permit application as data — 26,307 since 2013 — and the fee columns tell the sharper story: $8.78 million in calculated fees on 2021–2026 applications, $5.66 million of it waived, with no reason recorded in the file. The volume arc, the fee regimes, and the streets where the location rows cluster, counted at the grain the file actually uses.

KCM Desk
August 13, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago’s TIF Funds Held $3.05 Billion in the 2024 Reports — More Than Double 2017, in Fewer Districts

Renovated brick loft buildings along a Chicago industrial corridor

Chicago’s 121 TIF districts ended the 2024 report year holding $3.05 billion in their special funds — more than double the 2017 reports’ $1.42 billion, in a roster that shrank from 144 districts. The year’s $1.25 billion increment against $515 million in itemized spending, the biggest funds ranked, and the transit TIF’s $70 million — all from the reports’ own figures.

KCM Desk
August 13, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago’s Lobbying-Pay Ledger Since 2014: the $15.0 Million First Half of 2026 Is Its Largest

The marble lobby of a classic Chicago civic building in warm light

Chicago publishes what lobbyists report being paid, quarter by quarter, and the ledger since 2014 just recorded its biggest first half: $15.0 million filed for January–June 2026 periods, ahead of record-year 2024’s $13.6 million. Bally’s Corporation tops the client list both years. Every figure as filed, with the co-filing ambiguity quantified, never smoothed.

KCM Desk
August 12, 2026

City in Motion

The Chicago Community Areas With the Most Sidewalk Cafés (2025 Season)

Sidewalk cafe tables under an awning on a Chicago street in summer

The Near North Side had 196 permitted sidewalk cafés in the 2025 season — the most of any Chicago community area, and down from 227 in 2019. The top ten hold 81 percent of the city’s 1,169 permitted cafés, with the Loop at 75 percent of its 2019 count while four North Side areas run above theirs. From the city’s own permit file.

KCM Desk
August 10, 2026

City in Motion

The Chicago Community Areas With the Most Licensed Taverns (2026)

A warm Chicago tavern interior with a long wood bar and brass rail

Lake View holds 77 premises with an active Tavern license — the most of any Chicago community area, and down from 100 in 2003. The twelve leading areas, through a three-way tie at 18, hold 58 percent of the city’s 758 licensed taverns — and only Rogers Park sits above its 2003 count. From the city’s own license file.

KCM Desk
August 10, 2026

Moving Here

Every Frank Lloyd Wright Building on Chicago’s Landmark Register (2026)

A Prairie-style brick house with deep eaves in warm afternoon light

Chicago’s individual-landmark register credits Frank Lloyd Wright on 11 of its 412 entries — 10 as sole architect, plus the Charnley House’s shared credit — from an 1891 house on Astor Street to a 1917 pair on South Hoyne. All 11, in construction-date order, with the register’s own dates and designations.

KCM Desk
August 10, 2026

Moving Here

The Oldest Buildings on Chicago’s Landmark Register, From 1833 On (2026)

A white 1830s farmhouse with a columned porch among mature trees

The oldest standing building on Chicago’s individual-landmark register is an 1833 farmhouse in Norwood Park — three years older than the Clarke House. The twelve oldest register entries, through a four-way tie at 1869, with the commemorative sites and one stone marker kept apart and every date the register’s own.

KCM Desk
August 10, 2026