Category City in Motion

The changes reshaping Chicagoland: transit projects, development, stadium moves, budgets, and what each one means for the people who live here.

Chicago Makes the Banks That Hold Its Money Report Their Lending. Four Files, 337,429 Rows — and Five Different Spellings of BMO.

Four report binders squared on a bare conference table in a municipal meeting room

The four Lending Equity files the City Comptroller publishes under the Municipal Code, read together: 337,429 rows for 2021 through 2025, $113.59 billion of commercial and consumer lending, $35.44 billion of amounts on residential records, and reported account balances up to $84.04 billion a year. The files also carry 47 bank names for 20 institutions, one loan outcome in five forms, 1,491 blank outcomes, and a year in which one bank filed 88.6 percent of the account rows.

Chicago’s Record of Payments to Minority- and Women-Owned Firms on Procurement-Department Contracts Stops in March 2024 — and Its Last Period, at 24.7 Percent, Is the Lowest of the 18 in the File

A quiet municipal records counter with a closed ledger and an empty paper tray

The city’s quarterly record of payments to certified minority- and women-owned firms, read whole: $7,437,695,599 paid on Department of Procurement Services contracts across 18 reporting periods, $2,634,584,486 of it — 35.4 percent — to MBE and WBE firms. The share crossed 40 percent in four periods and ends at 24.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024, the lowest in the file; it has not been updated in 763 days.

Chicago’s Other Reimbursement File Is All Mileage: $24.0 Million Since 2005, Three-Quarters Fewer Payments Than in 2006, and a Third of It Against Inspector Titles

A plain white work sedan parked at a curb beside construction hoarding on an overcast day

The city’s second reimbursement stream, read whole: 95,612 payments worth $23,966,486.16 between July 2005 and August 2026, every one of them filed as mileage. Payments fell from 9,976 in 2006 to 1,995 in 2022 and have since risen to 2,333, while the median payment grew from $243.86 to $315. Six departments hold 80.4 percent of the dollars and inspector titles a third; no employee is named, and the file records no miles or rate.

Chicago’s Contractor Diversity-Program File Holds 400 Reports From 266 Filers — None at All for Calendar 2024, and Eight for 2025

An open manila folder and a single paper form on a plain office desk beside a closed laptop

The city’s contractor business diversity program file, read whole: 400 annual reports from 266 vendor numbers, submitted between June 2021 and July 2026. The file holds 211 reports for calendar 2021, 35 for 2023, none at all for 2024 and eight for 2025. Seven in ten arrived in a single year, 2022; 34.8 percent come from businesses reporting 1,000 or more employees. The file lists only businesses that reported having a program, so no compliance rate can be read from it.

Chicago Paid Its Own Employees Back $10.7 Million Since January 2025. Nearly Half Is Tuition — and $3.3 Million Carries Only a Batch Code, Every Dollar of It at the Police Department.

Scuffed work boots on a wooden bench beside a stack of textbooks and a manila folder

Chicago’s employee reimbursement file, read whole: $10,733,689.07 across 5,787 payments from January 2, 2025 to September 9, 2026. Tuition is 48.1 percent of the money; another 31.1 percent carries only a batch code, every one of those payments at the Police Department. Police and fire account for 92.0 percent of the dollars, and the most common reason by count is boots.

Chicago’s Contracts File Records $1.13 Billion in Sole-Source Approvals So Far in 2026 — and $1.05 Billion of It Is One O’Hare Airport Transit System Contract

An automated airport people-mover train on an elevated concrete guideway

Chicago’s contracts file, read for sole-source approvals: $1.13 billion approved in 2026 in the file retrieved September 15, 16.2 percent of all approved award dollars that year - against $638.7 million for all of 2015-2025. One record is $1.05 billion: a ten-year contract to operate and maintain O’Hare’s Airport Transit System, whose previous contract was filed as an RFQ. Without it, 2026 stands at $82.9 million.

Chicago Marathon Street Closures, as Posted: All 41 Segments Close by 6 a.m. October 11 — and Reopening Rolls Mile by Mile, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Metal barricades and traffic cones on an empty downtown street at dawn

The marathon organizer's own street-closures page, transcribed whole for October 11, 2026: 41 course segments with 40 closing at 6:00 a.m. and reopening in a posted wave from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., the Columbus finish stretch closed Thursday to Monday, Grant Park starting September 24, and the page's own caveats quoted with every table. Anticipated times, as posted - a schedule records intent, not events.

Which Bus Carries Chicago? The 9 Ashland Leads June 2026 — but Every Million-Ride Month in the File Belongs to the 79 79th

An articulated bus pulling away from a stop on a wide Chicago avenue

The CTA's route file read whole: 41,267 route-month rows since 2001. The 9 Ashland leads June 2026 at 549,149 rides - but all five million-ride months in the file's quarter century belong to the 79 79th, peaking at 1,058,879 in October 2008. Navy Pier's bus is the Saturday king, 58 route labels have gone quiet, and one is filed as 992 ROAD CALL. Rides per route, never systemwide totals.

Which L Stop Logs the Most Entries? Clark/Lake Leads June 2026 — and One Station’s Saturday Average Has Beaten Its Weekday Average in 214 Months

A train arriving at an elevated Chicago L platform with downtown towers behind

The CTA's station-entries file read whole: 43,654 station-month rows since 2001. Clark/Lake leads June 2026, the ten busiest stops take a quarter of the month's 10.8 million entries, Cermak-Chinatown's Saturday average beats its weekday average for the 214th-plus time, the all-time top five all belong to one station label - and four station IDs simply stop appearing. Entries, never systemwide boardings; every label as filed.

When Does the Street Sweeper Come? Chicago’s 2026 Schedule Holds 8,545 Section-Sweep Dates, 2,721 Still Ahead — and Two Sections Booked 66 Times

A street sweeper brushing along the curb of a Chicago residential street

When does the sweeper come? Chicago publishes the 2026 answer as a file: 837 ward sections, 8,545 scheduled section-sweep dates from April 1 to November 20 - 2,721 still ahead as of September 7. The median section carries ten dates, two Ward 2 sections carry 66, and the city's own side-of-street convention explains the two-date months. A decision-guide read: what the schedule confirms, what it can't, and where the lookup lives.

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